Discovery BoxHosea 4:1 
Context4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites! 1
For the Lord has a covenant lawsuit 2 against the people of Israel. 3
For there is neither faithfulness nor loyalty in the land,
nor do they acknowledge God. 4
Hosea 4:6
Context4:6 You have destroyed 5 my people
by failing to acknowledge me!
Because you refuse to acknowledge me, 6
I will reject you as my priests.
Because you reject 7 the law of your God,
I will reject 8 your descendants.
1 tn Heb “sons of Israel” (so NASB); KJV “children of Israel”; NAB, NRSV “people of Israel.”
2 tn The noun רִיב (riv, “dispute, lawsuit”) is used in two contexts: (1) nonlegal contexts: (a) “dispute” between individuals (e.g., Gen 13:7; Isa 58:1; Jer 15:10) or (b) “brawl; quarrel” between people (e.g., Exod 17:7; Deut 25:1); and (2) legal contexts: (a) “lawsuit; legal process” (e.g., Exod 23:3-6; Deut 19:17; 21:5; Ezek 44:24; Ps 35:23), (b) “lawsuit; legal case” (e.g., Deut 1:12; 17:8; Prov 18:17; 25:9), and (c) God’s “lawsuit” on behalf of a person or against his own people (Hos 4:1; 12:3; Mic 6:2; HALOT 1225-26 s.v. רִיב). The term in Hosea refers to a covenant lawsuit in which Yahweh the suzerain lodges a legal case against his disobedient vassal, accusing Israel and Judah of breach of covenant which will elicit the covenant curses.
3 tn Heb “with the inhabitants of the land” (so KJV); NAB, NASB, NRSV “against the inhabitants of the land.”
4 tn Heb “there is no truthfulness nor loyalty nor knowledge of God in the land.” Here “knowledge of God” refers to recognition of his authority and obedience to his will.
5 tn Heb “they have destroyed” or “my people are destroyed” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
6 tn Heb “Because you reject knowledge”; NLT “because they don’t know me.”
7 tn Heb “have forgotten”; NAB, NIV “have ignored.”
8 tn Heb “forget” (so KJV, NRSV); NLT “forget to bless.”
