SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 9:1–9: The LORD will punish the Israelites

This section warns the people of Israel that the LORD will punish them because they have been unfaithful to him. When that happens, the people will no longer be able to celebrate at harvest time or enjoy the crops from their land. The section describes aspects of daily life that the people in Israel would clearly understand. Some examples are harvest festivals (9:1, 5), threshing grain and making wine (9:2), unclean food (9:3–4), offerings and sacrifices (9:4), briers and thorns (9:6), and prophets (9:7–8). There is also an indirect reference to Israel’s past (9:9).

Here are some other examples of section headings:

The Lord Will Punish Israel (ESV)

Hosea announces Israel’s Punishment (NLT)

Israel Will Be Punished (CEV)

The Sorrows of Exile (NJB)

Paragraph 9:1–6

This paragraph tells about joyful activities that the people will no longer experience when they are in exile in Assyria. In exile, they will no longer have joyful harvests or be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to God. Instead of rejoicing, they will mourn.

9:5

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^5a What will you do on the appointed day,

^5b on the day of the LORD’s feast?

In Hebrew, there is an ellipsis (deliberate omission) of the words “What will you do” in the second line. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing words to make the meaning clearer. For example:

^5b What will you do on days of feasting in the Lord's presence? (NLT96)

These lines warn the people that in Assyria they will no longer be able to celebrate special feast days.

9:5a

What will you do on the appointed day,

There in exile/slavery, what will you^(plur) do to observe/hold your appointed feasts? Nothing!
When you are captives/slaves, you will no longer be able to have your yearly feasts.

What will you do on the appointed day: In this verse, Hosea speaks directly to the people, using the pronoun you. He uses a rhetorical question with the implied negative answer “Nothing.” It means that the people will definitely not be able to celebrate the feasts.Macintosh, Andersen and Freedman, Hubbard, McComiskey, and Wood all agree on the function of this rhetorical question. It emphasis that no rejoicing will be possible.

This rhetorical question can also be expressed as a statement. For example:

You will no longer be able to celebrate the festival of the Lord. (CEV)

the appointed day: This phrase refers to the regular times when the people celebrated feasts. The word day is not necessarily literal here, since some feasts lasted longer than a day.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

when the time comes for the appointed festivals (GNT)

These appointed feast days included Passover, The Feast of Unleavened Bread, The Feast of Weeks and The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths.The Hebrew word here is an indefinite singular, literally “an appointed feast.” According to Macintosh (page 347), it is used collectively to refer the nation’s major festivals. See Leviticus 23.

9:5a–b

(combined/reordered)

And when the time comes for the appointed festivals/feasts when you^(plur) honor Yahweh, what will you do then? You will not be able to do anything!

9:5b

on the day of the LORD’s feast?

Will you^(plur) be able to have times of joyous celebration to honor Yahweh? No!
There will be no more festival days to honor Yahweh.

on the day of the LORD’s feast?: Since this phrase is parallel to “appointed day,” it probably refers to those same feasts.Andersen and Freedman (page 529), Keil (page 121), and McComiskey (page 141). However, it is possible that this phrase refers especially to the feast of Tabernacles/Shelters/Booths, which was held each autumn.Stuart (page 144), Macintosh (page 347), Davies (page 218), and Hubbard (page 158). Some versions give this information in a footnote. For example, here is a footnote from the CEV:

festival of the Lord: Probably the Festival of Shelters. (CEV)

Consider adding a similar footnote if you think it will be helpful to your readers.

General Comment on 9:5a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine these verse parts. For example:

^5a–bAnd when the time comes for the appointed festivals in honor of the LORD, ^5awhat will you do then? (adapted from GNT)

uW Translation Notes:

General Information:

Hosea the prophet is speaking.

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

(Occurrence 0) What will you do on the day of an appointed festival, on the day of a festival for Yahweh?

(Some words not found in UHB: what do to_[the],day_of appointed_festival and,to,the_day_of festival_of YHWH )

Hosea uses this question to emphasize that the people will no longer be able to observe their festivals when their enemies defeat them and take them captive. Alternate translation: “You will not be able to celebrate the festivals that Yahweh appointed for you.”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

(Occurrence 0) the day of an appointed festival … the day of a festival for Yahweh

(Some words not found in UHB: what do to_[the],day_of appointed_festival and,to,the_day_of festival_of YHWH )

Both of these mean the same thing.

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 9:5

Hebrew word order