As noted in the introductory comments on 10.1-8, the prophet is the speaker, but he is not directly addressing anyone. So the use of second person pronouns for the Israelites, as in Contemporary English Version, is not recommended.
Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit: These two lines are a single statement that does not follow the usual parallel form. They serve to introduce the next two pairs of lines, which are parallel to each other. The comparison of Israel to a vine (that is, grapevine) is found elsewhere in the Old Testament (for example, Psa 80.8; Jer 2.21; Ezek 15.1-8; 17.1-10; compare 9.10). For vine see 2.12. Good News Translation changes this metaphor into a simile: “The people of Israel were like a grapevine that was full of grapes.” Bijbel in Gewone Taal keeps the metaphor, saying “Israel was a richly branched grapevine that always produced ripe fruit.” New Living Translation puts the point of the comparison first and then the metaphor: “How prosperous Israel is—a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.” Dropping the figure altogether is an option, but given its frequent use in the Old Testament, this is not recommended.
Most modern translations interpret the Hebrew adjective for luxuriant in the favorable sense of the grapevine having abundant fruit. This favorable interpretation of the adjective fits the context. This Hebrew adjective can also have a negative sense, so King James Version says “empty,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “ravaged.” However, this meaning does not fit the context of the second half of this verse, which pictures the prosperity of Israel.
The Hebrew expression for that yields its fruit gives the sense of the grapevine producing its grapes in an orderly way.
Revised Standard Version and many other translations use the present tense in the first two lines. Good News Translation, New International Version, and New Jerusalem Bible use the past tense. The first line is a verbless clause in Hebrew, the second one uses a Hebrew imperfect verb, which can refer to past durative action. Since this verse gives a brief look at Israel’s past, it seems better to use past tense.
The more his fruit increased the more altars he built; as his country improved he improved his pillars: Line three is parallel with line five, and line four with line six. The Hebrew words for more … increased and more … built in lines three and four come from the same root (r-b), as do the two words for improved (t-b) in lines five and six. The pronouns his and he refer to Israel.
Some translations of The more his fruit increased the more altars he built give the wrong impression of more abundant fruit resulting in more abundant offerings (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Einheitsübersetzung). While that may have occurred as well, the text tells us that the number of altars increased. For altars see 8.11.
As his country improved may be misunderstood to refer to general political and economic conditions in Israel. Because this line is parallel with The more his fruit increased, it should be understood as referring to agricultural land rather than the political country. Good News Translation says “The more productive their land was.”
He improved his pillars (literally “they made good pillars”) may refer to making the sacred stone pillars more beautiful in some sort of artistic way (so Good News Translation) or to making them more plentiful (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). For pillars see 3.4. Such pillars may have served as mere memorial markers in the past (compare Gen 31.13; 35.20; Josh 24.26-27). However, the worship of pillars was an element of the paganism of the Canaanites (Deut 12.3), who occupied much of Palestine before the coming of the Israelites. A pillar was often placed at a pagan sanctuary along with an altar as part of the furnishings. It may be necessary to make explicit in translation that the altars and pillars were set up for the worship of pagan gods, as in NET Bible, which has “altars to Baal” and “fertility pillars.” Contemporary English Version renders the last line of this verse as “the better shrines you set up for pagan gods.”
A translation model for this verse:
• Israel was a lush grapevine
that richly yielded its fruit.
The more fruit they produced,
the more altars they built.
The more abundant their land was,
the more abundant their sacred pillars became.
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 .