This verse not only concludes God’s third promise to Israel, but it also marks the end of a major section. It does so by recalling key terms that occurred earlier, and in Hebrew poetry such usage serves almost as a summary.

It is important for translators to note the different approaches here between Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation and to consider the implications. Revised Standard Version translates this verse as referring to Hosea’s wife and children, using them as figurative language to refer to Israel. At the same time sexual connotations may be playing in the background. Instead of I will sow him, the Hebrew text has “I will sow her,” which may play on the analogy of “impregnating the woman” and “sowing the land” (so Andersen and Freedman). Good News Translation uses nonfigurative language, referring directly to Israel. If figurative language is retained, it should be clear that this language also contains a poetic reference to Israel. If the nonfigurative translation of Good News Translation is followed, the alternative interpretation of the text, which is also valid, is no longer accessible to the reader.

And I will sow him for myself in the land: This line continues from the thought of the previous one, using a wordplay between the Hebrew verb for sow and the name “Jezreel.” As the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, the Hebrew has “I will sow her to me” instead of I will sow him for myself. The problem is that in Hebrew “Jezreel” is a masculine name, and there is no other antecedent for the pronoun “her” in the immediate context. However, “I will sow her to me” corresponds poetically with the phrase repeated three times in 2.19-20: “I will betroth you to me.” Apart from possible sexual connotations in the background, as noted above, it certainly means that Israel will be fruitful as a nation under God’s blessings. The phrase in the land shows that the nation dwelling in the land is the chief image to retain. Yahweh promises to plant the nation, like a seed, in the land once more, and they will be there for himself. They will be his own people. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh renders this line as “I will sow her in the land as My own.” Bible en français courant explicitly has “I will implant Jezreel in the land.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is even more explicit with “I will sow you, Israel, again in the land.” English cannot attempt to reproduce the wordplay, so Good News Translation abandons poetic terms completely, giving the central message: “I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper.” The verb “prosper” expresses the meaning of the figurative word sow, which compares Israel to seed that God will plant. “And make them prosper” is not explicit in the Hebrew text, but this implied information is needed in English to complete the action of the verb “establish.” However, the translator may opt for making the Hebrew wordplay visible by adding a footnote on “Jezreel,” as was recommended in the comments on the previous verse. In that way the interpretation of the text is not limited to prosperity.

And I will have pity on Not pitied, and I will say to Not my people, ‘You are my people’: These two lines recall the names of the children in chapter 1, where they were symbols for God rejecting Israel. God now promises that he will reverse his attitude. Israel was called Not pitied (see 1.6), but God will pity them. Israel was called Not my people (see 1.9), but God will call them his people. The names used here should be the same as the names Hosea gave to his children in chapter 1 as a sign of his wife’s unfaithfulness. As shown in Revised Standard Version, the Hebrew text refers to Not pitied and Not my people as Hosea’s two children, yet they are figures that refer to Israel as a nation. Good News Translation chooses to express a clear reference to the people rather than to the children by saying “I will show love to those who were called ‘Unloved,’ and to those who were called ‘Not-My-People’ I will say, ‘You are my people.’ ” However, since the Hebrew word for people is singular there may be no explicit need in many languages to use plural.

And he shall say: The pronoun he refers to the son named Not my people, but Good News Translation translates this pronoun as referring to Israel by saying “and they will answer.”

Thou art my God is simply “My God” in the Hebrew text, and in poetic style this phrase corresponds to “My husband” in 2.16. “My God” is clearly an expression of worship and praise, which needs to be clear. In many languages “My God” has become a thoughtless expression to show surprise or stress, so the fuller expression of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation will be needed. Again, Good News Translation uses the plural: “You are our God.” The decision to use singular or plural should be consistent with the decision taken in the previous lines.

A translation model for this verse is:

• I will sow her to myself in the land.
I will show mercy to No-Mercy,
and to Not-My-People I will say, “You are my people.”
And he will say, “You are my God.”

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 .