HOS 3:4 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.)

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 Διότι ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ, οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως, οὐδὲ ὄντος ἄρχοντος, οὐδὲ οὔσης θυσίας, οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρ ίου, οὐδὲ ἱερατείας, οὐδὲ δήλων.
(Dioti haʸmeras pollas kathaʸsontai hoi huioi Israaʸl, ouk ontos basileōs, oude ontos arⱪontos, oude ousaʸs thusias, oude ontos thusiastaʸr iou, oude hierateias, oude daʸlōn. )

BrTr For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an altar, and without a priesthood, and without manifestations.

ULT For the sons of Israel will dwell for many days without a king, prince, sacrifice, stone pillar, ephod or household idols.

UST When I do these things, this is to show that the people of Israel will live for a long time and not have any king ruling over them. They will have no prince, no sacrifices or pillars set up for worship, ephods or idols in their houses.

OEB And like this the Israelites will live for a long time without king and without prince, without sacrifice and without pillar, without ephod and without teraphim.

WEBBE For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.

LSV For the sons of Israel remain without a king for many days, and there is no prince, and there is no sacrifice, and there is no standing pillar, and there is no ephod and teraphim.

FBV For the people of Israel shall be without a king or a prince, without a sacrifice or a stone pillar or a pagan image or an idolatrous shrine[fn] for a long time.

3:4 The phrase “a stone pillar or a pagan image or an idolatrous shrine” are all aspects of Israel's adultery in following other gods. Even “king” and “prince” were symbols of Israel's rejection of God as their leader

T4T Our doing that will show that in the same way, the people of Israel will not have a king and other leaders for many years. They will not offer sacrifices or have sacred stone pillars, no sacred vest for the Supreme Priest, and no idols!

LEB • The children of Israel will remain for many days without a king and prince,
• without sacrifice and stone pillar, ephod and teraphim.

BBE For the children of Israel will for a long time be without king and without ruler, without offerings and without pillars, and without ephod or images.

Moff For the Israelites shall remain for many a day without king or chief, without sacrifice or sacred stone, without ephor or oracle;

JPS For the children of Israel shall sit solitary many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim;

ASV For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim:

DRA For the children of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim.

YLT For many days remain do the sons of Israel without a king, and there is no prince, and there is no sacrifice, and there is no standing pillar, and there is no ephod and teraphim.

Drby For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without statue, and without ephod and teraphim.

RV For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim.

SLT For many days shall the sons of Israel dwell, not a king and not a chief and not a sacrifice and not a pillar and it one ephod and teraphim.

Wbstr For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

KJB-1769 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:[fn]

3.4 image: Heb. a standing, or, statue, or, pillar

KJB-1611 [fn]For the children of Israel shall abide many dayes without a King, and without a Prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an Ephod, and without Teraphim.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation and footnotes)

3:4 Heb. a standing or statue.

Bshps For the chyldren of Israel shall sit a great whyle without kyng, without prince, without sacrifice, without image, without Ephod, and without Theraphim.
(For the children of Israel shall sit a great while without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without image, without Ephod, and without Theraphim.)

Gnva For the children of Israel shall remaine many dayes without a King and without a prince, and without an offering, and without an image, and without an Ephod and without Teraphim.
(For the children of Israel shall remain many days without a King and without a prince, and without an offering, and without an image, and without an Ephod and without Teraphim. )

Cvdl Thus the childre of Israel shal syt a greate whyle without kinge and prynce, without offerynge and aulter, without prest and reuelacion.
(Thus the children of Israel shall sit a great while without king and prince, without offering and altar, without priest and revelation.)

Wycl For bi many daies the sones of Israel schulen sitte with out kyng, with out prince, and with out sacrifice, and with out auter, and with out prestis cloth, and with out terafyn, that is, ymagis.
(For by many days the sons of Israel should sit with out king, with out prince, and with out sacrifice, and with out altar, and with out priests cloth, and with out terafyn, that is, images.)

Luth Denn die Kinder Israel werden lange Zeit ohne König, ohne Fürsten, ohne Opfer, ohne Altar, ohne Leibrock und ohne Heiligtum bleiben.
(Because the children Israel become long time/period without king, without prince(s)/ruler(s), without victim/prey, without Altar, without Leibrock and without sanctuary remain/stay.)

ClVg Quia dies multos sedebunt filii Israël sine rege, et sine principe, et sine sacrificio, et sine altari, et sine ephod, et sine theraphim.
(Because days many sedebunt children Israel without king, and without principe, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–5: Hosea redeemed Gomer as the LORD will redeem Israel

In this section, the LORD commanded Hosea to take Gomer back as his wife. This probably occurred later in their marriage after Gomer had left Hosea and became an adulteress.There are two main views about how the events of chapters 1 and 2 relate to those of chapter 3. One view is that the events described in chapter 3 follow those described in chapters 1 and 2. (This is the view taken by this Translators Notes publication.) Another view is that in chapter 3, Hosea is describing most of the same events but from a different perspective and for a different purpose. Once more Hosea communicated the LORD’s message by his action as well as his words. His action was an illustration of the LORD’s unfailing love for the nation of Israel. Israel had been unfaithful to the LORD and had been worshiping other gods. In the same way, Gomer had been unfaithful to Hosea and had left him for other lovers. And just as Hosea was commanded to take Gomer back as his wife, so the LORD planned to restore Israel to himself.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

An Illustration of God’s Love for Idolatrous Israel (NET)

Hosea Redeems His Wife (ESV)

Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife (NIV)

Paragraph 3:4–5

In this paragraph, Hosea’s words predicted that the LORD will judge/punish the nation of Israel (3:4). But after the LORD punishes them, they will seek him again (3:5).

Verse 4 gives details of the LORD’s punishment. He will punish Israel by keeping them from having three things: its own government, worship, and supernatural guidance. These things are arranged in three pairs. In Hebrew, the first five items in these pairs are introduced with a negative existential “there is no/not” (“without” in English versions):Lange (page 47) and Davies (page 103) think that both “ephod” and “idols” may have represented idols that were used in pagan worship. McComiskey (page 53) says that Hosea may have omitted the word “without” before “idols” to indicate that Israel’s syncretistic religion was actually totally pagan. Macintosh (pages 106–107) also comments on the close association of these two terms, but concludes that the Israelites used the ephod in the context of the idolatrous cult to consult Yahweh. Wood (page 138) and Pusey (page 43) both make a distinction between the ephod, used by the high priest to consult Yahweh, and the idols (teraphim) used to consult pagan deities. Hubbard (page 93) also associates the ephod with the high priestly garment that contained the Urim and Thummim used to obtain guidance from Yahweh. Of the English versions used in TN, only the NJPS and KJV follow the Hebrew repetition of the word “without.”

^4a without king and without prince

^4b without sacrifice and without pillar

^4c without ephod and idols

3:4a

For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince,

¶ In the same way, it will be a long time until the people of Israel have their own kings or officials.
¶ This will show/illustrate what will happen to the people of Israel. They will have no king or other leaders for a long time.

For: In Hebrew, this word introduces the reason that the LORD told Hosea to stop having sexual relations with Gomer in 3:3. The reason was to illustrate that the LORD will refrain from closeness to Israel. Some versions use a phrase that makes this connection between 3:3 and 3:4 more explicit. For example:

This shows that…. (NLT)

In just this way…. (GNT)

Use a natural way in your language to introduce this connection.

the Israelites: See the note on the same phrase in 3:1c.

must live many days: This is the same phrase as in 3:3a. You should translate this phrase in a way that shows the parallel between Gomer and Israel. For example, the GNT has “for a long time” in both verses.

without king or prince: During the time that the people of Israel are in exile, the Assyrians will rule them. They will not be able to govern themselves anymore. In Hebrew, the word prince refers here to any leader, chief, or official who serves in the government of the king, the highest ruler.BDB (#8269), Pusey (page 43), and Macintosh (page 105).

Here are some other ways to translate these terms:

without kings or leaders (GNT)

without king and without officials (NJPS)

3:4b

without sacrifice or sacred pillar,

During that time, they will not be able to make sacrifices. Nor will they have the opportunity to worship other gods at sacred stone pillars.
They will also have no way to sacrifice animals to Yahweh, and they will have no statues that they have set up to worship idols.

without sacrifice: When the people are in exile, they will no longer be able to make animal sacrifices. This term can refer to sacrifices to the LORD or sacrifices to idols. At that time, the people worshiped both the LORD and idols, so if possible, translate it so that it can refer to either kind of sacrifice. For example:

there will be no animal sacrifices

they will not be able to make sacrifices

If you need to specify the LORD or idols, you should specify the LORD. This gives a better contrast with the pagan worship indicated by the next term.Commentaries that support a contrast between sacrifices (made to Yahweh) and pagan worship involving stone pillars include Pusey, Wood, McComiskey, and Davies. Wood (page 183) says that the Israelites would be “without proper or improper means of worship.” Pusey (page 43) says: “not following after idolatries, yet cut off from the sacrificial worship which he had appointed for forgiveness of sins.”

sacred pillar: In Hebrew, this word is literally “a pillar.” It refers to a tall, thin pillar or column made of stone that was placed vertically in the ground. Some scholars think that these pillars were statues or idols of pagan gods that the people used in their worship.Lange (page 47) uses the word “statues.” Hubbard (page 94) says that they were “Canaanite columns that symbolized male deities.” Pusey (page 43) identifies them as “images,…the visible form of the beings, whom they worshiped instead of God.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

sacred stone pillars (GNT)

stones that they set up for worshiping idols

3:4c

and without ephod or idol.

And during that time, there will not be an ephod or any teraphim.
Moreover, there will be no High Priest with the embroidered vest/garment that has objects to use to get answers/guidance from Yahweh. There will also be no household idols/gods for the people to consult.
There will be nothing for people to use if they want Yahweh’s guidance or even guidance from the small idols in their homes.

without ephod: The ephod that is mentioned here was probably used by the High Priest.Other types of ephod mentioned in the OT include 1) a simple linen garment worn by priests (1 Samuel 2:18) and 2) an object used for divination that sometimes accompanied household idols (Judges 8:27). It was an embroidered sleeveless vest to which was attached a breast piece that contained the Urim and Thummim. The High Priest used these objects to ask the LORD for guidance (Exodus 28:6–15, 28–30).

Here are some ways to translate this term:

Transliterate the Hebrew term ephod. The BSB and many other versions do not add any details that describe the ephod or its intended function.
Translate a brief description of an ephod along with its function. For example:
without any embroidered garment that has objects to use to get answers from the LORD.
Translate the function of an ephod or the High Priest in obtaining guidance from the LORD. For example:
without anything to use to contact the LORD
without a High Priest to ask the LORD for guidance

With any of these options, consider adding a footnote that gives more information. Here is a suggested footnote:

In Hebrew, the word ephod refers here to an embroidered vest/garment that the High Priest wore. In a pocket/pouch attached to this garment were two small objects called Urim and Thummim. (Exodus 28:6–15, 28–30). He used them to find out what the LORD wanted the nation of Israel to do.

idol: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as idol is literally “teraphim.” It refers to small household idols that represented pagan gods or the spirits of dead ancestors. The people consulted them for guidance.Davies (page 104) says that these idols represented either “household gods or the spirits of dead ancestors.” Hubbard (page 94) says they were “small figures of deities thought to grant protection and guidance.”

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

Transliterate the Hebrew term teraphim, as in the REB.
Translate a brief description of teraphim. For example:
family idols (GW)
household gods (ESV)

Parallel HOS 3:4

Section 3:1–5: Hosea redeemed Gomer as the LORD will redeem Israel

Paragraph 3:4–5

3:4a

3:4b

3:4c