In 10.11-13 the text uses farm related metaphors. This verse describes the Israelites at the time when they were elected as God’s people. In 10.12 they are given challenges, and in 10.13 their disobedience is described.

This verse begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And” [King James Version]), which Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions omit. We recommend leaving it untranslated at the beginning of this new unit.

Ephraim was a trained heifer that loved to thresh: Here Israel is compared to a heifer (Good News Translation “young cow”), which renders the Hebrew word for a cow that has not yet given birth to a calf. This word is the same one used in 10.5 for the calf-idol at Beth-aven. However, there does not seem to be any connection in terms of meaning. Good News Translation changes this metaphor into a simile by saying “Israel was once like a well-trained young cow.” Translators must decide whether a metaphor or simile communicates best in the receptor language.

As often done, Good News Translation uses “Israel” instead of Ephraim (see comments on 4.17). The Hebrew word for trained seems to have been more specific in the dialect of northern Israel. There it referred to training cattle to wear a yoke and obey the person guiding them. Here it more clearly pictures the trained animal normally wearing a yoke, but not when threshing grain.

Cattle were trained to walk on piles of harvested grain stalks to thresh out the kernels of grain. According to Deut 25.4, cattle that did this threshing were not muzzled and so were free to take bites of grain as they walked. So it was not surprising that a young cow loved to thresh. This threshing may be a picture of the Israelites’ service to God in the beginning of their nationhood in the wilderness, when they were taught to wear God’s yoke and were supplied by God.

The translator should carefully consider if the intended meaning of the figure (whether metaphor or simile) is clear in the receptor culture. In cultures where the use of animals for agricultural activities such as threshing is unknown, it may be necessary to make the point of the comparison explicit, for example, “In the past Israel obeyed me just like a cow that loves to thresh grain obeys the farmer.”

And I spared her fair neck: The Hebrew verb here normally means spared, but the context speaks of God not sparing Israel, but placing requirements on it. Therefore Good News Translation emends the Hebrew text to read “But I decided to put a yoke on her beautiful neck” (similarly New International Version, New Living Translation, NET Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation thinks this emendation is necessary for the correct meaning in the context. Work with a yoke is harder than threshing, and this may point to Israel’s more difficult life in Canaan. However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports the Hebrew text by rendering it as “I passed by her who had a lovely neck” (an {A} decision, meaning there is little or no doubt). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project understands this line to refer to Yahweh’s early relations with Israel when they were still in the wilderness. De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling follows the Hebrew with “When I saw her beautiful neck,” which we recommend.

But I will put Ephraim to the yoke, Judah must plow, Jacob must harrow for himself: The three farming activities in this verse begin with threshing, which is easy work for the heifer. A yoke may or may not be used. Plowing is mentioned next, which requires a strong yoke so that the heifer can properly pull the plow through the fields to turn over rows of soil in preparation for planting. But after the plowing, the soil is uneven, so the heifer needs to harrow the soil by pulling a large rake over the broken soil so that the soil will be level, and the large lumps of soil will be broken into smaller pieces. This also requires that the heifer wear a yoke for pulling the equipment to level the soil. See also Isa 28.24.

Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew by using three names in these last three lines: Ephraim (that is, the northern kingdom), Judah (that is, the southern kingdom), and Jacob (that is, the whole nation). Good News Translation uses the pronoun “her” (referring to Israel), “Judah,” and “Israel.” But “Israel” in Good News Translation here renders Jacob, the whole nation, while at the beginning of the verse “Israel” refers to the northern kingdom. So a clear and meaningful translation of Jacob, the last proper noun in the verse, may be “the whole nation.”

A translation model for this verse is:

• Ephraim was obedient
like a well-trained cow
that loved to thresh.
Seeing her beautiful neck,
I thought I would harness Ephraim.
Judah must plow.
Jacob must level the soil.

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 .