But (A)like [a]Adam they have (B)violated the covenant;
There they have (C)dealt treacherously with Me.
(D)Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
Tracked with (E)bloody footprints.
And as a (F)band of robbers lie in wait for a person,
So a band of priests (G)murder on the way to Shechem;
Certainly they have committed an act of (H)infamy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a (I)horrible thing;
Ephraim’s (J)infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself.
11 Also, Judah, there is a (K)harvest appointed for you,
When I (L)restore the fortunes of My people.

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:7 Or men

Indictments Against the Cities of Israel and Judah

At Adam[a] they broke[b] the covenant;
Oh how[c] they were unfaithful[d] to me!
Gilead is a city full of evildoers;[e]
its streets are stained with bloody footprints![f]
The company of priests is like a gang of robbers,
lying in ambush to pounce on a victim.
They commit murder on the road to Shechem;
they have done heinous crimes!
10 I have seen a disgusting thing in the house of Israel:
there Ephraim commits prostitution with other gods,[g]
and Israel defiles itself.
11 I have appointed a time to reap judgment[h] for you also, O Judah!

If Israel Would Repent of Sin, God Would Relent of Judgment

Whenever I want to restore the fortunes of my people,[i]

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 6:7 tn Or “Like Adam”; or “Like [sinful] men.” The MT reads כְּאָדָם (keʾadam, “like Adam” or “as [sinful] men”); however, the editors of BHS suggest this reflects an orthographic confusion of בְּאָדָם (beʾadam, “at Adam”), as suggested by the locative adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) in the following line. However, שָׁם sometimes functions in a nonlocative sense similar to the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Behold!”). The singular noun אָדָם (ʾadam) has been taken in several different ways: (1) proper name: “like Adam” (כְּאָדָם), (2) collective singular: “like [sinful] men” (כְּאָדָם), and (3) proper location: “at Adam,” referring to a city in the Jordan Valley (Josh 3:16), emending comparative כְּ (kaf) to locative בְּ (bet, “at”): “at Adam” (בְּאָדָם). BDB 9 s.v. אָדָם 2 suggests the collective sense, referring to sinful men (Num 5:6; 1 Kgs 8:46; 2 Chr 6:36; Jer 10:14; Job 31:33; Hos 6:7). The English versions are divided: KJV margin, ASV, RSV margin, NASB, NIV, TEV margin, NLT “like Adam”; RSV, NRSV, TEV “at Adam”; and KJV “like men.”
  2. Hosea 6:7 tn The verb עָבַר (ʿavar) refers here to breaking a covenant and carries the nuance “to overstep, transgress” (BDB 717 s.v. עָבַר 1.i); cf. NAB “violated,” NRSV “transgressed.”
  3. Hosea 6:7 tn The adverb שָׁם (sham) normally functions in a locative sense meaning “there” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָׁם). This is how it is translated by many English versions (e.g., KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, in poetry שָׁם sometimes functions in a nonlocative sense: 1) to introduce expressions of astonishment, 2) when a scene is vividly visualized in the writer’s imagination (see BDB 1027 s.v. 1.a.β), or 3) somewhat similarly to the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Behold!”): “See [שָׁם] how the evildoers lie fallen!” (Ps 36:13 HT [36:12 ET]); “Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter! See [שָׁם]! The shouting of the warrior!” (Zeph 1:14); “They saw [רָאוּ, raʾu] her and were astonished…See [שָׁם] how trembling seized them!” (Ps 48:7). In some cases, it introduces emphatic statements in a manner similar to הִנֵּה (“Behold!”): “Come and see [לְכוּ וּרְאוּ, lekhu ureʾu] what God has done…Behold [שָׁם], let us rejoice in him!” (Ps 66:5); and “See/Behold [שָׁם]! I will make a horn grow for David” (Ps 132:17). The present translation’s use of “Oh how!” in Hos 6:7 is less visual than the Hebrew idiom שָׁם (“See! See how!”), but it more closely approximates the parallel English idiom of astonishment.
  4. Hosea 6:7 tn The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “to act treacherously”) is often used in reference to faithlessness in covenant relationships (BDB 93 s.v. בָּגַד).
  5. Hosea 6:8 tn The participle phrase פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן (poʿale ʾaven, “workers of wickedness”) emphasizes continual (uninterrupted) or habitual action. This particular use of the participle is an ironic play on the professional occupation function (see IBHS 615 §37.2c). In effect, the major “professional guild” in Gilead is working evil; the people are producers of evil!
  6. Hosea 6:8 tn Heb “it is foot-tracked with blood”; cf. NAB “tracked with (+ “footprints of” in NLT) blood.”
  7. Hosea 6:10 tn “with other gods” added for clarity.
  8. Hosea 6:11 tn Heb “a harvest is appointed for you also, O Judah” (similarly ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
  9. Hosea 6:11 tc In the verse divisions of the MT (Leningrad Codex and Aleppo Codex), this is the last line of 6:11. However, the BHK and BHS editors suggest that it belongs with the beginning of 7:1. The ancient versions (Greek, Syriac, Latin) all reflect textual traditions that connect it with 6:11. The English versions are divided: some connect it with 6:11 (KJV, NASB, NLT), while others connect it with 7:1 (RSV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NJPS). The parallelism between this line and 7:1a favors connecting it with 7:1.