Discovery BoxHosea 2:5 
Context2:5 For their mother has committed adultery;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will seek out 1 my lovers; 2
they are the ones who give me my bread and my water,
my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine. 3
Hosea 2:7
Context2:7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch 4 them;
she will seek them, but she will not find them. 5
Then she will say,
“I will go back 6 to my husband, 7
because I was better off then than I am now.” 8
Hosea 6:3
Context6:3 So let us acknowledge him! 9
Let us seek 10 to acknowledge 11 the Lord!
He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn,
as certainly as the winter rain comes,
as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”
1 tn Heb “I will go after” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
2 sn This statement alludes to the practice of sexual rites in the Canaanite fertility cult which attempted to secure agricultural fertility from the Canaanite gods (note the following reference to wool, flax, olive oil, and wine).
3 tn Heb “my drinks.” Many English versions use the singular “drink” here, but cf. NCV, TEV, CEV “wine.”
4 tn Heb “overtake” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NLT “be able to catch up with.”
5 tn In the Hebrew text the accusative direct object pronoun אֹתָם (’otam, “them”) is omitted/elided for balanced poetic parallelism. The LXX supplies αὐτους (autous, “them”); but it is not necessary to emend the MT because this is a poetic literary convention rather than a textual problem.
6 tn Heb “I will go and return” (so NRSV). The two verbs joined with vav form a verbal hendiadys. Normally, the first verb functions adverbially and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h). The Hebrew phrase אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה (’elkhah vÿ’ashuvah, “I will go and I will return”) connotes, “I will return again.” As cohortatives, both verbs emphasize the resolution of the speaker.
7 tn Heb “to my man, the first.” Many English translations (e.g., KJV, NAB, NRSV, TEV) take this as “my first husband,” although this implies that there was more than one husband involved. The text refers to multiple lovers, but these were not necessarily husbands.
8 tn Or “because it was better for me then than now” (cf. NCV).
9 tn The object (“him”) is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “let us pursue in order to know.” The Hebrew term רָדַף (radaf, “to pursue”) is used figuratively: “to aim to secure” (BDB 923 s.v. רָדַף 2). It describes the pursuit of a moral goal: “Do not pervert justice…nor accept a bribe…pursue [רָדַף] justice” (Deut 16:20); “those who pursue [רָדַף] righteousness and who seek [בָּקַשׁ, baqash] the
11 tn The Hebrew infinitive construct with לְ (lamed) denotes purpose: “to know” (לָדַעַת, lada’at).
