HOS 11:6 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (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 ἠσθένησεν ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν αὐτοῦ· καὶ κατέπαυσεν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ φάγονται ἐκ τῶν διαβουλίων αὐτῶν,
(kai aʸsthenaʸsen en ɽomfaia en tais polesin autou; kai katepausen en tais ⱪersin autou, kai fagontai ek tōn diabouliōn autōn, )

BrTr And in his cities he prevailed not with the sword, and he ceased to war with his hands: and they shall eat of the fruit of their own devices:

ULT The sword will whirl against their cities,
⇔ and destroy the bars of their gates,
⇔ and devour them
⇔ because of their own plans.

UST Their enemies will attack Israel’s cities with swords;
⇔ their enemies will destroy the bars that keep their gates closed and safe.
⇔ Their enemies will destroy the people of Israel and put an end to all the plans they made.

OEB Therefore the swords will whirl in their cities,
⇔ will devour in their fortresses[fn].

11:6 Heb. uncertain

WEBBE The sword will fall on their cities,
⇔ and will destroy the bars of their gates,
⇔ and will put an end to their plans.

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(1-9)“When Israel was only a child, I loved him.
  I called out, ‘My son!’—called him out of Egypt.
But when others called him,
  he ran off and left me.
He worshiped the popular sex gods,
  he played at religion with toy gods.
Still, I stuck with him. I led Ephraim.
  I rescued him from human bondage,
But he never acknowledged my help,
  never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon,
That I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek,
  that I bent down to feed him.
Now he wants to go back to Egypt or go over to Assyria—
  anything but return to me!
That’s why his cities are unsafe—the murder rate skyrockets
  and every plan to improve things falls to pieces.
My people are hell-bent on leaving me.
  They pray to god Baal for help.
  He doesn’t lift a finger to help them.
But how can I give up on you, Ephraim?
  How can I turn you loose, Israel?
How can I leave you to be ruined like Admah,
  devastated like luckless Zeboim?
I can’t bear to even think such thoughts.
  My insides churn in protest.
And so I’m not going to act on my anger.
  I’m not going to destroy Ephraim.
And why? Because I am God and not a human.
  I’m The Holy One and I’m here—in your very midst.

NET A sword will flash in their cities,
⇔ it will destroy the bars of their city gates,
⇔ and will devour them in their fortresses.

LSV The sword has been grievous in his cities,
And it has ended his bars, and consumed—from their own counsels.

FBV War[fn] will sweep through their cities, putting an end to their boasting and destroying their plans.

11:6 Literally, “the sword.”

T4T Their enemies will use their swords to attack the cities in Israel
⇔ and will destroy the bars in the gates of the city walls.
⇔ As a result, the people of Israeli will not be able to accomplish the things that they planned to do.

LEB • The sword rages in his cities; it consumes his false prophets
• and devours because of their plans.

BBE And the sword will go through his towns, wasting his children and causing destruction because of their evil designs.

Moff the sword shall ply within their towns
⇔ and lay them low within their fortresses.

JPS And the sword shall fall upon his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

ASV And the sword shall fall upon their cities, and shall consume their bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

DRA The sword hath begun in his cities, and it shall consume his chosen men, and shall devour their heads.

YLT Grievous hath been the sword in his cities, And it hath ended his bars, and consumed — from their own counsels.

Drby and the sword shall turn about in his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour [them], because of their own counsels.

RV And the sword shall fall upon his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

SLT And the sword was polished in his cities, and it consumed his branches, and devoured from their counsels.

Wbstr And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them , because of their own counsels.

KJB-1769 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.

KJB-1611 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and deuoure them, because of their own counsels.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps Therfore shall the sworde fall on his cities, & shall consume his braunches, and deuour them, because of their owne counsayles.
(Therefore shall the sword fall on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own councils/counsels.)

Gnva And the sworde shall fall on his cities, and shall consume his barres, and deuoure them, because of their owne counsels.
(And the sword shall fall on his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels. )

Cvdl Therfore shal ye swearde begynne in their cities, the stoare that they haue lickened vnto, shall be destroyed and eaten vp: and that because of their owne ymaginacions.
(Therefore shall ye/you_all sword begin in their cities, the stoare that they have likened unto, shall be destroyed and eaten up: and that because of their own imaginations.)

Wycl A swerd bigan in the citees therof, and it schal waaste the chosun men therof, and schal eete the heedis of hem.
(A sword began in the cities thereof, and it shall waste the chosen men thereof, and shall eat the heads of hem.)

Luth Darum soll das Schwert über ihre Städte kommen und soll ihre Riegel aufreiben und fressen um ihres Vornehmens willen.
(Therefore should the sword above their/her cities coming and should their/her bars rub_up and eat around/by/for theirs/hers noble/distinguished_(one) will.)

ClVg Cœpit gladius in civitatibus ejus, et consumet electos ejus, et comedet capita eorum.
(It_began sword in/into/on states his, and will_consume chosen_ones his, and he_will_eat heads their. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:1–11 The LORD’s love for his people

This section refers back to Israel’s history, as do Section 9:10–17 and Section 10:1–8. In all three sections, the LORD describes the joyful beginning of his relationship with the people of Israel and their response of betrayal against him. The earlier sections focus more on the LORD’s punishment. The people will be taken into exile. This section focuses more on his love.

The LORD speaks of his love for Israel in the past (11:1–4), warns them of their future exile and destruction (11:5–7), and assures them that in the future he will turn from his anger and show them compassion. Because of his love for them, he promises that he will bring the people back to the land of Israel (11:8–11).

Here are some other examples of section headings:

The Lord’s Love for Israel (ESV)

Israel Is Like a Bad Son (GW)

Throughout this section, the LORD is the speaker. When he refers to himself, he uses first person pronouns (“I/me/my”) except for verse 10, which has “Yahweh” and “he.” When he refers to the people or nation of Israel, he uses “Ephraim,” “they/them,” or “he/it.” The only exceptions are in 11:8–9. There the LORD uses the pronoun “you(sg)” to speak directly to Ephraim and to Judah.

Paragraph 11:5–7

In this paragraph, the LORD warns that Assyria will take the people of Israel into exile, because they continue to turn away from him.

11:6a–c

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^6a A sword will flash through their cities;

^6b it will destroy the bars of their gates

^6cand consume them in their own plans.

There is an ellipsis in the second and third lines. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing words from the first line. For example:

^6b swords will destroy the bars of their gates

^6cand swords will consume them in their own plans.

These three lines warn that an enemy will make war against the Israelites and will defeat them.

11:6a

A sword will flash through their cities;

There will be war in their cities.
The enemy will come and fiercely attack their cities.

A sword will flash through their cities: This line is more literally “and a sword will whirl in his cities.” The word sword is a figure of speech (metonymy) that represents “war.”Or the destructive power of war. Keil (page 91). This line says in a poetic way that an enemy will go to war against Israel.

The word flash means “whirl” or “twist.” The word describes the movement of a sword when used in an attack.Macintosh (page 452) and TWOT (#623). Here are some other ways to translate this line:

the sword will rage through his cities (NJB)

War will sweep through their cities (GNT)

11:6b

it will destroy the bars of their gates

Their enemies will destroy the city gates.
Their strong city gates will be broken down. They will not protect the people.

it will destroy the bars of their gates: This line continues to describe the enemy attack on the cities of Israel.

destroy: In Hebrew, this word means “destroy” or “exterminate.”DCH (Vol. 4, page 416). It can mean to destroy an object or a person. This line may refer to both actions. See the note below.

the bars of their gates: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as the bars of their gates has various meanings. In this context, there are two main interpretations:

The word means bars. This word refers to metal bars that kept large city gates locked.HALOT II (electronic edition, p. 109). People would lock the city gates by sliding the bars into sockets in the wall. See the IVP Bible Background Commentary (electronic edition, Ho 11:6). This interpretation is favored by Keil (page 91), McComiskey (page 188) and Wood (page 213). This interpretation implies that the enemy will also break through the gates of each city to enter it and kill the inhabitants. For example:
It will destroy the bars of their city gates (NET) (BSB, ESV, GNT, GW, NASB, NET, NJB, NIV, NLT, RSV)Some versions translate “gates” instead of “bars.” For example, the GW has “city gates,” and the NLT has “gates.”
The word means “false prophets/priests.”HALOT (electronic edition, p. 109) V. This interpretation is favored by Stuart (page 180) and Hubbard (pages 191–192). These influential people claimed to represent the LORD, but they spoke lies to the king and his officials. For example:
and it will make an end of their priests (REB) (NRSV, REB)

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

11:6c

and consume them in their own plans.

This will be the result of their useless schemes/plans.
They will be destroyed because they trusted/followed bad advice.

and consume them in their own plans: This clause is literally “and it will devour from their schemes.” There are two main interpretations of this clause:

The clause means that their schemes/plans are the reason that the sword will devour them. For example:
and devour them because of their scheming (REB) (BSB, ESV, GNT, KJV, NASB, NCV, NJB, NJPS, NRSV, REB)
The clause means that the sword will devour their schemes. For example:
and put an end to their plans (GW) (CEV, GW, NIV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions.This interpretation accounts for a causative particle min “from/because of” in the Hebrew clause.

Notice that in the Masoretic Text, this clause does not indicate what the sword devours. It says “and it will devour from their schemes.” Interpretation (1) assumes that one of the following options is true:

The object of the verb “devour” is “the people.” This was understood implicitly by Hebrew readers. For example:
It will destroy my people because they do what they themselves think best. (GNT)
devouring them because of their plots (NJB)
The verb “devour” is intransitive here, so it has no object. Hosea is giving attention to the reason for the devouring rather than to what is being devoured.McComiskey (page 188). This option is also favored by Macintosh (page 453–454). However, only a small minority of versions follow it. For example:
and devours because of their schemes. (NRSV)

Either option is acceptable. The Hebrew can be understood either way. Also the meaning difference is not significant.Even if the verb is intentionally intransitive here, the earlier parts of the verse make it clear that the cities, and by inference the people in the cities, will be attacked. Choose the option that is the most natural in your language.

consume: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as consume is literally “devour.” Here it is used figuratively to mean “slay” or “destroy.”BDB (#398) 4. For example:

destroy my people (GNT)

kill them (NCV)

them in their own plans: There is a textual issue with the Hebrew word for them in their own plans:

The Masoretic Text has “plans/schemes.” For example:
And devours because of their schemes (NRSV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GNT, GW, KJV, NASB, NCV, NIV, NJB, NJPS, NLT, NRSV, REB)
Some scholars think that the original text had the word “fortresses.” For example:
And will devour them in their fortresses (NET) (NET, RSV)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions. Ancient versions also support this option.

The Hebrew word for their own plans means “their advice,” “their counsel,” or “their plan.”TWOT (#887b). Here it may refer especially to choices that the people of Israel made without seeking guidance from the LORD. These choices may include seeking help from idols or from Egypt.Macintosh (page 454), Hubbard (page 192) and McComiskey (page 188).

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

their own evil plans (NLT)

their plots (NJB)

their scheming (REB)