As the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation footnotes indicate, the meaning of this verse in Hebrew is uncertain. Many translations have a similar footnote. Zürcher Bibel, in fact, uses only an ellipsis (…), with the footnote “This verse in untranslatable.” A literal translation of the Hebrew text is:
And my people are hanging to turning away from me,
and to a height [or, Baal/Most High] they call to him.
Altogether he will not exalt them.
This verse begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And” [King James Version]), which Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions leave untranslated. Here it introduces the grounds for the punishment of the Israelites in the previous two verses, so it may be translated “For” (New Living Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).
My people are bent on turning away from me: The meaning of this line is fairly certain. Here the Hebrew verb rendered are bent (literally “are hanging”) seems to mean insisting on an opinion or an action, although its literal meaning refers to the hanging or impaling of a criminal. Most translations follow the interpretation in Revised Standard Version. Wolff supports this translation. Studies in the dialect of northern Israel also support this interpretation. Some translations that are similar to the one in Revised Standard Version are “They insist on turning away from me” (Good News Translation), “My people are determined to turn from me” (New International Version), and “For My people persists in its defection from Me” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh).
So they are appointed to the yoke: The main problem for this verse is the interpretation of this line. As noted above, the Hebrew is literally “and to a height [or, Al/Baal/Most High] they call to him.” There are three major interpretations:
1. It can be understood as the Israelites calling to their God as the “High” one; for example, New International Version says “Even if they call to the Most High,” and English Standard Version has “and though they call out to the Most High.”
2. An alternative interpretation is to understand the Hebrew words for “to a height” (ʾel ʿal) to be the name “El-Al,” which is the name of a god known in northwest Semitic languages just north of Israel. Since the name “El-Al” is similar to the name “Baal,” some versions refer to the god Baal here; for example, Revised English Bible says “but though they call in unison to Baal,” and NET Bible has “they call to Baal.” The literal phrase “call to him” can be understood as to mean “name him.” So another possible model for this line that follows this second interpretation is “and they call [or, name] him El-Al.”
3. Finally, since vowel marks were added only centuries later to the Hebrew text, the word ʿal can be read as the word ʿol, which means “yoke.” Revised Standard Version follows this reading, and so does Good News Translation with “They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them.”
Even though Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both refer to the image of a yoke (referring to captivity), their interpretations of this line are not the same because of their differing understandings of the Hebrew verb here. This verb may be interpreted to mean they are appointed (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “it is summoned”). A variant of this interpretation is King James Version‘s “they called them,” in which the pronoun “they” refers to the prophets and the pronoun “them” to the Israelites. But such a reference to the prophets is not clear from the context. Another equally possible interpretation of this verb is “They will cry out” (Good News Translation) or “they call” (New Revised Standard Version). This interpretation of crying out fits well with Hosea’s vivid and emotional style.
And none shall remove it: Good News Translation is similar with “but no one will lift it from them.” The pronoun it refers to the yoke. As noted above, the Hebrew for this line is literally “Altogether he will not exalt them.” New Revised Standard Version reflects the Hebrew better with “but he does not raise them up at all,” and so does New International Version with “he will by no means exalt them.” Some versions place the Hebrew word meaning “Altogether” in the previous line, giving it the sense of “together” or “in unison” (Revised English Bible), which is a possibility.
According to the interpretation of Good News Translation for this verse, Israel keeps turning away from God, and they cry out because of the yoke of a foreign conqueror, but no one will be able to remove that yoke. Revised Standard Version has a similar interpretation. However, by following the Hebrew dialect of northern Israel, we see the following interpretation for this verse:
My people are determined to turn away from me,
and they call together to Baal,
but he will not lift them up.
“Lift them up” can have a variety of meanings, depending upon the context. It can refer to restoration, healing, honor, and other things. In this context we can assume that it refers to whatever the Israelites requested in their prayer to Baal. Baal will not help them!
Translation models for this verse are:
• My people are fixed on turning away from me.
Together they call on Baal,
but he will not lift them up.
• My people insist on being unfaithful to me.
When they call on me, the Most High,
I will not restore them at all.
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 .