HOS 2:4 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.)

2:4 Note: KJB: Hos.2.2

2:4 OSHB note: We agree with both BHS 1997 and BHQ on an unexpected reading.

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
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 Κρίθητε πρὸς τὴν μητέρα ὑμῶν, κρίθητε, ὅτι αὕτη οὐ γυνή μου, καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς· καὶ ἐξαρῶ τὴν πορνείαν αὐτῆς ἐκ προσώπου μου, καὶ τὴν μοιχείαν αὐτῆς ἐκ μέσου μαστῶν αὐτῆς,
(Krithaʸte pros taʸn maʸtera humōn, krithaʸte, hoti hautaʸ ou gunaʸ mou, kai egō ouk anaʸr autaʸs; kai exarō taʸn porneian autaʸs ek prosōpou mou, kai taʸn moiⱪeian autaʸs ek mesou mastōn autaʸs, )

BrTr Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband: and I will remove her fornication out of my presence, and her adultery from between her breasts:

ULT I will have no mercy on her children,
⇔ because they are children of harlotry.

UST I will have no pity on her people, the people of Israel,
⇔ because their nation is like a prostitute.

BSB I will have no compassion on her children,
⇔ because they are the children of adultery.

OEB And on her children I will have no pity,
⇔ since they are children of adultery,

WEBBE Indeed, on her children I will have no mercy,
⇔ for they are children of unfaithfulness.

WMBB (Same as above)

MSG ^(2-13)“Haul your mother into court. Accuse her!
  She’s no longer my wife.
  I’m no longer her husband.
Tell her to quit dressing like a whore,
  displaying her breasts for sale.
If she refuses, I’ll rip off her clothes
  and expose her, naked as a newborn.
I’ll turn her skin into dried-out leather,
  her body into a badlands landscape,
  a rack of bones in the desert.
I’ll have nothing to do with her children,
  born one and all in a whorehouse.
Face it: Your mother’s been a whore,
  bringing bastard children into the world.
She said, ‘I’m off to see my lovers!
  They’ll wine and dine me,
Dress and caress me,
  perfume and adorn me!’
But I’ll fix her: I’ll dump her in a field of thistles,
  then lose her in a dead-end alley.
She’ll go on the hunt for her lovers
  but not bring down a single one.
She’ll look high and low
  but won’t find a one. Then she’ll say,
‘I’m going back to my husband, the one I started out with.
  That was a better life by far than this one.’
She didn’t know that it was I all along
  who wined and dined and adorned her,
That I was the one who dressed her up
  in the big-city fashions and jewelry
  that she wasted on wild Baal-orgies.
I’m about to bring her up short: No more wining and dining!
  Silk lingerie and gowns are a thing of the past.
I’ll expose her genitals to the public.
  All her fly-by-night lovers will be helpless to help her.
Party time is over. I’m calling a halt to the whole business,
  her wild weekends and unholy holidays.
I’ll wreck her sumptuous gardens and ornamental fountains,
  of which she bragged, ‘Whoring paid for all this!’
They will soon be dumping grounds for garbage,
  feeding grounds for stray dogs and cats.
I’ll make her pay for her indulgence in promiscuous religion—
  all that sensuous Baal worship
And all the promiscuous sex that went with it,
  stalking her lovers, dressed to kill,
And not a thought for me.”
  God’s Message!

NET I will have no pity on her children,
⇔ because they are children conceived in adultery.

LSV And her sons I do not pity,
For they [are] sons of whoredoms,

FBV I will have no pity on her children because they are children of prostitution.

T4T I will not pity the people,
⇔ because they have abandoned me as [MET] prostitutes abandon their husbands.

LEB • And I will not have pity on her children, because they are children of whoredom.

BBE And I will have no mercy on her children, for they are the children of her loose ways.

Moff On her children I will have no mercy,
⇔ for they are born out of wedlock;

JPS (2-6) And I will not have compassion upon her children; for they are children of harlotry.

ASV Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they are children of whoredom;

DRA And I will not have mercy on her children: for they are the children of fornications.

YLT And her sons I do not pity, For sons of whoredoms [are] they,

Drby And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of whoredoms.

RV Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they be children of whoredom.

SLT And her sons I will not compassionate, for they are the sons of fornications.

Wbstr And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they are the children of lewdness.

KJB-1769 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
(And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms/prostitutions. )

KJB-1611 And I will not haue mercy vpon her children, for they be the children of whordomes.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps And I wyll haue no pitie vpon her chyldren: for they be the children of fornication.
(And I will have no pity upon her children: for they be the children of fornication.)

Gnva And I wil haue no pitie vpon her children: for they be the children of fornications.
(And I will have no pity upon her children: for they be the children of fornications. )

Cvdl I shal haue no pite also vpon hir children, for they be the children of fornicacion.
(I shall have no pity also upon her children, for they be the children of fornication.)

Wycl And Y schal not haue merci on the sones of hir, for thei ben sones of fornicaciouns;
(And I shall not have mercy on the sons of her, for they been sons of fornications;)

Luth Sprechet das Urteil über eure Mutter, sie sei nicht mein Weib, und ich will sie nicht haben. Heißt sie ihre Hurerei von ihrem Angesichte wegtun und ihre Ehebrecherei von ihren Brüsten,
(Sprechet the verdict above your(pl) mother, they/she/them be not my woman, and I will they/she/them not have. Is_called they/she/them their/her fornication from their faces put_away and their/her adultery from your(pl) breasts,)

ClVg Et filiorum illius non miserebor, quoniam filii fornicationum sunt.
(And of_children of_that not/no I_will_be_sorry, since/because children fornication are. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:2–13: The LORD promised to punish the people of Israel

In this section, the LORD described the crisis that resulted from Israel being unfaithful to him by following other gods. He warned Israel about the punishment that he would inflict on them if they continued their unfaithfulness. There is a sharp contrast between the negative tone in this section and the positive tone in the previous one.

The first words of this section seem to be a command by Hosea to his children. He commanded them to rebuke their mother (2:2a). However, the words “declares the LORD” in 2:13c indicate that the LORD is the speaker throughout this section. The reason for this double reference is that this section has both literal and figurative meanings. Literally, it applies to the relationship between Hosea, his wife Gomer, and their children. Figuratively, it expresses the relationship between the LORD and Israel. In a complex metaphor, the nation of Israel is compared to the LORD’s wife. At the same time, the entire nation of Israel is compared to a mother, and the individual Israelites that made up the nation are compared to her children.Andersen and Freedman (pages 219–220) and Wood (page 175).

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The LORD’s future punishment of Israel

Israel is the Lord’s unfaithful wife (GW)

Unfaithful Gomer—Unfaithful Israel (GNT)

Paragraph 2:2–5

This paragraph contains the first examples in Hosea of Hebrew poetry, including the use of parallel lines. See The form in the Introduction for more information on formatting poetry and translating parallel lines.

2:4a

I will have no compassion on her children,

I will also not show my love/pity to you^(plur), her children,

I will have no compassion on her children: Here the topic changes from the mother to her children. Some versions indicate this change by adding a word such as “also.” For example:

Upon her children also I will have no mercy (ESV)

You may want to do the same thing to help your readers notice the change of topic.

her children: This phrase refers literally to Gomer’s children. It also refers symbolically to the individual Israelites.

I will have no compassion: In Hebrew, the verb have…compassion is the same verb that was used in 1:6c. See how you translated it in that verse.

on her children: In 2:2a, the LORD says, “your mother” when he speaks to the children. Here in 2:4a, he speaks to the same group of people, but he refers to them as her children instead of “you children.” In some languages, it may be clearer to use the pronoun “you” here. For example:

You children…, I’ll show you no pity. (CEV)

2:4b

because they are the children of adultery.

because your^(plur) mother is a prostitute.
because you are the children of a woman who sleeps with other men.

because: This conjunction introduces the reason that the LORD will not show his love to her children. Some English versions translate it as “for” or because. Other versions leave this conjunction implied. Use a natural way in your language to introduce a reason.

they are the children of adultery: This is the reason that the LORD will not show his love to her children. The children were born to an immoral mother and shared the disgrace of their association with her.

In Hebrew, this expression is almost identical to the phrase “children of adultery” in 1:2b. The only difference is that a different Hebrew word for children is used. You should translate it in a way that is consistent with your translation there.

Here is another way to translate this clause here:

they are the children of a prostitute (NCV)

General Comment on 2:4a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of these verse parts. Notice that if the order is changed, it may be necessary to use a different conjunction between 2:4a and 2:4b. For example:

^4bAs for you children, your mother is a prostitute, ^4aso I will show you no pity.

Parallel HOS 2:4

Section 2:2–13: The LORD promised to punish the people of Israel

Paragraph 2:2–5

2:4a

2:4b

General Comment on 2:4a–b

General Information: