Discovery BoxHosea 9:6 
Context9:6 Look! 1 Even if 2 they flee from the destruction,
Egypt will take hold 3 of them,
and Memphis will bury them.
The weeds will inherit the silver they treasure 4 –
thorn bushes will occupy their homes. 5
Hosea 10:14
Context10:14 The roar of battle will rise against your people;
all your fortresses will be devastated,
just as Shalman devastated 6 Beth Arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children.
Hosea 12:11
Context12:11 Is there idolatry 7 in Gilead? 8
Certainly its inhabitants 9 will come to nothing! 10
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!
Hosea 13:8
Context13:8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her cubs –
I will rip open their chests.
I will devour them there like a lion –
like a wild animal would tear them apart.
1 tn The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Behold!”) is used frequently in prophetic announcements, introducing a solemn or important declaration, particularly in threats of judgment (BDB 244 s.v. הִנֵּה b.β). Many modern English versions leave this particle untranslated here.
2 tn The conjunction כִּי (ki) introduces a concessive clause: “Although, when, if, even if” (BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c.β). It has a force approximating “even if” (so NIV, NCV, NRSV, CEV, NLT), but it represents a situation as more likely to occur than אִם (‘im, “if”). The concessive use of כִּי is normally followed by an imperfect, but occasionally a perfect is used, as is the case here (e.g., Mic 7:8; Nah 1:10; Pss 21:12; 119:83).
3 tn The verb קָבַץ (qavats, “to gather together”) should be nuanced “grab hold” in this context (HALOT 1063 s.v. קבץ). This pictures a personified Egypt taking the fugitives prisoner.
4 tn Heb “the treasured things of their silver”; NASB, NIV, TEV, NLT “treasures of silver.”
5 tn Heb “their tents” (so NIV, NRSV); CEV “your tents.”
6 tn Heb “as the devastation of Shalman.” The genitive noun שַׁלְמַן (shalman, “Shalman”) functions as a subjective genitive: “as Shalman devastated [Beth Arbel].”
7 tn The noun אָוֶן (’aven) has a broad range of meanings which includes: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry. Cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols.”
8 tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (’im) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”
9 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn The noun שָׁוְא (shav’, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (’aven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).
