Discovery BoxHosea 5:13 
Context5:13 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
Hosea 10:11
Context10:11 Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain;
I myself put a fine yoke 6 on her neck.
I will harness Ephraim.
Let Judah plow! 7
Let Jacob break up 8 the unplowed ground for himself!
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 tc The MT is unintelligible: עַל־טוּב (’al-tuv, “upon a fine [thing]”?). Cf. KJV “I passed over upon her fair neck”; NRSV “I spared her fair neck.” The BHS editors suggest the revocalization עֹל־טוּב (’ol-tuv, “a fine yoke”), followed by many modern English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT). The noun עֹל (’ol, “yoke”) also appears in 11:4 in a metaphor which compares Israel to a young heifer as well.
7 tn Or “Judah will plow” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV, CEV “Judah must plow.”
8 tn Or “Jacob will break up.”
