They shall return to the land of Israel, and Assyria shall be their king: In Hebrew this verse begins with a word meaning “not” (King James Version). But the Septuagint, followed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, moves this word to the end of the previous verse and changes it to read “them.” One problem some scholars have with the word “not” here is that this line then means the Israelites will not return to Egypt. However, their return to Egypt is clearly seen in 8.13; 9.3, 6; 11.11. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends the Hebrew text here, since Israel had been called out of bondage in Egypt (11.1), and for this moment of speaking, Israel was not to return to Egypt but would instead have Assyria ruling over them. Although some individual Israelites may have escaped to Egypt, the Assyrians did conquer Israel and led them captive to Assyria, from which they never returned as a nation. It is possible to understand the return to Egypt elsewhere in Hosea as a symbolic return to the kind of bondage their ancestors had experienced in that country. An alternative interpretation in this context is that it is useless to call on Egypt for support. They will be subjected to the rule of Assyria anyway. Therefore a possible literal translation of these two lines in Hebrew is “He shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria, he [will be] his king.” New International Version follows the Hebrew text by rendering this whole verse as a rhetorical question: “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them…?” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is similar with “No! They return to the land of Egypt, And Assyria is their king….” These two renderings are also acceptable.
In this verse King James Version follows the Hebrew in using both singular pronouns and a plural pronoun to refer to Israel: “He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.” For naturalness in English Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation use plural pronouns to refer to Israel throughout this verse. The decision to use singular or plural pronouns also depends on what was used for Israel in the previous verses.
Assyria shall be their king may be difficult to express in some languages, because it is a person, not a country, who can rule as king. It may be necessary to say “Assyria will rule over them” ( NET Bible) or “an Assyrian will be their king.”
Because they have refused to return to me is literally “because they have refused to return [or, repent].” The Hebrew for “repent” and “return” is the same word, so there is some irony here and a play on words. Yes, the Israelites will not return to Egypt, but instead Assyria will rule them because of the very fact that they will not return to God, that is, repent. Good News Translation puts this reason for the punishment at the beginning of the verse (“They refuse to return to me”), so that the punishments in verses 5 and 6 are brought together. Doing this is not necessary, but it may make for good style in the receptor language.
The same Hebrew verb is used for the Israelites’ physical return to Egypt and their failure to return spiritually to God. This verb forms an inclusio for the verse. It may be important in some languages to translate the second use of the verb as “repent” when it refers to their refusal to return to their God. But if possible, it is better to keep the idea of “returning” in both statements in order to reflect the inclusio.
Translation models for this verse are:
• They will return to Egypt,
Assyria will be over them,
because they refuse to return to me.
• They will not return to the land of Egypt,
but Assyria will rule them,
for they don’t want to return to me.
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 .