Hosea 9:9-10
New English Translation
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
9 They have sunk deep into corruption[a]
as in the days of Gibeah.
He will remember their wrongdoing.
He will repay them for their sins.
10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the wilderness.
I viewed your ancestors[b] like an early fig on a fig tree in its first season.
Then they came to Baal Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame—
they became as detestable as what they loved.
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:9 tn Or more literally, “they are deeply corrupted.” The two verbs הֶעְמִיקוּ־שִׁחֵתוּ (heʿmiqu shikhetu; literally, “they have made deep, they act corruptly”) are coordinated without a conjunction vav to form a verbal hendiadys: the second verb represents the main idea, while the first functions adverbially (GKC 386-87 §120.g). Here Gesenius suggests: “they are deeply/radically corrupted.” Several translations mirror the syntax of this hendiadys: “They have deeply corrupted themselves” (KJV, ASV, NRSV), “They have been grievously corrupt” (NJPS), and “They are hopelessly evil” (TEV). Others reverse the syntax for the sake of a more graphic English idiom: “They have gone deep in depravity” (NASB) and “They have sunk deep into corruption” (NIV). Some translations fail to represent the hendiadys at all: “You are brutal and corrupt” (CEV). The translation “They are deeply corrupted” mirrors the Hebrew syntax, but “They have sunk deep into corruption” seems preferable as a more graphic English idiom (cf. NAB “They have sunk to the depths of corruption”).
- Hosea 9:10 tn Heb “fathers”; a number of more recent English versions use the more general “ancestors” here.
Hosea 9:9-10
International Standard Version
9 They have corrupted themselves deeply,
as did Gibeah[a] in its day.
Therefore God[b] will remember their lawlessness,
and he will pay them back for their sins.
10 “I found Israel,
as one finds[c] grapes in the wilderness;
Your ancestors seemed to me like the fruit
gleaned from a fig tree’s first harvest.
When they went to Baal-peor,[d]
they devoted themselves to that filth,
and they became loathsome,
like what they loved.
Footnotes
- Hosea 9:9 Cf. Judg 19:1
- Hosea 9:9 Lit. he
- Hosea 9:10 The Heb. lacks finds
- Hosea 9:10 Cf. Num 25:1-3
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