HOS 2:16 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=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) “Yahweh declares you’ll call me, ‘My husband,’ at the time
⇔ ^ and no longer call me, ‘My master (Heb. Baal),’

2:16 Note: KJB: Hos.2.14

2:16 OSHB note: Marks a place where we agree with BHQ against BHS in reading L.

2:16 OSHB note: Marks an anomalous form.

2:16 OSHB note: We read punctuation in L differently from BHS.

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative, green:YHWH.
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 Διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πλανῶ αὐτὴν, καὶ τάξω αὐτὴν ὡς ἔρημον, καὶ λαλήσω ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτῆς,
(Dia touto idou egō planō autaʸn, kai taxō autaʸn hōs eraʸmon, kai lalaʸsō epi taʸn kardian autaʸs, )

BrTr Therefore, behold, I will cause her to err, and will make her as desolate, and will speak comfortably to her.

ULT “It will be in that day—this is the declaration of Yahweh—
⇔ that you will call me, ‘My husband,’
⇔ and you will no longer call me, ‘My Baal.’

UST At that time,
⇔ Israel will call me, ‘My Husband,’ as a woman would say to her human husband.
⇔ She will no longer call out to a god, ‘My Baal,’ but she will call out to me as ‘My Husband.’

BSB In that day,”
⇔ declares the LORD,
⇔ “you will call Me ‘my Husband,’[fn]
⇔ and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’[fn]

OEB At that time, declares the Lord,
⇔ you will call me your husband,
⇔ and will no more call me your master.

WEBBE It will be in that day,” says the LORD,
⇔ “that you will call me ‘my husband,’
⇔ and no longer call me ‘my master.’

WMBB (Same as above)

NET “At that time,” declares the Lord,
⇔ “you will call, ‘My husband’;
⇔ you will never again call me, ‘My master.’

LSV And it has come to pass in that day,”
A declaration of YHWH,
“You call Me: My husband,
And do not call Me anymore: My lord.

FBV Then on that day, says the Lord, you will call me ‘my husband’ and not ‘my Baal.’[fn]

2:16 “My Baal” would normally be translated as “my lord,” but since the context is that of Israel following pagan religions who called their god (s) “Baal” then this is more appropriate here. In addition, God wants the close relationship of being Israel's husband rather than simply her Lord.

T4T ⇔ At that time,
⇔ they will say to me, ‘It is as though [MET] you are our husband.’
⇔ They will not say that I am their master, like they considered that Baal was.

LEB   • And on that day —[fn] a declaration of Yahweh—
   • you will call me, “My husband;”[fn]
   • you will no longer call me, “My Baal.”[fn]

2:? Literally, “And it will happen on that day”

2:? Hebrew “Ishi”

2:? Hebrew “Baali”

BBE And in that day, says the Lord, you will say to me, Ishi; and you will never again give me the name of Baali;

Moff ⇔ On that day, the Eternal declares,
⇔ she shall call me, “My husband,”
⇔ no more “My Baal”;

JPS (2-18) And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call Me Ishi, and shalt call Me no more Baali.

ASV And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no more Baali.

DRA And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, That she shall call me: My husband, and she shall call me no more Baali.

YLT And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah, Thou dost call Me — My husband, And dost not call Me any more — My lord.

Drby And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, [that] thou shalt call me, My husband, and shalt call me no more, Baali;

RV And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
(And it shall be at that day, saith/says the LORD, that thou/you shalt/shall call me Ishi; and shalt/shall call me no more Baali. )

SLT And it was in that day, says Jehovah, thou shalt call me, My husband; and thou shalt no more call to me, My Lord.

Wbstr And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

KJB-1769 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.[fn][fn]
(And it shall be at that day, saith/says the LORD, that thou/you shalt/shall call me Ishi; and shalt/shall call me no more Baali. )

2.16 Ishi: that is, My husband

2.16 Baali: that is, My lord

KJB-1611 [fn][fn]And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call mee Ishi; and shalt call mee no more Baali.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)

2:16 That is, my husband.

2:16 That is, my LORD.

Bshps And at that day (saith the Lord) thou shalt call me, O my husbande, and shalt call me no more Baal.
(And at that day (saith/says the Lord) thou/you shalt/shall call me, Oh my husband, and shalt/shall call me no more Baal.)

Gnva And at that day, sayeth the Lord, thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no more Baali.
(And at that day, saith/says the Lord, thou/you shalt/shall call me Ishi, and shalt/shall call me no more Baali. )

Cvdl Then (saieth the LORDE) she shal saye vnto me: O my hou?bande, & shal call me nomore Baal:
(Then (saith/says the LORD) she shall say unto me: Oh my hou?bande, and shall call me no more Baal:)

Wycl And it schal be in that dai, seith the Lord, sche schal clepe me Myn hosebonde, and sche schal no more clepe me Baalym;
(And it shall be in that day, saith/says the Lord, she shall call me Mine husband, and she shall no more call me Baals;)

Luth Darum siehe, ich will sie locken und will sie in eine Wüste führen und freundlich mit ihr reden.
(Therefore see/look, I will they/she/them lure(v) and will they/she/them in a/one desert lead and friendly with you(pl)/their/her talk.)

ClVg Et erit in die illa, ait Dominus: vocabit me, Vir meus, et non vocabit me ultra Baali.
(And will_be in/into/on day that, he_said Master: will_call me, Man mine, and not/no will_call me beyond/besides Baali. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:14–23: The LORD promised to renew his covenant with them

The purpose of the punishment in 2:1–13 was to make the people of Israel realize that their worship of false gods would result in harm. In this section, 2:14–23, the LORD showed that he continued to love the people of Israel. If they worshiped him, he would bless them and not harm them. In spite of their past sins, he would reestablish a covenant with them. In this section, the tone switches from negative to positive, so there is a sharp contrast between the previous section and this one.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Future Repentance and Restoration of Israel (NET)

The Lord’s Love for Unfaithful Israel (NLT)

Paragraph 2:16–20

Verses 16–17 describe a future time when the LORD will cause the Israelites to stop worshiping the gods they call Baals. The LORD alone will be the one they worship and serve.

In return for their devotion, he promised to protect them and their crops from wild animals and from war (verses 18–20). Compare the similar promise to the Israelites in Leviticus 26:5–6.

2:16a

In that day,” declares the LORD,

¶ Yahweh says, “In that coming/future day/time
¶ “I, Yahweh, declare: At that time

In that day: This is the same phrase that Hosea used in 1:5. Here in 2:16a, it refers to a time that is farther in the future than the lifetime of Hosea or his audience.Stuart.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

At that time (NET)

In the future (NCV)

When that day comes (NLT)

declares the LORD: The Hebrew phrase here is the same as in 2:13c. See the note there. In some languages, it may be more natural to put this phrase at the beginning of the verse. For example:

The Lord says, “In the future… (NCV)

2:16b–c

(combined/reordered)

you^(sing)/she will no longer call me, ‘My Baal,’ but rather ‘My husband.’

Notice the parallelism. Verse 2:16b gives a positive command. Verse 2:16c gives a corresponding negative command.

^16b you will call Me ‘my Husband’;HOTTP suggests that the verb translated here as “call” has a double meaning. It means both “call for help” and “call/address by name.” Most, if not all, versions follow the second meaning only.

^16c and no longer call Me ‘my Master’.

‘my Husband,’…‘my Master.’: These parallel terms involve a play on words. The Hebrew word ʾiš, which the BSB translates as Husband, connotes an affectionate relationship between a man and his wife. The Hebrew word baʿal, which the BSB translates as Master, has the meanings “owner/master” and “husband.” Women commonly used this word to refer to their husbands, but it had a more formal or legal connotation. It was also the name of the Canaanite god, “Baal.”NET footnote, NIDOTTE (#1251), and Davies (page 82).

In the context of this metaphor, the LORD (Israel’s God) was pictured as Israel’s husband. People who spoke Hebrew would have understood two things from this verse:

The LORD wanted Israel to be loyal to him alone. He did not want her to refer to him by the name of the heathen god Baal or to confuse him in any way with the worship of Baal.
The LORD wanted to have an intimate relationship with Israel. He wanted Israel to think of him as her beloved husband (ʾiš), not just her master (baʿal).

In most languages, it will not be possible to reproduce this play on words so that both meanings can be understood. There are two options:

Translate baʿal as a proper name. For example:
My Baal (NJB) (GNT, KJV, NASB, NCV, NJB, NJPS, NRSV, REB)
Translate baʿal as a title. For example:
My master (NET) (BSB, GW, NET, NIV, NLT)

The first option fits better with the following context, especially 2:17a. The second option fits better with the preceding context, especially 2:14 and 2:15c. The Display will follow the first option, but you may choose either option. It is recommended that you add a footnote to explain the play on words.

Here is a possible footnote:

There were two words for “husband” in Hebrew: ish and baal. The word baal also meant “master.” The LORD wanted Israel to no longer use the word baal, because Baal was also the name of one of the Canaanite gods. Instead, they should use the word ish.

you: Up through 2:15, the LORD used the pronoun “she” to refer to Israel. But in this verse, he used the pronoun you to address the nation of Israel directly.There is a textual variant here. The MT (Hebrew) has “you will call” and ancient versions (Greek, Syriac, Vulgate) all have, “she will call me.” Most English versions follow the reading of the MT (BSB, CEV, KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV), but some follow the ancient versions and read the third person “she” (GNT, NAB, NCV). In Hebrew poetry, it is common for an author to alternate pronouns in this way, even though the pronoun referent remains the same. It happens frequently in this chapter.In the MT (Hebrew) from 2:2 to 2:15, the LORD spoke about the people of Israel using third person (“she”). In this verse, he uses second person singular (“you”). In 2:17, he uses third person (“her”). Then, in 2:19, it is back to second person (“you”), and in 2:23, it is third person (“her”) again.

One way that versions reduce the potential confusion to readers is by reducing the number of times the pronouns alternate. For example, the NLT changes to “you” in this verse (2:16) and continues to use “you” until 2:20. The GNT does it differently. It continues to use “she” in this verse:

Then once again she will call me her husband—she will no longer call me her Baal. (GNT)

It changes to “you” in 2:19. In some languages, it may be more natural to use “they” when referring to the Israelites.

You should use the most natural and least confusing way in your language to translate the pronouns here and in 2:17–18. The Display will follow the BSB pronoun choice in the first meaning line and give another pronoun choice in the second meaning line.

General Comment on 2:16b–c

In some languages, it may be more natural to put the negative statement before the positive statement. For example:

^16cyou will no longer call me by the name of your god, Baal. ^16bInstead, you will acknowledge that I am your husband.

In some languages, it may also be more natural to combine the parallel verbs. For example:

husband is the word that you will use when you speak to me, not Baal

2:16b

“you will call Me ‘my Husband,’

you^(sing) will acknowledge me as your husband.
she will once more say to me, ‘My husband.’

2:16c

and no longer call Me ‘my Master.’

You^(sing) will no longer call me your god, Baal.
She will not say to me again, ‘My Baal.’