After all the words of warning, threatening warfare and destruction on Israel, verses 8-9 are a statement of God’s continuing love for Israel, a total shift from the preceding verses. In translation this shift can be marked by a blank line (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation) or a new paragraph (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim?: These four questions are rhetorical. The first and the third questions use the same Hebrew verb, which can mean “give,” “put” or “set,” depending upon the context. Revised Standard Version translates it give … up and make.

How can I give you up, O Ephraim? and How can I hand you over, O Israel? are parallel ways of saying the same thing. Yahweh owns, loves and protects Israel, yet it would be right for him to give Israel over to its enemies as a punishment. So he asks how he can force himself to do this. Give you up and hand you over refer to delivering them to someone else. Revised English Bible says “hand you over … surrender you.” However, the verb “surrender” implies that God has lost the battle and must therefore give up his people. The Hebrew verbs here do not carry this meaning unless the context calls for it, but they are simply verbs for giving, even as a gift. Good News Translation‘s “abandon” is not really accurate. It is not stated to whom God will give them, but we can assume it will be Israel’s enemies.

For the synonymous names Ephraim and Israel, Good News Translation uses only “Israel” (see comments on 4.17 and 5.3). We recommend keeping both names.

How can I make you like Admah? and How I can I treat you like Zeboiim? are two more parallel questions. Admah and Zeboiim were cities near the east side of the Dead Sea. Abraham had rescued them in his battle with Chedorlaomer (Gen 14), but we learn from Deut 29.23 that they were later included in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19). Together these cities have come to symbolize wickedness and subsequent destruction as a result of God’s wrath. The unspoken answer to these rhetorical questions is “I could not so destroy you.”

My heart recoils within me: In Hebrew thought the heart is the location of the intellect and the will, as well as the location of desires and emotions. Recoils renders a Hebrew verb meaning “overturn” or “change.” So this line in Hebrew can be interpreted in two ways. First, it may be an expression of deep emotions, as in Revised Standard Version. It shows God’s inner feelings of discomfort if he had to destroy Israel. God in his love draws back from such a complete and permanent destruction. Good News Translation follows this interpretation by saying “My heart will not let me do it!” Second, it may describe God’s change of mind, as in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh’s “I have had a change of heart,” and New International Version‘s “My heart is changed within me.” This second option matches well with the final line, which then gives the grounds for the change of mind. Whichever interpretation translators follow, translators should use an appropriate expression for heart. Not all cultures use this word when referring to the emotions or the mind.

My compassion grows warm and tender: The Hebrew noun for compassion comes from a root that means “have sympathy” or “be sorry.” Grows warm and tender renders one verb in Hebrew. This verb literally means “to become hot.” Here it expresses deep love and tenderness (compare Gen 43.30 and 1 Kgs 3.26, where it is rendered “yearned”). The Hebrew text also has a word meaning “all” or “together,” so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders this line as “All My tenderness is stirred.” Good News Translation is a little more clear with “My love for you is too strong”—too strong, of course, to give Israel up to permanent destruction.

A translation model for this verse is:

• How can I give you up, Ephraim,
deliver you up, Israel?
How can I give you up like Admah,
treat you like Zeboiim?
I have had a change of heart,
all my compassion for you is burning.

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 .