HOS 8:9 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=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

8:9 OSHB note: Marks a place where we agree with BHQ against BHS in reading L.

8:9 OSHB note: Marks an anomalous form.

8:9 OSHB note: We read punctuation in L differently from BHS.

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 ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἀνέβησαν εἰς Ἀσσυρίους· ἀνέθαλε καθʼ ἑαυτὸν Ἐφραίμ· δῶρα ἠγάπησαν,
(hoti autoi anebaʸsan eis Assurious; anethale kathʼ heauton Efraim; dōra aʸgapaʸsan, )

BrTr For they have gone up to the Assyrians: Ephraim has been strengthened against himself; they loved gifts.

ULT For they have gone up to Assyria,
⇔ a wild donkey all alone.
⇔ Ephraim has hired lovers for herself.

UST They asked the king of Assyria for help;
⇔ they were like a wild donkey wandering off by itself.
⇔ The people of Israel have tried to pay other nations to protect them.

8:9 That is, the northern kingdom of Israel; also in verse 11

OEB For by themselves they have gone up to Assyria
⇔ like a wild donkey which wanders by itself.
⇔ Ephraim pays for love

WEBBE For they have gone up to Assyria,
⇔ like a wild donkey wandering alone.
⇔ Ephraim has hired lovers for himself.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET They have gone up to Assyria,
⇔ like a wild donkey that wanders off.
⇔ Ephraim has hired prostitutes as lovers.

LSV For they have gone up [to] Asshur,
A wild donkey alone by himself [is] Ephraim,
They have hired lovers!

FBV They have gone up to Assyria like a donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has hired lovers.

T4T Like [MET] donkeys that are looking for mates,
⇔ they have requested help from Assyria;
⇔ they paid money to the leaders of Assyria
⇔ in order to persuade those leaders to protect them.

LEB • For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey alone to itself;
• Ephraim has sold itself for lovers.

BBE For they have gone up to Assyria like an ass going by himself; Ephraim has given money to get lovers.

Moff They have gone off to Assyria wilfully,
⇔ like a wild ass by himself;
⇔ they have offered love-gifts to Egypt.

JPS For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself; Ephraim hath hired lovers.

ASV For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

DRA For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath given gifts to his lovers.

YLT For they — they have gone up [to] Asshur, A wild ass alone by himself [is] Ephraim, They have hired lovers!

Drby For they are gone up [to] Assyria [as] a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

RV For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.
(For they are gone up to Assyria, like a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath/has hired lovers. )

SLT For they went up to Assur, Ephraim a wild ass alone to himself: they hired those loving.

Wbstr For they have gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

KJB-1769 For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.[fn]
(For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath/has hired lovers. )

8.9 lovers: Heb. loves

KJB-1611 [fn]For they are gone vp to Assyria, a wilde Asse alone by himselfe; Ephraim hath hired louers.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation and footnotes)

8:9 Heb. loues.

Bshps For they haue gone vp to Assyria and are as a wilde asse solitarie by him selfe: Ephraim hath hired louers.
(For they have gone up to Assyria and are as a wild ass solitary by himself: Ephraim hath/has hired lovers.)

Gnva For they are gone vp to Asshur: they are as a wilde asse alone by himselfe: Ephraim hath hired louers.
(For they are gone up to Asshur: they are as a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath/has hired lovers. )

Cvdl Sens they went vp to the Assirians, they are become like a wylde asse in the deserte. Ephraim geueth rewardes to get louers,
(Since they went up to the Assirians, they are become like a wild ass in the desert. Ephraim giveth/gives rewards to get lovers,)

Wycl for thei stieden to Assur. Effraym is a wielde asse, solitarie to hym silf. Thei yauen yiftis to louyeris;
(for they stayed to Assur. Ephraim is a wild ass, solitary to himself. They gave gifts to lovers;)

Luth darum daß sie hinauf zum Assur laufen wie ein Wild in der Irre. Ephraim schenkt den Buhlern und gibt den Heiden Tribut.
(therefore that they/she/them up for_the Assur run(v) as/like a Wild in the/of_the lunatic/crazy_(one). Ephraim gives the courting_(ones)rn and gives the heathens tribute.)

ClVg Quia ipsi ascenderunt ad Assur, onager solitarius sibi; Ephraim munera dederunt amatoribus.
(Because themselves they_went_up to Assur, onager solitary/alone to_himself; Ephraim gifts they_gave lovesoribus. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 8:1–14: The Israelites will be punished for rejecting the LORD

In this section, the LORD warned the nation of Israel that enemies were ready to attack them, because they had rejected him and broken their agreement to obey his laws (8:1–3). They disobeyed him by choosing their own leaders (8:4a–b) and making idols (8:4c–6). Their alliance with Assyria failed, and they became weak agriculturally and also politically as a nation. Verse 8:10 predicts their future punishment as slaves in Assyria (8:7–10). The LORD did not accept the sacrifices they offered to him, because they continued to sin, so their cities faced total destruction (11–14).The TN analysis of this section follows the paragraph divisions used in a majority of English versions. The summary combines ideas from McComiskey (page 118), Davies (page 193), and Stuart (pages 126–127).

Here are some other examples of section headings:

The Lord Will Punish Israel for Its Rebellion (GW)

The LORD warned Israel that enemies would attack them

Warning that Israel will be Punished

Throughout this section, the LORD is the speaker. He referred to himself using first person pronouns (“I/me/my”) except for verse 13b–d, which has “he.” In this section, the Hebrew text almost always uses “they” or “he/it” to refer to the people or nation of Israel. The only exceptions are 8:1 and 8:5, which use the pronoun “your.” The CEV uses “you/your” consistently to refer to Israel. Most other versions use third person pronouns. The Display will follow the BSB pronoun choice in the first meaning line. It will often use “you/your” in the second meaning line.

Paragraph 8:7–10

This paragraph describes the agricultural and political weakness that resulted from Israel’s unsuccessful alliance with Assyria. It also predicts Israel’s future punishment as exiles in Assyria.

8:9a–b

This verse has two similar figures of speech. The simile in 8:9a and the metaphor in 8:9b both describe Israel’s efforts to persuade Assyria to help them. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:McComiskey (page 129) and Davies (pages 204–205).

^9aFor they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own.

^9b Ephraim has hired lovers.

8:9a

For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own.

Because they/Israel rejected their agreement with me and went to Assyria to request help. They are like a wild donkey/ass that stubbornly goes away by itself!
The reason that this happened to them/Israel is that its leaders went to Assyria to ask for their help. They refused to trust me. They are like an untamed animal that is all alone.

For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own: This simile compares the people of Israel to a wild donkey that has left the herd. The similarities are that the donkey stubbornly decided to do what it wanted and refused to follow the leader of the herd. It left the protection of the herd and went away by itself.

Similarly, the people of Israel decided not to obey the LORD or trust him to protect them. Instead, they stubbornly rejected their covenant with God, and their leaders went to the foreign nation of Assyria to request help.

Another way to translate this simile is to make explicit one or more points of similarity. For example:

Stubborn as wild donkeys, the people of Israel go their own way. They have gone off to seek help from Assyria (GNT)

Because Israel is like a wild ass that refuses to follow its leader. The people have disobeyed the Lord and decided to go by themselves to ask Assyria for help.

For: In Hebrew, this word probably introduces the reason or explanation for the result in 8:8b that Israel had become worthless.McComiskey (page 129) says that ki introduces the reason for 8:8b. Macintosh (page 317) agrees that Israel’s political “bankruptcy” in 8:8a–b was the result of her appeals to Assyria for help.

Here are some ways to introduce this reason/explanation:

Use a conjunction. For example:
For/Because they traveled to Assyria
Use an explanatory phrase. For example:
The reason that this has happened to Israel is that their leaders went to Assyria

Use a natural way in your language to indicate that 8:9a is a reason or explanation for 8:8b.

they: In this context, they refers mainly to the leaders or official representatives of the nation of Israel.According to Dearman, Stuart, Andersen and Freedman, Macintosh, Wood, Lange, and Davies, the ones who went up to Assyria were government leaders or official representatives who were sent to pay tribute or make other arrangements to keep Israel from further conquest. Davies (page 193) summarizes the topic of verses 8–9 as “conduct of foreign relations by the leaders.” These leaders represented the people as a whole.

Here are some other ways to translate this pronoun:

Refer to the nation or people of Israel. For example:
Israel (NCV)
the people of Israel (GNT)
Refer more specifically to the leaders. For example:
their leaders
the leaders/representatives of Israel

In Hebrew, there are two pronouns here. The Hebrew is literally “they, they have gone up…” The two pronouns emphasize that the leaders themselves had decided to go to Assyria.

have gone up to Assyria: To go to Assyria, people from Israel needed to first travel north to Damascus. They then went a long ways to the east following the Euphrates River. The words have gone up do not refer here to going uphill or to going straight north. It is suggested that you translate these words in a more general way, as in the preceding notes on the word “for.” The emphasis here is not on the exact direction of travel.

like a wild donkey: A wild donkey or “wild ass” is an untamed animal that is similar to a small horse. It normally lives in a herd in dry, wilderness areas.NIDOTTE (#7234) says the Hebrew word can refer to a “zebra or wild ass.” According to Stuart (page 134), it “was either a wild donkey, onager, or zebra.” Stuart also says that wild donkeys normally traveled in herds and lived in barren, wilderness areas. Dearman (pages 128–129) agrees that wild donkeys lived “in herds as a sociable animal.”

In languages that do not have a term for “ass” or donkey, here are some ways to translate the term:

Use the name of a similar animal in your culture. For example:
wild horse/buffalo
Use a general term. For example:
untamed animal

on its own: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “isolated/alone to itself.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

all by itself (NCV)

all alone (NJB)

8:9b

Ephraim has hired lovers.

Ephraim is like a prostitute that hires/pays men to have sex with her.
Israel has given money to other nations so that those nations would help/protect them. She is like a prostitute who pays men so that they will sleep with her.

Ephraim has hired lovers: The name Ephraim here is a figure of speech that refers to the nation of Israel. See how you translated this name in 7:8.

This statement is a metaphor that compares Ephraim to a prostitute. The word hired here refers to an unusual situation in which the prostitute “hires” or pays her lovers to have sex instead of the lovers paying the prostitute.

Here are some ways to translate this metaphor:

Keep the metaphor (BSB).
Change the metaphor to a simile. Add the nonfigurative meaning if necessary. For example:
Ephraim is like a prostitute who pays men to have sex with her.
Israel has given money to other nations to protect her. She is like a prostitute who hires lovers to sleep with her.
Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
They…have paid other nations to protect them (GNT)
You’ve…hired them as allies. (CEV)

lovers: This word refers here to the nation of Assyria and probably also Egypt. See the notes on 7:11b–c.

Parallel HOS 8:9

Section 8:1–14: The Israelites will be punished for rejecting the LORD

Paragraph 8:7–10

8:9a–b

8:9a

8:9b