Their heart is false …: The plural pronouns Their/their and they refer to Israel. In the previous verse the Hebrew text uses mostly singular pronouns for Israel. Good News Translation makes the referent for these pronouns clear by using “The people” and plural pronouns in both verses. Translators are advised to use a solution that best fits their language.

It is clear that heart should not be understood as the physical organ, but in a figurative sense, it represents the thinking and/or the will of human beings. Not all receptor languages are able to make the same figurative extension of this word, so translators should find an acceptable solution. For the first line of this verse Bible en français courant adjusts the imagery, saying “Its [Israel’s] people are false to the heart.” Bijbel in Gewone Taal uses nonfigurative language: “That is how they have betrayed the Lord.”

In this context is false (Good News Translation “are deceitful”) renders well a Hebrew verb meaning “to be smooth or slippery.” King James Version‘s “is divided” translates another verb with the same consonants, reflected in the Vulgate and some other ancient translations. New Jerusalem Bible follows this reading with “Theirs is a divided heart” (similarly Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem), and so does Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch with “But they were only with a half heart with the LORD.” The meaning of this reading is similar to the one in Revised Standard Version, but we believe Revised Standard Version‘s reading fits the context better.

Now they must bear their guilt: The adverb now introduces a message of judgment. They must bear their guilt renders a single Hebrew verb that means basically “they have sinned,” but it also marks the sinners as the guilty persons who must bear the consequences of what they have done. The same verb has been used in 4.15 and 5.15.

The LORD will break down their altars, and destroy their pillars: In Hebrew The LORD is literally “he” (King James Version, Revised Standard Version footnote). Revised Standard Version makes the referent for this pronoun clear, and so does Good News Translation with “God.” God will destroy the Israelites’ pagan altars and sacred stones. The Hebrew here states that God will do this himself, but in 10.6 it becomes clear that the Assyrians will be God’s instruments for doing it. Translators may wish to use an instrumental form of the verbs here, but it is important to retain the language of God doing it himself, if at all possible in the receptor language. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Einheitsübersetzung begin these two lines with “The LORD himself….”

The Hebrew verb for break down is also used for breaking an animal’s neck, thus slaughtering the animal in a way that did not drain the blood, making it unfit as a sacrificial animal (see, for example, Exo 13.13; 34.20; Deut 21.4). Wolff suggests that this verb may signify breaking off the horns of altars. It carries the connotation of ending the effective life of such places of worship and making them ceremonially unclean. If the receptor language allows the use of the verb “slaughter” in a figurative sense in this context, it would be a nice solution.

The Hebrew verb for destroy has the connotation of violence accompanying the destruction as expressed by the verb “smash” in New Living Translation.

A translation model for this verse is:

• These people are so deceitful!
Now they must pay for their guilt.
The LORD will break down their altars,
he will shatter their sacred pillars.

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 .