8:9a–b

This verse has two similar figures of speech. The simile in 8:9a and the metaphor in 8:9b both describe Israel’s efforts to persuade Assyria to help them. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

9a For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own.

9b
Ephraim has hired lovers.

8:9a

For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey on its own: This simile compares the people of Israel to a wild donkey that has left the herd. The similarities are that the donkey stubbornly decided to do what it wanted and refused to follow the leader of the herd. It left the protection of the herd and went away by itself.

Similarly, the people of Israel decided not to obey the LORD or trust him to protect them. Instead, they stubbornly rejected their covenant with God, and their leaders went to the foreign nation of Assyria to request help.

Another way to translate this simile is to make explicit one or more points of similarity. For example:

Stubborn as wild donkeys, the people of Israel go their own way. They have gone off to seek help from Assyria (Good News Translation)
-or-
Because Israel is like a wild ass ⌊that refuses to follow its leader ⌋. The people have ⌊disobeyed the Lord ⌋ and decided to go by themselves to ask Assyria for help.

For: In Hebrew, this word probably introduces the reason or explanation for the result in 8:8b that Israel had become worthless.

Here are some ways to introduce this reason/explanation:

• Use a conjunction. For example:

For/Because they traveled to Assyria

• Use an explanatory phrase. For example:

The reason ⌊that this has happened to Israel ⌋ is that ⌊their leaders ⌋ went to Assyria

Use a natural way in your language to indicate that 8:9a is a reason or explanation for 8:8b.

they: In this context, they refers mainly to the leaders or official representatives of the nation of Israel. These leaders represented the people as a whole.

Here are some other ways to translate this pronoun:

• Refer to the nation or people of Israel. For example:

Israel (New Century Version)
-or-
the people of Israel (Good News Translation)

• Refer more specifically to the leaders. For example:

their leaders
-or-
the leaders/representatives of Israel

In Hebrew, there are two pronouns here. The Hebrew is literally “they, they have gone up…” The two pronouns emphasize that the leaders themselves had decided to go to Assyria.

have gone up to Assyria: To go to Assyria, people from Israel needed to first travel north to Damascus. They then went a long ways to the east following the Euphrates River. The words have gone up do not refer here to going uphill or to going straight north. It is suggested that you translate these words in a more general way, as in the preceding notes on the word “for.” The emphasis here is not on the exact direction of travel.

like a wild donkey: A wild donkey or “wild ass” is an untamed animal that is similar to a small horse. It normally lives in a herd in dry, wilderness areas.

In languages that do not have a term for “ass” or donkey, here are some ways to translate the term:

• Use the name of a similar animal in your culture. For example:

wild horse/buffalo

• Use a general term. For example:

untamed animal

on its own: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “isolated/alone to itself.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

all by itself (New Century Version)
-or-
all alone (New Jerusalem Bible)

8:9b

Ephraim has hired lovers: The name Ephraim here is a figure of speech that refers to the nation of Israel. See how you translated this name in 7:8.

This statement is a metaphor that compares Ephraim to a prostitute. The word hired here refers to an unusual situation in which the prostitute “hires” or pays her lovers to have sex instead of the lovers paying the prostitute.

Here are some ways to translate this metaphor:

• Keep the metaphor (Berean Standard Bible).

• Change the metaphor to a simile. Add the nonfigurative meaning if necessary. For example:

Ephraim ⌊is like a prostitute who ⌋ pays men to have sex with her.
-or-
Israel has given money ⌊to other nations to protect her ⌋. She ⌊is like a prostitute who ⌋ hires lovers to sleep with her.

• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:

They…have paid other nations to protect them (Good News Translation)
-or-
You’ve…hired them as allies. (Contemporary English Version)

lovers: This word refers here to the nation of Assyria and probably also Egypt. See the notes on 7:11b–c.

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