12:11 Is there idolatry 1 in Gilead? 2
Certainly its inhabitants 3 will come to nothing! 4
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!
12:12 Jacob fled to the country of Aram,
then Israel worked 5 to acquire a wife;
he tended sheep to pay for her.
12:13 The Lord brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet,
and due to a prophet 6 Israel 7 was preserved alive. 8
12:14 But Ephraim bitterly 9 provoked him to anger;
so he will hold him accountable for the blood he has shed, 10
his Lord 11 will repay him for the contempt he has shown. 12
1 tn The noun אָוֶן (’aven) has a broad range of meanings which includes: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry. Cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols.”
2 tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (’im) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”
3 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn The noun שָׁוְא (shav’, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (’aven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).
5 tn Heb “served” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “earned a wife.”
6 tn Heb “by a prophet” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Heb “was protected”; NASB “was kept.” The verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to watch, guard, keep, protect”) is repeated in 12:13-14 HT (12:12-13 ET). This repetition creates parallels between Jacob’s sojourn in Aram and Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness. Jacob “tended = kept” (שָׁמַר) sheep in Aram, and Israel was “preserved = kept” (נִשְׁמָר, nishmar) by Moses in the wilderness.
9 tn The noun תַּמְרוּרִים (tamrurim, “bitter things”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner, modifying the finite verb: “He bitterly provoked Him to anger” (GKC 375 §118.q). The plural form of the noun functions as a plural of intensity: “very bitterly.” For the adverbial function of the accusative, see IBHS 172-73 §10.2.2e.
10 tn Heb “He will leave his blood upon him”; NIV “will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed.”
11 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
12 tn Heb “for his contempt” (so NIV); NRSV “for his insults”; NAB “for his outrage.”