Discovery BoxHosea 7:16 
Contextthey are like an unreliable bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because their prayers to Baal 2 have made me angry.
So people will disdain them in the land of Egypt. 3
Hosea 13:16
Context13:16 (14:1) 4 Samaria will be held guilty, 5
because she rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
their infants will be dashed to the ground –
their 6 pregnant women will be ripped open.
1 tc The MT reads the enigmatic יָשׁוּבוּ לֹא עָל (yashuvu lo’ ’al) which is taken variously: “they turn, but not upward” (NASB); “they do not turn to the Most High” (NIV); “they return, but not to the most High” (KJV). The BHS editors suggest יָשׁוּבוּ לַבַּעַל (yashuvu labba’al, “they turn to Baal”; so RSV) or יָשׁוּבוּ לַבְּלִיַּעַל (yashuvu labbÿliyya’al, “they turn to Belial”) which is reflected by the LXX.
2 tn Heb “because their tongue.” The term “tongue” is used figuratively, as a metonymy of cause (tongue) for the effect (prayers to Baal).
3 tn Heb “this [will] be for scorn in the land of Egypt”; NIV “they will be ridiculed (NAB shall be mocked) in the land of Egypt.”
4 sn Beginning with 13:16, the verse numbers through 14:9 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 13:16 ET = 14:1 HT, 14:1 ET = 14:2 HT, etc., through 14:9 ET = 14:10 HT. Thus ch. 14 in the Hebrew Bible has 10 verses.
5 tn Or “must bear its guilt” (NIV similar); NLT “must bear the consequences of their guilt”; CEV “will be punished.”
6 tn Heb “his.” This is a collective singular, as recognized by almost all English versions.
