Hosea 6:8

Gilead is a city full of evildoers; ¹  its streets are stained with bloody footprints! ² 

Jos 21:38; 2Sa 3:27; 2Sa 20:8; 1Ki 2:5; Ps 10:8; Ps 59:2; Isa 59:6; Jer 11:19; Ho 5:1; Ho 12:11; Mic 7:2; Mt 26:15,16; Ac 23:12-15; Ac 25:3

¹ tn The participle phrase פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן (po’ale ’aven, “workers of wickedness”) emphasizes continual (uninterrupted), habitual action. This particular use of the participle is an ironic play on the professional occupation function (see IBHS 615 §37.2c). In effect, the major “professional guild” in Gilead is evil-working; the people are producers of evil!

² tn Heb “it is foot-tracked with blood”; NAB “tracked with (+ footprints of NLT) blood.”