HOS 10:8 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=important (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ ἐξαρθήσονται βωμοὶ Ὦν ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ἄκανθαι καὶ τρίβολοι ἀναβήσονται ἐπὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια αὐτῶν· καὶ ἐροῦσι τοῖς ὄρεσι, καλύψατε ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς, πέσατε ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς.
(Kai exarthaʸsontai bōmoi Ōn hamartaʸmata tou Israaʸl, akanthai kai triboloi anabaʸsontai epi ta thusiastaʸria autōn; kai erousi tois oresi, kalupsate haʸmas, kai tois bounois, pesate efʼ haʸmas. )

BrTr And the altars of On, the sins of Israel, shall be taken away: thorns and thistles shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

ULT The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed.
⇔ Thorns and thistles will grow up on their altars.
⇔ Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
⇔ and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

UST The hilltop places known for their wickedness—altars where the people worshiped idols—will all be destroyed.
⇔ Thorns and thistles will grow and cover all the altars that were in Samaria.
⇔ The people will beg the mountains and say,
⇔ “Cover us!”
⇔ and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

10:8 Or of wickedness; Aven is a reference to Beth-aven (a derogatory term for Bethel); see verse 5.

10:8 Cited in Luke 23:30; see also Revelation 6:16.

OEB ⇔ And the high places of Aven will be destroyed,
⇔ the shrines of Israel’s sin,
⇔ thorns and thistles will grow on their altars,
⇔ and they will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us,’
⇔ and to the hills, ‘Fall upon us.’

WEBBE The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed.
⇔ The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars.
⇔ They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The high places of the “House of Wickedness” will be destroyed;
⇔ it is the place where Israel sins.
⇔ Thorns and thistles will grow up over its altars.
⇔ Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
⇔ and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

LSV And high places of Aven have been destroyed, the sin of Israel. Thorn and bramble go up on their altars,
And they have said to hills, Cover us,
And to heights, Fall on us.

FBV The high places of Aven,[fn] where Israel sinned, will be demolished, and thorns and thistles will grow over their altars. Then they will call to the mountains, “Bury us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

10:8 Where the pagan shrines were located.

T4T The altars on the tops of hills where the people worshiped idols will be destroyed;
⇔ those have been the places where the people of Israel sinned greatly.
⇔ Thorns and weeds will grow and cover those altars.
⇔ Then the people will plead to the mountains and hills,
⇔ ‘Fall down and cover us
⇔ to protect us from God punishing us!’

LEB   • The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed.
• Thorn and thistle will grow
  • on their altars.
• They will say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
  • and to the hills, “Fall on us.”

BBE And the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, will come to destruction; thorns and waste plants will come up on their altars; they will say to the mountains, Be a cover over us; and to the hills, Come down on us.

Moff The idolatrous heights shall be destroyed
⇔ (the sin of Israel);
⇔ thorns and thistles grow upon their altars.
⇔ And men shall cry to the hills, “Cover us!”
⇔ and to the mountains, “Fall on us!”

JPS The high places also of Aven shall be destroyed, even the sin of Israel. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains: 'Cover us', and to the hills: 'Fall on us.'

ASV The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

DRA And the high places of the idol, the sin of Israel shall be destroyed: the bur and the thistle shall grow up over their altars: and they shall say to the mountains: Cover us; and to the hills: Fall upon us.

YLT And destroyed have been high places of Aven, the sin of Israel. Thorn and bramble go up on their altars, And they have said to hills, Cover us, And to heights, Fall upon us.

Drby And the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up upon their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us! and to the hills, Fall on us!

RV The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

SLT And the heights of vanity were destroyed, the sin of Israel: the thorn and weeds shall come up upon their altars; and they said to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall upon us.

Wbstr The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

KJB-1769 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

KJB-1611 The high places also of Auen, the sinne of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorne and the thistle shall come vp on their altars; and they shall say to the mountaines, Couer vs; and to the hilles, Fall on vs.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps The hye places of Auen where Israel doth sinne shalbe destroyed, thistles and thornes shal growe vpon their aulters: then shall they say to the mountaynes, Couer vs, & to the hylles, Fall vpon vs.
(The high places of Aven where Israel doth/does sin shall be destroyed, thistles and thorns shall grow upon their altars: then shall they say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us.)

Gnva The hie places also of Auen shall be destroied, euen the sinne of Israel: the thorne and the thistle shall growe vpon their altars, and they shall say to the mountaines, Couer vs, and to the hils, Fall vpon vs.
(The high places also of Aven shall be destroyed, even the sin of Israel: the thorn and the thistle shall grow upon their altars, and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us. )

Cvdl The hye places of Auen where Israel do synne, shal be cast downe: thistles and thornes shal growe vpon their aulters. Then shal they saye to ye mountaynes: couer vs, and to the hilles: fall vpon vs.
(The high places of Aven where Israel do sin, shall be cast down: thistles and thorns shall grow upon their altars. Then shall they say to ye/you_all mountains: cover us, and to the hills: fall upon us.)

Wycl A cloote and a brere schal stie on the auters of hem. And thei schulen seie to mounteyns, Hile ye vs, and to litle hillis, Falle ye doun on vs.
(A cloote and a brere shall ascend/descend on the altars of hem. And they should say to mountains, Hile ye/you_all us, and to little hills, Fall ye/you_all down on us.)

Luth Die Höhen zu Aven sind vertilget, damit sich Israel versündigte; Disteln und Dornen wachsen auf ihren Altären. Und sie werden sagen: Ihr Berge, bedecket uns, und ihr Hügel, fallet über uns!
(The heights to/for Aven are destroyed/eradicated, with_it/so_that itself/yourself/themselves Israel sinned; Disteln and thorns grown on/in/to your(pl) altars. And they/she/them become say: You(pl) mountains/hills, covered us/to_us/ourselves, and you(pl)/their/her hill, fall above us/to_us/ourselves!)

ClVg Et disperdentur excelsa idoli, peccatum Israël; lappa et tribulus ascendet super aras eorum: et dicent montibus: Operite nos, et collibus: Cadite super nos.
(And disperdentur high idols, sin Israel; lappa and tribulus will_go_up over altars their: and they_will_say the_mountains: Operite us, and hills: Cadite over us. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 10:1–8: Why Israel should be punished

In this section, Hosea gives examples of the sins of Israel. The examples show why it is fair for the LORD to judge them. This section has a similar pattern to section 9:10–17. Both sections give examples from agriculture to illustrate the joyful beginning of the relationship between the LORD and the people of Israel and their shocking response of betrayal against him. In this section, Hosea is the speaker.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Retribution for Israel’s Sin (NASB)

The Lord’s judgment against Israel (NLT)

Hosea warns Israel that it will be punished

Paragraph 10:5–8

In this paragraph, Hosea tells how the LORD will punish the people of Israel. He will cause the Assyrian army to take away the calf idol at Bethel and destroy the altars where they worshiped idols. The Assyrians will also take captive the king of Samaria.Macintosh (page 392). The people’s response will be to mourn the loss of their calf idol and to beg to die.

10:8a

The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel;

The hilltop shrines of Aven will be totally destroyed. This worship of idols is the main sin of Israel.
Enemy armies will turn the idol/pagan places of worship in/at Aven into ruins. These shrines on the top of mountains/hills are the places where Israel commits such terrible sin.

The high places of Aven will be destroyed: The LORD will use the Assyrian army to destroy the shrines and altars in Israel. The Hebrew word for destroyed indicates severe destruction.McComiskey (page 169). See also Leviticus 26:30, which has the same Hebrew word.

high places of Aven: This phrase refers to places on the tops of mountains or hills where the people worshiped idols. high places were shrines that included altars for sacrificing animals.McComiskey (page 169), Dearman (pages 267–268), Stuart (pages 163–164) and Davies (page 239).

The Hebrew word that the BSB transliterates as Aven is ’awen. There are two main interpretations of this Hebrew word in this context:

This word is a place name. It is a short form of “Beth-aven,” the name that Hosea uses for Bethel.Commentaries that support this interpretation include McComiskey, Dearman, Keil, Hubbard, Wood, and Macintosh. See also the note on Beth Aven under 4:15b. For example:
The hilltop shrines of Aven, where the people of Israel worship idols, will be destroyed. (GNT) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GNT, GW, KJV, NET, NJB, NJPS, NLT, NRSV, REB)
This is the regular Hebrew word for “wickedness” or “falseness.”Commentaries that support interpretation (2) include Stuart and Davies. It is not a place name here. For example:
The places of false worship will be destroyed (NCV) (NCV, NIV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions and commentaries.

A cross-reference to Hosea 10:5 or a footnote such as the following one may be helpful here:

Aven is a reference to Beth-aven; see 10:5a and the note there. (NLT)

it is the sin of Israel: The full Hebrew clause is literally “[the] high places of Aven the sin of Israel.” Here Hosea describes the high places of Aven as the sin of Israel.The technical term is “apposition.” Merriam Webster defines apposition as: “an arrangement of words in which a noun or noun phrase is followed by another noun or noun phrase that refers to the same thing.” The phrase the sin does not imply that Israel had only one sin. Rather, it indicates that idol worship at Aven was the chief sin of the people of Israel.Stuart (pages 163–164), Keil (pages 85–86), McComiskey (page 170) and Hubbard (page 176).

Here are other ways to translate this verse part:

The illegal worship sites of Aven will be destroyed. Israel sins there. (GW)

And the pagan shrines of Aven, the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble. (NLT)

10:8b

thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.

Their broken/abandoned altars will be overgrown with thorns and thistles.
Prickly/Thorny weeds will grow in the places where the altars used to be.

thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars: This clause indicates that the destruction of the high places will be complete. The expression thorns and thistles is a poetic way to describe a place that is ruined and deserted.Stuart (pages 163–164), Keil (page 85–86) and Wood (page 209). In Genesis 3:18, the same expression describes God’s curse on the land. See Dearman (pages 267–268). Hosea also uses a similar description of weeds in 9:6d–e to describe desolation and God’s displeasure.

Thorns and thistles are undesirable plants with sharp barbs that cause pain when touched. If you do not have words for plants like these, use a word for an undesirable plant that grows in deserted places. For example:

Thorns and weeds will grow up over their altars. (GNT)

their altars: This phrase probably refers to altars that were widespread throughout Israel, such as in 10:1–2.Macintosh (page 391) and Davies (page 240). It is also possible that the reference may be specifically to the altars at Bethel.Wood (page 209).

10:8c–d

(combined/reordered)

Then they will plead with the mountains and hills to cover/bury them with a landslide.

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^8c Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

^8d and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

There is an ellipsis in 10:8d. In some languages, it will be necessary to supply the missing verb phrase from 10:8c. For example:

^8d and they will say to the hills, “Fall on us!”

In these lines, the people of Israel express their desire to die. It is a desperate cry that indicates their suffering is so severe that they want to die quickly to end it.

Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”: These requests to the mountains and the hills imply that the people want a landslide to bury them under rock and dirt.Stuart (pages 163–164).

Some versions make the people’s desperation more explicit by using words such as “plead” or “call out” instead of say. For example:

The people will call out to the mountains, “Hide us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (GNT)

They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!” and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!” (NLT)

General Comment on 10:8c–d

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these parallel lines. See 10:8c–d (combined/reordered) in the Display for an example.

10:8c

Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”

They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!” (NLT)
Then they will call out to the mountains to cover them with a landslide

10:8d

and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!” (NLT)
and implore the hills to bury them under rocks and dirt!

Parallel HOS 10:8