HOS 9:14 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, 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 Δὸς αὐτοῖς Κύριε, τί δώσεις αὐτοῖς; μήτραν ἀτεκνοῦσαν, καὶ μαστοὺς ξηρούς.
(Dos autois Kurie, ti dōseis autois; maʸtran ateknousan, kai mastous xaʸrous. )

BrTr Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give them? a miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

ULT Give them, O Yahweh—what will you give?
⇔ Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

UST Hosea says, Yahweh, give them—
⇔ what should you give them?
⇔ Give them wombs that miscarry,
⇔ and let their mothers’ breasts have no milk for their babies.

OEB Give them, Lord – what will you give?
⇔ Give them a miscarrying womb and shrivelled up breasts!

WEBBE Give them—LORD what will you give?
⇔ Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Give them, O Lord –
⇔ what will you give them?
⇔ Give them wombs that miscarry,
⇔ and breasts that cannot nurse!

LSV Give to them, YHWH—what do You give? Give to them miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

FBV Give them—well, Lord, what should you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and dry breasts.[fn]

9:14 Since Baal worship centered on fertility, barrenness was a clear punishment, opposite of what fertility gods claimed.

T4T ⇔ Yahweh, I do not know [RHQ] what I should ask for my people.
⇔ So I ask that you do this one thing:
⇔ Cause the women who are pregnant to have miscarriages
⇔ and unable to nurse their babies.

LEB • Give them, O Yahweh— what will you give them?
• Give them a miscarrying womb
• and dry breasts.

BBE O Lord, what will you give them? Give them bodies which may not give birth and breasts without milk.

Moff Give them, O Eternal – what?
⇔ wombs that miscarry,
⇔ withered breasts!

JPS Give them, O LORD, whatsoever Thou wilt give; give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

ASV Give them, O Jehovah—what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

DRA Give them, O Lord. What wilt thou give them? Give them a womb without children, and dry breasts.

YLT Give to them, Jehovah — what dost Thou give? Give to them miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

Drby Give them, Jehovah — what wilt thou give? — give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

RV Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
(Give them, Oh LORD: what wilt/will thou/you give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breast/chests. )

SLT Give to them, O Jehovah: what wilt thou give? give to them a miscarrying womb, and dry breasts.

Wbstr Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

KJB-1769 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.[fn]
(Give them, Oh LORD: what wilt/will thou/you give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breast/chests. )

9.14 miscarrying: Heb. that casteth the fruit

KJB-1611 [fn]Giue them, O LORD: what wilt thou giue? giue them a miscarying wombe, and drie breasts.
(Give them, Oh LORD: what wilt/will thou/you give? give them a miscarrying womb, and dry breast/chests.)

9:14 Heb. that casteth the fruite.

Bshps O Lorde geue them: what shalt thou geue them? Geue them an vnfruitfull wombe, and drye breastes.
(Oh Lord give them: what shalt/shall thou/you give them? Give them an unfruitful womb, and dry breast/chests.)

Gnva O Lord, giue them: what wilt thou giue them? giue them a baren wombe and drie breasts.
(Oh Lord, give them: what wilt/will thou/you give them? give them a barren womb and dry breast/chests. )

Cvdl O LORDE thou shalt geue them: what shalt thou geue them? geue them an vnfrutefull wombe and drye brestes.
(Oh LORD thou/you shalt/shall give them: what shalt/shall thou/you give them? give them an unfruitful womb and dry breast/chests.)

Wycl Lord, yyue thou to hem; what schalt thou yyue to hem? yyue thou to hem a wombe with out children, and drie tetis.
(Lord, give thou/you to hem; what shalt/shall thou/you give to hem? give thou/you to hem a womb with out children, and dry teats/nipples.)

Luth HErr, gib ihnen! Was willst du ihnen aber geben? Gib ihnen unfruchtbare Leiber und versiegene Brüste!
(LORD, give to_them! What want you(sg) to_them but give? Give to_them barrene bodies and dry_up breasts!)

ClVg Da eis, Domine. Quid dabis eis? da eis vulvam sine liberis, et ubera arentia.
(Give to_them, Master. What you(sg)_will_give to_them? give to_them womb without freedom, and breasts aridity. )

SOTN SIL Open Translation Notes:

Section 9:10–17: The sins of the Israelites and the response of the LORD

This section describes the joyful beginning of the LORD’s relationship with the people of Israel and the shocking way that they responded by betraying him. Because of their sin and betrayal, it is necessary for the LORD to judge them.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Israel’s Sin and Its Consequences (GNT)

Sin’s Terrible Results (CEV)

Paragraph 9:14

This paragraph gives Hosea’s prayer.

9:14

Give them, O LORD—what will You give? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that dry up!: This verse is a prayer of Hosea. There are two main ways to interpret the intent of the prayer:

This is a prayer directed against the people.The technical name for such a prayer is “imprecatory.” To imprecate means to invoke evil or to curse something. See Merriam-Webster “Imprecate.” Hosea asks the LORD to fulfill the punishment of 9:13b in this way.Stuart (page 153), Andersen and Freedman (page 544), Keil (page 126), and Wood (page 207). For example:
Lord, give them what they deserve. Make the women miscarry, or else make them unable to nurse their babies. (GW) (GNT, GW, NCV, REB)
This is a prayer on behalf of the people. Hosea asks the LORD to make the punishment of 9:13b less severe in this way. If fewer children are born, then fewer children will be slaughtered later. For example:
O Lord, what should I request for your people? I will ask for wombs that don't give birth and breasts that give no milk. (NLT) (CEV, NLT)Both these versions use the phrase, “for your people.” This implies that the prayer is for something positive rather than negative. However, neither version makes explicit what is positive about the request.

In many versions, the intent of this prayer is left implied. In those versions, either of the interpretations above could apply. In some languages, it may be preferable to make the intent of the prayer explicit. If that is true in your language, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). There are at least two reasons:

This verse matches the pattern used elsewhere in the OT of a rhetorical question followed by a curse.Davies (page 229).
Hosea 9:16 has similar expressions, and that verse is clearly directed against the people.Andersen and Freedman (page 544) states that Hosea “is urging YHWH to proceed with the extreme penalties, endorsing what YHWH says in verses 12 and 16 about murdering the children.”

9:14a

Give them, O LORD—what will You give?

¶ “O Yahweh, give them what is fitting. What will you^(sing) give them?
¶ Then Hosea said, “O Yahweh, what will you do to these people?

Give them, O LORD—what will You give?: Here the sentence that begins with the request, Give them is interrupted by a rhetorical question. The object of the phrase, Give them is not stated until the phrase is repeated in 9:14b. This interrupted sentence structure is a poetic literary device. The purpose of the device may be to create suspense.Hubbard (page 166).

In some languages, this poetic structure may be confusing and unnatural.

If that is true in your language, here are some other ways to translate this verse part:

Supply an object of Give them that describes the curse in 14b in a general way. For example:
Lord, give them what they should have. What will you give them? (NCV)
Do not include the first phrase, Give them. Instead, start the sentence with the rhetorical question. For example:
What shall I ask you to do to these people? (GNT)

what will You give?: This is a rhetorical question. This is not a request for information. Its function is probably to state, “I know what you should give.”Andersen and Freedman (page 544). Some versions express this as a statement instead of a question. For example:

Our Lord, do just one thing for your people— (CEV)

9:14b–c

Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that dry up!

Give them stillborn babies and breasts without milk!”
Prevent them from giving birth to children who are alive, and take away their ability to nurse/breastfeed their babies!”

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^14bGive them wombs that miscarry

^14cand breasts that dry up!

Together these lines are a curse.Stuart (page 153) and Davies (page 229). They are the opposite of a traditional blessing for many healthy, nursing children (see Genesis 49:25).Macintosh (page 374) and Dearman (pages 254–255).

Give them: The pronoun them is masculine here. It indicates that the curse is against the men and women of the nation, not the women only.Andersen and Freedman (page 544).

There is an ellipsis of the words Give them in 9:14c. In some languages, this phrase may need to be supplied from 9:14b. For example:

Give them wombs that miscarry and give them breasts that are dry.

wombs that miscarry: There are two ways to interpret the form of the Hebrew word that the BSB translates as miscarry:

The phrase means wombs that miscarry. It refers to women whose babies die in the womb. The babies are born dead. For example:
Make the women miscarry (GW) (BSB, ESV, GW, KJV, NASB, NET, NIV, NJB, NJPS, NRSV, REB)
The phrase means “womb that is barren.” It refers to a woman who is unable to have children. For example:
Make their women barren! (GNT) (CEV, GNT, NAB, NCV, NLT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions and all lexicons.TWOT, NIDOTTE, HALOT, and BDB all identify the Hiphil participle used here as indicating miscarriage. They all mention Hosea 9:14 specifically. McComiskey, Andersen and Freedman, and Macintosh favor miscarriage. Dearman, Stuart, Pusey, and Keil favor barrenness.

breasts that dry up!: This phrase indicates that women have no breast milk to nurse a child.

In some languages, it may be more natural to speak of wombs and breasts in other ways. For example, it may be more natural to refer specifically to women or to refer only to the functions of giving birth and nursing. Here are some other ways to translate this verse part:

Make the wombs of their women miscarry and make their breasts dry.

make their children die before they are born and make them unable to nurse their babies.

Parallel HOS 9:14

Section 9:10–17: The sins of the Israelites and the response of the LORD

Paragraph 9:14

9:14

9:14a

9:14b–c