Hosea 2:8-9

Agricultural Fertility Withdrawn from Israel

2:8 Yet¹ until now² she has refused to acknowledge³ that I⁴ was the one

who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil;

and that it was I who⁵ lavished on her the silver and gold –

which they⁶ used in worshiping Baal!⁷

2:9 Therefore, I will take back⁸ my grain during the harvest time⁹

and my new wine when it ripens;¹⁰

I will take away my wool and my flax

which I had provided¹¹ in order to clothe her.¹²

¹tn Or “For” (so KJV, NASB); or “But” (so NCV).

²tn The phrase “until now” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

³tn Heb “she does not know” (so NASB, NCV); or “she does not acknowledge.”

⁴tn The 1st person common singular independent personal pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) is emphatic, since the subject of this verbal clause is already explicit in the verb נָתַתִּי (natatti, Qal perfect 1st person common singular: “I gave”).

⁵tn The phrase “that it was I who” does not appear in the Hebrew text here, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁶sn The third person plural here is an obvious reference to the Israelites who had been unfaithful to the Lord in spite of all that he had done for them. To maintain the imagery of Israel as the prostitute, a third person feminine singular would be called for; in the interest of literary consistency this has been supplied in some English translations (e.g., NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

⁷tn Heb “for Baal” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); cf. TEV “in the worship of Baal.”

⁸tn Heb “I will return and I will take.” The two verbs joined with vav conjunction form a verbal hendiadys in which the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h): אָשׁוּב וְלָקַחְתִּי (’ashuv vÿlaqakhti) means “I will take back.”

⁹tn Heb “in its time” (so NAB, NRSV).

¹⁰tn Heb “in its season” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

¹¹tn The words “which I had provided” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; cf. NIV “intended to cover.”

¹²tn Heb “to cover her nakedness” (so KJV and many other English versions); TEV “for clothing.”

sn This announcement of judgment is extremely ironic and forcefully communicates poetic justice: The punishment will fit the crime. The Israelites were literally uncovering their nakedness in temple prostitution in the Baal fertility cult rituals. Yahweh will, in effect, give them what they wanted (nakedness) but not in the way they wanted it: Yahweh will withhold the agricultural fertility they sought from Baal which would lead to nakedness caused by impoverishment.