Hosea 2:6

Therefore, I will soon ¹  fence her in ²  with thorns; I will wall her in ³  so that ⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁵ 

Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.

"Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, And I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.

"But I will fence her in with thornbushes. I will block the road to make her lose her way.

But I'll fix her: I'll dump her in a field of thistles, then lose her in a dead-end alley.

For this cause I will put thorns in her road, building up a wall round her so that she may not go on her way.

Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns; and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths.

"Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths.

Therefore, I will soon ¹  fence her in ²  with thorns; I will wall her in ³  so that ⁴  she cannot find her way. ⁵ 

¹ tn The deictic particle הִנְנִי (hinni, “Behold!”) introduces a future-time reference participle that refers to imminent future action: “I am about to” (TEV “I am going to”).

² tn Heb “I will hedge up her way”; NIV “block her path.”

³ tn Heb “I will wall in her wall.” The cognate accusative construction וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת־גְּדֵרָהּ (vÿgadarti ’et-gÿderah, “I will wall in her wall”) is an emphatic literary device. The 3rd person feminine singular suffix on the noun functions as a dative of disadvantage: “as a wall against her” (A. B. Davidson, Hebrew Syntax, 3, remark 2). The expression means “I will build a wall to bar her way.” Cf. KJV “I will make a wall”; TEV “I will build a wall”; RSV, NASB, NRSV “I will build a wall against her”; NLT “I will fence her in.”

⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (object followed by negated verb) introduces a clause which can be understood as either purpose or result.

⁵ tn Heb “her paths” (so NAB, NRSV).