The two halves of this verse are clearly parallel in form, each half presenting a problem, followed by the refrain and he knows it not. The refrain emphasizes once more the idea that things are going wrong in Israel, but no one is doing anything about it, for no one even realizes it. Good News Translation expresses this refrain in two different ways: “and do not realize” and “they don’t even know it.” In many languages repetition is a genuine stylistic feature to emphasize a point. If so, translators should not use two different statements for this refrain.

Aliens devour his strength can, in a sense, continue from the idea of baked bread to eating it, but every translator must decide how far the receptor language will carry such a figure. In several languages “eating” as a figure of draining (in a negative sense) someone else’s wealth and goods is common. So a literal translation here is commendable in such cases. Aliens may be the Syrians, and later the Assyrians, that is, the so-called allies, who demanded tribute from Israel and seized parts of Israel’s territory. Strength then refers to wealth and land that was lost. (Pro 5.10 uses “strength” in the sense of “wealth.”) Treaties with other nations for protection against the Assyrians and others certainly were a major part of Israel’s problem. Other aspects may have included foreign businessmen, foreign culture, and foreign worship, which all were draining strength from Israel. Strength may refer to religious, moral, economic, or military strength—or all of them. It seems best to translate this as a general national strength, but for languages which must be specific, it may be best to mention both moral and physical elements.

And he knows it not indicates that Israel does not realize the full cost of the alliances and only considers the presumed benefits. Good News Translation says “and do not realize that this reliance on foreigners has robbed them of their strength.”

Gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, and he knows it not: This second half of the verse begins with the Hebrew word gam, often translated “also” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Here it is a focus particle, so it is better rendered “what is worse” or “even” (Good News Translation). These two lines reinforce Israel’s loss of strength by using imagery of becoming old: gray hairs are sprinkled upon him, that is, gray hair is scattered on Israel’s head. And he knows it not means Israel does not have the sense to realize that time is moving on and he is becoming weak like an old person. It will soon be too late to change. The weakness of old age seems to fit the context better than Good News Translation‘s “Their days are numbered,” which means death is approaching. Andersen and Freedman suggest that since old age was respected and admired in Israel, a translation referring to gray hairs is not appropriate. They therefore change this figure to a hairy kind of mold that ruins bread and other foods, saying “Mold is sprinkled upon him.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is similar with “mold is scattered over him.” Referring to “mold” keeps the idea of things going to ruin as well as the figure of baked bread. However, this rendering leans heavily on Akkadian and Syriac words meaning “mold” that are similar to the Hebrew word for gray hairs. We prefer the Hebrew text here, followed by Revised Standard Version.

Translation models for this verse are:

• Foreigners eat his wealth and strength,
but he does not realize it.
What is worse, his hair is gray,
but he does not realize it.

• People from abroad rob him of his identity,
and he does not know it.
His hair has turned gray,
and he does not know it.

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 .