HOS 7:6 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 6:4–7:16: The people persisted in their sins

In this section, the LORD again spoke to the people of Israel and Judah. In contrast to the people’s future repentance (6:1–3), he gave examples of their current disloyalty and corruption, including their reliance on other nations instead of him. They continued to commit sins, and they refused to seek him. He announced that he would judge them, and he illustrated his coming judgment in various ways.

In this section, the Hebrew text sometimes uses second person pronouns (“you”) and sometimes third person pronouns (“they” or “he”) to refer to the people of Israel. The BSB follows the Hebrew pronoun usage. It uses “they” in 6:5–10, “you” in 6:4 & 11, and “they” or “he” in 7:1–16. Throughout these verses the LORD is the speaker, and he either addresses the people directly or speaks about them.

English versions all use “you” in 6:11 and “they” in chapter 7, but they differ in the way they use the pronouns in 6:5–10. You should use the most natural and least confusing way in your language to handle the pronouns in 6:5–10. In 6:7–10, the Display will follow the BSB pronoun choice in the first meaning line and give another pronoun choice in the second meaning line. See the note on “you” in 2:16b–c, where the pronoun changes are similar.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Transitory Faithfulness and Imminent Judgment (NET)

Impenitence of Israel and Judah (NRSV)

7:6a

For they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait;

Yes, their hearts are hot like an oven as they make secret plans to murder the king.
Now as for those who are plotting to kill the king, their feelings are very strong.
When they make their evil plans to kill the king, their anger is hot like a blazing cooking fire.

This verse further explains the simile of the oven in 7:4. In Hebrew and in some English versions, this verse begins with a word that introduces this explanation. For example:

For like an oven their hearts burn with intrigue (RSV)

Yes, they burned like an oven with their plotting. (GNT)

Other versions simply let the context imply this relationship. Use a natural way in your language to indicate that this verse adds more details to the oven simile in 7:4.

they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait: In Hebrew, this verse part is literally “they have brought near like (the) oven their heart in their deceit.”BART interlinear. There are two main ways to interpret it:

It means that people have intense anger or other emotions as they make plans to assassinate the king. For example:
Their hearts are like an oven as they plot. (NJB) (BSB, ESV, GNT, KJV, NASB, NLT, NJB, NRSV, REB)
It means that people approach the king with intense anger or other emotions in order to assassinate him. For example:
the plotters approach with hearts like ovens (NAB) (NAB, NET, NIV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It best fits the Hebrew grammar.McComiskey (page 105) points out that qerbu (“they bring”) is understood as a piel in the MT, so “it has the sense of bringing near rather than drawing near." Here the idea is that they bring their heart like an oven into their treachery. It also seems more logical that a period of intense planning (7:6a) would precede the waiting (7:6b) and eventual action (7:6c). It is less likely that the plotters would approach and then allow their emotions to smolder all night.

This statement is a simile. In this simile, the hearts of people are compared to an oven. Their strong feelings as they treacherously make evil plans is like the extreme heat of the oven. See the General Comment on 7:6a–c following 7:6c for other ways to translate this simile and the related figures of speech in this verse.

they: This pronoun probably refers to the princes in 7:5.

heart: The people of Israel considered the heart to be the center of attitudes and thoughts. Some languages use a different body organ, such as the liver, to signify attitudes and thoughts. Use an expression that is natural in your language for this purpose.

lie in wait: In Hebrew, this word usually refers to an ambush in which people wait in hiding in order to kill their enemies or victims. It probably refers here to a treacherous plan to murder the king.See NIDOTTE (#741) or TWOT (#156) for a more complete description of the contexts in which this Hebrew root is used. Stuart (page 120), McComiskey (page 105), Andersen and Freedman (pages 459–460), Hubbard (page 135), and Macintosh (page 265) all understand this verse to refer to a conspiracy to murder the king.

7:6b

all night their anger smolders;

The heat of their anger/emotions is like coals that smolder all night.
For a time they control their feelings/anger as they wait to do what they have planned.
The flames die down and the coals glow through the night.

all night their anger smolders: There is a textual issue here: (1) The Syriac and Targum have “their anger/passion.” For example, the NRSV says, “All night their anger smolders.” All English versions except the NJPS follow this text. It is supported by Stuart (pages 116, 120) and Kidner (page 70). (2) The MT has “their baker.” For example, the NJPS says, “Through the night Their baker has slept.” This text is supported by Andersen and Freedman (page 449), Hubbard (page 135), Keil (page 106), Macintosh (page 263), and McComiskey (page 105). See McComiskey for grammatical reasons in favor of this text. It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with almost all English versions. In option (2) the phrase “their baker” would have to be understood figuratively as part of the oven metaphor. It is difficult to find a figurative meaning that fits logically in the context. This clause is a metaphor that continues the simile of the oven in 7:6a. In this metaphor, the people’s anger or passion is compared to the coals in an oven. During the night the coals are allowed to smolder or die down. Similarly, the intensity of the people’s emotion is at a low level during the night. They are waiting for the right time to put their plans into action.

Here are some other ways to express this similarity:

All night long their anger is low (NCV)

Their plot smolders through the night (NLT)

all night: In the metaphor of the smoldering coals, the phrase all night refers to a literal night. In terms of the people’s anger or plotting, it may refer to an actual night. It may also refer to a longer period of time during which the people waited to take action.

7:6c

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

In the morning it becomes raging hot again like a flaming/blazing fire.
When the opportunity comes, they energetically put their plans into action.
When the morning comes, they fan the coals and the fire blazes hotter than before.

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire: In the morning, after the coals have smoldered all night, the person who tends the oven causes the fire to burn brightly again. This figure of speech indicates that after a period of relative calm, the people suddenly and vigorously put their evil plans into action.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

then flares up at dawn (CEV)

in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire (NLT96)

General Comment on 7:6a–c

If the figures of speech that relate to the heat of an oven are not clear in your language, here are some other translation options:

Make explicit the way in which the people’s hearts are like an oven. For example:
^6aYes, their hearts become hot like an oven in their evil schemes. ^6bThe heat of their anger/emotions smolders all night. ^6cIn the morning it blazes hot like a flaming fire.
Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
^6aThe feelings of those who are plotting against the king are very strong. ^6bFor a time they restrain their anger. ^6cWhen the opportunity comes they energetically put their plans into action.
Use similar figures of speech that convey the right meaning in your language. For example:
^6aWhen they make their evil plans to kill the king, their livers are hot like a roaring cooking fire. ^6bThe flames die down and the coals glow through the night. ^6cWhen the morning comes they fan the coals and the fire blazes hotter than before.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear HOS 7:6