Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn: In English a heifer is a young cow that has not yet given birth to a calf. Heifer is not necessarily a correct translation of the Hebrew word here. In many contexts this word refers to a cow that has a calf (see, for example, 1 Sam 6.7), so some translations use the more generic word “cow” (Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling). The precise animal in this simile is not as important as the point of comparison, which is stubborn, rebellious. Good News Translation uses “mules,” although they are not related to the cow family, since in English they are the animals usually referred to in a figure for stubbornness. Israel was stubborn in refusing to follow Yahweh’s instructions. Acceptability of this kind of substitution depends on the type of translation project. In any case, the substitution should be familiar to people in the time of the Bible.

Can the LORD now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?: According to some scholars, this is a rhetorical question expecting the answer “No.” This interpretation is followed in most major translations. However, the problem is that the usual interrogative particle (question word) is lacking in the Hebrew text, so this interpretation is somewhat uncertain. Good News Translation makes the rhetorical question even more forceful with “How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow?” Traduction œcuménique de la Bible reflects indignant astonishment: “and now the LORD should release them into the pastures, like the lambs?” (similarly New American Bible).

The Hebrew verb for feed is related to the word for “shepherd” and refers to shepherding animals on pasture land, so Bible de Jérusalem uses the verb “pasture.” A word emphasizing the idea of guidance can be used rather than feeding, since both ideas are involved. The Hebrew word for lamb refers to a young sheep. This image corresponds to and contrasts with heifer. The Hebrew expression for broad pasture refers simply to an open place, presumably with grass available for animals to eat. A lamb is gentle and can be controlled easily, even when someone is pasturing it in a large meadow. A stubborn animal will go out of control and escape if placed in an open field. The word lamb shows that Israel has been weakened and defeated, while the broad pasture refers to exile. Other scholars take it as a wide open place in which a lamb is insecure and vulnerable to attack. However, these interpretations seem far-fetched and have not gained broad support. The simile here means that Yahweh will not provide for and care for straying Israel. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch expresses it clearly with “How could the LORD pasture it in the open field as [he would with] obedient lambs?” In some languages it will be clearer to make this clause a statement, such as “The LORD cannot feed them like lambs in a meadow.”

King James Version says “now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place,” which understands the Hebrew as a promise, but this does not fit the context. NET Bible‘s rendering is similar to that of King James Version, but NET Bible adds a footnote indicating that this is an announcement of judgment.

Good News Translation understands the LORD to be the speaker here, so it uses the first person pronoun “I” for him. If the people of Israel are addressed directly in the previous verse, we recommend referring to them here in the second person (so Contemporary English Version) rather than the third person.

A translation model for this verse is:

• You Israelites rebel like a stubborn cow!
How can I feed you like lambs in an open field?

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 .