Discovery BoxHosea 8:1 
ContextAn eagle 2 looms over the temple of the Lord!
For they have broken their covenant with me, 3
and have rebelled against my law.
Hosea 12:2
Context12:2 The Lord also has a covenant lawsuit 4 against Judah;
he will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
1 tn Heb “A horn unto your gums!”; NAB “A trumpet to your lips!”
2 tn Or perhaps “A vulture.” Some identify the species indicated by the Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) as the griffon vulture (cf. NEB, NRSV).
3 tn Heb “my covenant” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “the covenant I made with them.”
4 tn The noun רִיב (riv, “dispute”) 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. Cf. NLT “is bringing a lawsuit.”
