Section 9:1–9
The LORD will punish the Israelites
This section warns the people of Israel that the LORD will punish them because they have been unfaithful to him. When that happens, the people will no longer be able to celebrate at harvest time or enjoy the crops from their land. The section describes aspects of daily life that the people in Israel would clearly understand. Some examples are harvest festivals (9:1, 5), threshing grain and making wine (9:2), unclean food (9:3–4), offerings and sacrifices (9:4), briers and thorns (9:6), and prophets (9:7–8). There is also an indirect reference to Israel’s past (9:9).
Here are some other examples of section headings:
The Lord Will Punish Israel (English Standard Version)
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Hosea announces Israel’s Punishment (New Living Translation (2004))
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Israel Will Be Punished (Contemporary English Version)
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The Sorrows of Exile (New Jerusalem Bible)
Paragraph 9:1–6
This paragraph tells about joyful activities that the people will no longer experience when they are in exile in Assyria. In exile, they will no longer have joyful harvests or be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to God. Instead of rejoicing, they will mourn.
9:1a–b
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
1a
Do not rejoice, O Israel,
1b
with exultation like the nations,
The speaker of these lines is probably Hosea. He tells the people of Israel to stop rejoicing at harvest time.
There is a textual issue in 9:1b. It affects the parallel line structure in 9:1a–b.
(1) The LXX has “Do not rejoice, O Israel! And do not exult/delight like the peoples.” The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum also have two parallel commands. For example:
Do not rejoice, O Israel! Do not exult as other nations do (New Revised Standard Version)
(2) The Masoretic Text has “Do not rejoice O Israel to/with rejoicing/exultation like the peoples.” The phrase “rejoice with exultation” means to rejoice greatly. With this option, there is a single intensified command rather than two parallel commands. For example:
O Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly like the nations (NET Bible)
It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with most versions.
rejoice…with exultation: These words mean “be glad/joyful.” Both words can express joy of various kinds and of various degrees of intensity.
Here are some other ways to translate the negative commands:
do not rejoice; don’t shout for joy (New Century Version)
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don’t rejoice. Don’t celebrate (God’s Word)
like the nations: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “like the peoples.” It refers here to people who live in nations other than Israel.
General Comment on 9:1a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in these two lines. For example:
People of Israel, stop celebrating your festivals like pagans. (Good News Translation)
9:1c–d
Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
1c for you have been played the harlot your God;
1d
you have made love for hire on every threshing floor.
In these lines, Hosea begins to explain why the people of Israel must not rejoice. The reason is that they were unfaithful to God and will soon experience the consequences of their unfaithfulness. God will send them into exile.
9:1c
for you have played the harlot against your God: The nation of Israel is compared to a harlot/prostitute, because the people were not faithful to God.
Here are some ways to translate this metaphor:
• Keep the metaphor. For example:
For you have played the harlot, forsaking your God. (New American Standard Bible)
• Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:
You have been like a prostitute against your God. (New Century Version)
• Translate the meaning directly without using a figure of speech. For example:
For you have been unfaithful to your God; (New International Version)
The Hebrew phrase “from beside your God” indicates that the people’s unfaithful behavior distanced them from God. Some versions make this information explicit. For example:
You have turned away from your God and have been unfaithful to him. (Good News Translation)
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for you have deserted your God to play the whore (New Jerusalem Bible)
your God: In some languages, the phrase your God may imply that Israel’s God is not the same as Hosea’s God. One way to avoid this wrong meaning is to translate the phrase as “our(incl.) God.”
9:1d
you have made love for hire on every threshing floor: This line again compares the Israelites to a harlot/prostitute. A prostitute earns wages by hiring herself to make love. Likewise, Israel gave herself to Baal and other false gods by worshiping them. The people wrongly thought that those false gods provided their grain and other needs as wages for their worship. See also Hosea 2:5, 2:8.
Here are some other ways to translate this line:
You have loved the wages you made as a prostitute there on every threshing floor.
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Everywhere that people thresh grain, you are like prostitutes who are delighted with the fee you receive for selling yourself to others.
love for hire: This phrase refers to the fee that a client pays to a prostitute. In this context, the wages are the grain on the threshing floor.
on every threshing floor: Threshing floors were large open areas where the farmers removed the kernels of grain from the husk. Some scholars believe that threshing floors were also areas where the people worshiped Baal or other idols.
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