In this verse the disasters that will hit Israel come to a climax when its cultic places will be destroyed and its people wish to be buried rather than undergoing divine judgment.

The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: The high places (Good News Translation “The hilltop shrines”) refers to the pagan shrines where the Israelites worshiped and sacrificed after entering Canaan. These places were taken over from the Canaanites. Many of them were not on hills, so it may be better to say “shrines” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “pagan shrines” (New Living Translation), or “pagan worship sites” (similarly God’s Word).

Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation interpret Aven as a proper noun. There is no known city in Israel of that day with this name. In 10.5 we have Beth-aven (another name for Bethel), meaning “house of evil.” Here we have simply Aven, meaning “evil.” Both names are used by the prophet as a way of condemning Bethel, meaning “house of God,” the site of the chief sanctuary of Israel. There is a Hebrew manuscript that reads “Beth-aven” here instead of Aven. Some translations and commentators interpret Aven as a common noun meaning “evil”; for example, Moffatt renders The high places of Aven as “The idolatrous heights.” It may be argued that the plural high places favors this interpretation, but a religious center such as Bethel could have had several shrines, so the plural high places can still fit the interpretation of Aven as a place, referring to Bethel. In any case, a footnote explaining the background of this place and referring to 10.5 may be appropriate (so Good News Translation).

The sin of Israel means “the place where Israel sins.” Good News Translation makes this sin clear by saying “where the people of Israel worship idols.” In Hebrew the phrase the sin of Israel stands in parallel with The high places of Aven.

Thorn and thistle shall grow up on their altars: The Hebrew words for Thorn and thistle are a combination that occurs twice in the Old Testament (also in Gen 3.18). The first one is a generic term for thorns. The second one refers to a more specific type of thistle, but the exact type is uncertain. The combination of these two words stresses the complete destruction of Israel’s pagan shrines. Bijbel in Gewone Taal combines the two terms with “thorn bushes.” In 9.6 two different kinds of thorny weeds are mentioned, but with the same purpose of overgrowing destroyed sites. The pronoun their refers to the Israelites. For altars see 8.11.

And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us: The coming Assyrian invasion and destruction will be so terrible that the Israelites will ask the mountains and hills to cover them; that is, they will ask for death. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh makes this explicit by rendering Cover us as “Bury us!” These two lines are parallel, with to the mountains matching to the hills, and Cover us corresponding to Fall upon us. They shall say is implied in the last line. Revised Standard Version is accurate in expressing the meaning of the Hebrew by using the commands addressed to the mountains and hills. Contemporary English Version renders these two lines as “Then everyone will beg the mountains and hills to cover and protect them.” However, the people are not asking for protection, but death. They would rather die than fall in the hands of their enemies.

A translation model for this verse is:

• Enemies will destroy the shrines of wicked Bethel,
the sin of the Israelites.
Thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Bury us!”
And to the hills, “Fall on us!”

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 .