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 14:3
Context14:3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not ride warhorses.
We will never again say, ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made.
For only you will show compassion to Orphan Israel!” 6
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 “For the orphan is shown compassion by you.” The present translation takes “orphan” as a figurative reference to Israel, which is specified in the translation for clarity.
