This verse continues the threat of future punishment, but it also explains further the threat of the previous verse. In particular, this verse expands on the last two lines of 9.3.

To make clear that the Israelites will be in exile, Good News Translation begins this verse with “In those foreign lands,” which is not in the Hebrew text but is implied in the context supplied by the previous verse. Since this verse immediately follows the statement on Egypt and Assyria, it is not necessary to have this addition.

They shall not pour libations of wine to the LORD; they shall not please him with their sacrifices: The Israelites will not be able to bring wine offerings and other sacrifices to Yahweh in the lands of exile, because there will be no altars to Yahweh there. It is not completely certain how they pour libations of wine (Good News Translation “make wine offerings”), since the Hebrew expression here can refer to wine poured out on the ground before Yahweh at the place of sacrifice, or on the altar, or on the sacrifice itself (see Exo 29.40; Lev 23.13; Num 15.5, 7, 10). A libation was never offered alone, but always in connection with another sacrifice. It seems best to say “pour out sacrifices of wine.”

Please expresses the usual meaning of the Hebrew verb in the second line, but a related verb in old South Arabic means “bring,” and this meaning is followed by Good News Translation and some recent commentators because it fits the context well. Either meaning is possible. Since the meaning “be sweet” or “please” occurs in similar passages in the Old Testament (for example, Jer 6.20; Mal 3.4), it may be better to follow Revised Standard Version by rendering the second line as “and their sacrifices will not please him” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Wolff). New Jerusalem Bible has “and their sacrifices will not win his favour.”

The Hebrew term for sacrifices is the same general term used in 3.4 and 8.13 (see comments there).

Their bread shall be like mourners’ bread: Instead of Their bread (lachmam), the Hebrew text has “to [or, for] them” (lahem). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project rather strongly supports the Hebrew text with no change (a {B} decision), since there is no evidence from early manuscripts or ancient versions to support the emendation. Moreover, the text does make sense with no changes. It is literally “like bread of mourners to them,” which may be expanded to “[their bread will be] like mourners’ bread to them.” Here bread refers broadly to “food” (Good News Translation), as in 2.5.

King James Version follows the Hebrew punctuation by taking sacrifices with this line, saying “their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourning.” But the Hebrew rhythm favors taking sacrifices with what precedes, and this line division is followed by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most modern translations, including the New King James Version (New King James Version ). A problem with taking sacrifices with what precedes is that this line that follows is left without a clear subject, according to the present Hebrew. New English Bible supplies the demonstrative pronoun “that” as its subject, referring to the wine and sacrifices just mentioned: “that would be mourners’ fare for them.” This solution is preferable, since there is no compelling reason to deviate from the Hebrew text. De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling offers yet another solution: a rearrangement of the lines in this verse. This line and the next one are placed at the beginning of this verse, so that they automatically connect with the last line of 9.3: “It is like bread in a funeral home: whoever eats it becomes unclean.”

All who eat of it shall be defiled: In exile the Israelites’ food will be ceremonially unclean and will defile those who eat it, just as food touched by mourners at a funeral is unclean, according to Num 19.22. The food in exile will be unclean because the first fruits and the firstborn domestic animals will not be dedicated to Yahweh (see comments on 9.3).

For their bread shall be for their hunger only; it shall not come to the house of the LORD: The food of the exiles will be for themselves alone, not for Yahweh. In Israel many sacrifices were feasts, because part of the sacrifices was offered to Yahweh and part was eaten by the those who offered the sacrifices and their family (see, for example, 1 Sam 1.4-5). In exile the Israelites will not be able to offer sacrifices to Yahweh at the Temple in Jerusalem. In these two lines some translations make explicit the idea that the Israelites’ food will be sufficient only for satisfying their hunger, with not enough for the Temple sacrifices; for example, Einheitsübersetzung says “Yes, their bread will be enough only for their own hunger, none of it comes to the house of the Lord.” However, the more realistic interpretation is that they will use the food only for themselves, first, because they are too far from Jerusalem to be able to offer sacrifices, and second, because the food itself is unclean. For renders the Hebrew word ki, which is more likely an emphatic marker (“Yes” in Einheitsübersetzung) or a contrastive connector (“But” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) here.

The logical progression of the last four lines of this verse makes the best sense only for those who understand the cultural background of Israelite sacrifices. By restructuring these lines in reverse order, their meaning can become clear immediately, with no further note or comment:

They will not be able to bring their food to the house of the LORD as an offering;
it will be defiled—good only for satisfying their hunger.
All who eat of it will therefore [also] be defiled,
as if it were food eaten at a funeral.

A translation model for this verse is:

• There you will not be able to offer wine to the LORD,
neither will you satisfy him with your sacrifices.
Food will be like mourners’ food for you,
whoever eats it will become unclean.
Indeed, it will only be good to satisfy your hunger,
but it will not come into the house of the LORD.

Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .