5:13 When Ephraim saw 1 his sickness
and Judah saw his wound,
then Ephraim turned 2 to Assyria,
and begged 3 its great king 4 for help.
But he will not be able to heal you!
He cannot cure your wound! 5
8:13 They offer up sacrificial gifts to me,
and eat the meat,
but the Lord does not accept their sacrifices. 6
Soon he will remember their wrongdoing,
he will punish their sins,
and they will return to Egypt.
12:1 Ephraim continually feeds on the wind;
he chases the east wind all day;
he multiplies lies and violence.
They make treaties 7 with Assyria,
and send olive oil as tribute 8 to Egypt.
1 tn Hosea employs three preterites (vayyiqtol forms) in verse 13a-b to describe a past-time situation.
2 tn Heb “went to” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); CEV “asked help from.”
3 tn Heb “sent to” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
4 tc The MT reads מֶלֶךְ יָרֵב (melekh yarev, “a contentious king”). This is translated as a proper name (“king Jareb”) by KJV, ASV, NASB. However, the stative adjective יָרֵב (“contentious”) is somewhat awkward. The words should be redivided as an archaic genitive-construct מַלְכִּי רָב (malki rav, “great king”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) which preserves the old genitive hireq yod ending. This is the equivalent of the Assyrian royal epithet sarru rabbu (“the great king”). See also the tc note on the same phrase in 10:6.
5 tn Heb “your wound will not depart from you.”
sn Hosea personifies Ephraim’s “wound” as if it could depart from the sickly Ephraim (see the formal equivalent rendering in the preceding tn). Ephraim’s sinful action in relying upon an Assyrian treaty for protection will not dispense with its problems.
6 tn Heb “does not accept them”; the referent (their sacrifices) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “a treaty” (so NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “a covenant”; NAB “comes to terms.”
8 tn The phrase “as tribute” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. NCV “send a gift of olive oil.”