וְהָיָ֤ה בַיּוֹם־הַהוּא֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה תִּקְרְאִ֖י אִישִׁ֑י וְלֹֽא־תִקְרְאִי־לִ֥י ע֖וֹד בַּעְלִֽי׃
16On that day, says the Lord, you will call me “my husband,” and no longer will you call me “my Baal.”
The Hebrew in Hosea 2:16 that is translated as “My Baal” in English presented an “interesting problem in Meru: the pronoun concord on ‘my’ will indicate whether ‘Baal’ is a living being or not. It is either BAALI WAAKWA (Baal being a living being) or BAALI YAAKWA (Baal being a thing, an idol). But since one can hardly call God a non-living being, it was suggested to use WAAKWA.”
See also Baal.
The Hebrew and Greek that is typically transliterated as “Baal” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “idol.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
“Baal” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as Master.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Baal .
The English that is translated as “says the Lord” or “says the Lord God” is translated in some influential French translations as oracle de Yahvé (La Bible de Jérusalem) oracle du Seigneur (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), and oracle de l’Éternel (Nouvelle Version Segond Révisée 1978) or “oracle (authoritative statement) of YHWH (or: the Lord).”
Timothy Lloyd Wilt (in The Bible Translator 1999, p. 301ff. ) describes the Hebrew ne’um (adonay) YHWH (quoting S. Meier, 1992) as “a highly marked expression (…) Hebrew does not characteristically repunctuate quoted discourse with reminders of the quote’s source, making this particle’s function quite distinctive and certainly unique in its frequency and distribution.”
The French translations above are emulating this with their distinct wording containing the French oracle.
Similarly, the French translation by Chouraqui uses harangue de 
or “harangue (or: ‘sermon’) of YHWH” and the English translation by Fox uses Utterance of YHWH. Both of these translations are Jewish translations that attempt to emulate the Hebraic nature of the original text. (Source: Drew Maust) Likewise, the translation by Goldingay (2018) has Yahweh’s declaration, typically set in parentheses: (Yahweh’s declaration).
The translation into Kera marks this by using the equivalent of “the words of me, YHWH” (source: Jackie Hainaut) and a language in West Africa, belonging to the Mande language family, uses a honorific form of “say,” that is only used for speech from God or his prophets. Both of these languages are spoken in francophone Africa.
See also Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD.” and tetragrammaton (YHWH).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 2:16:
Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
See also pronoun for “God”.
And in that day is literally “And it will be on that day.” The Hebrew phrase for in that day also occurs in 2.18 and 2.21. In all three cases it occurs in speech of Yahweh, two of which appear in combination with the formula says the LORD (also in 2.21). It marks the beginning of the three important promises that reverse the three punishments pronounced earlier. The first is that he will remove Baal from Israel. New Revised Standard Version renders this phrase as “On that day,” but the word for day does not refer to a specific date on the calendar but to an event that will happen at a future time. In Hebrew this phrase marks the beginning of a new era: the time of salvation. Such an event could take several days or only several hours. It is not specifically determined by time. Good News Translation renders this expression simply as “Then,” which may not sufficiently articulate the marking of a new era. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is better with “When that happens.” Another possible model is “When that time comes” (similarly New Living Translation).
Says the LORD (literally “utterance of Yahweh”) is the expression prophets used to show that a message came from Yahweh (see comments on 2.13). Here it introduces his message. Good News Translation omits this expression because the context clearly shows that Yahweh is speaking. However, the significance of this formula is not so much to identify the speaker, but to add divine authority.
You will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer will you call me, ‘My Baal’: In the Hebrew text you will call me, ‘My husband’ is literally “you will call my husband,” even though the latter part says “no longer will you call me my Baal.” Some scholars believe the first part of the original text had “you will call me my husband,” even though there is no evidence of such a text. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project accepts the Hebrew text as it stands (a {B} decision), but it understands that the verb for call can mean either to address someone by name or to call out someone’s name, as when calling for help. If translators prefer to follow the Hebrew text here, they may use “you will call out, ‘My husband!’ ” for the first part, but “you will call me ‘My Baal’ ” for the second part. If this is too difficult, the emended reading in Revised Standard Version is acceptable as an alternative, since the basic intended information remains clearly in place.
Good News Translation changes the second person references (you) to Israel to third person (“she”) for continuity with the previous verses. In this way Good News Translation recognizes that the topic of marital relations continues throughout 2.14-17, and considers this as more important than the Hebrew structuring. A switch in person, as in Hebrew, does not necessarily change that topic. It does make the impact of the words more dramatic. Translators will have to determine for their own languages how to choose between respecting Hebrew structure and respecting topical arrangement when there is a difference.
The GNT footnote on this verse explains that the name for the Canaanite god Baal can mean both “Lord” and “husband.” The term basically means “master” or “lord” and had become a term both for the head of the family and for the deity. Some people apparently used this term for “lord” when worshiping Israel’s God. No longer is this to happen. Instead, they are to address him as husband since they are his “bride.” The Hebrew term for husband reflects more the idea of man and wife as counterparts of each other rather than the idea of the man as master.
A translation model for this verse is:
• When that happens
-The LORD speaks-
you will say, “You are my husband.”
You will not call me, “My master.”
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 .
Paragraph 2:16–20
Verses 16–17 describe a future time when the LORD will cause the Israelites to stop worshiping the gods they call Baals. The LORD alone will be the one they worship and serve.
In return for their devotion, he promised to protect them and their crops from wild animals and from war (verses 18–20). Compare the similar promise to the Israelites in Leviticus 26:5–6.
2:16a
In that day: This is the same phrase that Hosea used in 1:5. Here in 2:16a, it refers to a time that is farther in the future than the lifetime of Hosea or his audience.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
At that time (NET Bible)
-or-
In the future (New Century Version)
-or-
When that day comes (New Living Translation (2004))
declares the LORD: The Hebrew phrase here is the same as in 2:13c. See the note there. In some languages, it may be more natural to put this phrase at the beginning of the verse. For example:
The Lord says, “In the future… (New Century Version)
2:16b–c
Notice the parallelism. Verse 2:16b gives a positive command. Verse 2:16c gives a corresponding negative command.
16b
you will call Me ‘my Husband’;
16c
and no longer call Me ‘my Master’.
‘my Husband,’…‘my Master.’: These parallel terms involve a play on words. The Hebrew word ʾiš, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as Husband, connotes an affectionate relationship between a man and his wife. The Hebrew word baʿal, which the Berean Standard Bible translates as Master, has the meanings “owner/master” and “husband.” Women commonly used this word to refer to their husbands, but it had a more formal or legal connotation. It was also the name of the Canaanite god, “Baal.”
In the context of this metaphor, the LORD (Israel’s God) was pictured as Israel’s husband. People who spoke Hebrew would have understood two things from this verse:
(a) The LORD wanted Israel to be loyal to him alone. He did not want her to refer to him by the name of the heathen god Baal or to confuse him in any way with the worship of Baal.
(b) The LORD wanted to have an intimate relationship with Israel. He wanted Israel to think of him as her beloved husband (ʾiš), not just her master (baʿal).
In most languages, it will not be possible to reproduce this play on words so that both meanings can be understood. There are two options:
• Translate baʿal as a proper name. For example:
My Baal (New Jerusalem Bible)
• Translate baʿal as a title. For example:
My master (NET Bible)
The first option fits better with the following context, especially 2:17a. The second option fits better with the preceding context, especially 2:14 and 2:15c. The Display will follow the first option, but you may choose either option. It is recommended that you add a footnote to explain the play on words.
Here is a possible footnote:
There were two words for “husband” in Hebrew: ish and baal. The word baal also meant “master.” The LORD wanted Israel to no longer use the word baal, because Baal was also the name of one of the Canaanite gods. Instead, they should use the word ish.
you: Up through 2:15, the LORD used the pronoun “she” to refer to Israel. But in this verse, he used the pronoun you to address the nation of Israel directly. In Hebrew poetry, it is common for an author to alternate pronouns in this way, even though the pronoun referent remains the same. It happens frequently in this chapter.
One way that versions reduce the potential confusion to readers is by reducing the number of times the pronouns alternate. For example, the New Living Translation (2004) changes to “you” in this verse (2:16) and continues to use “you” until 2:20. The Good News Translation does it differently. It continues to use “she” in this verse:
Then once again she will call me her husband—she will no longer call me her Baal. (Good News Translation)
It changes to “you” in 2:19. In some languages, it may be more natural to use “they” when referring to the Israelites.
You should use the most natural and least confusing way in your language to translate the pronouns here and in 2:17–18. The Display will follow the Berean Standard Bible pronoun choice in the first meaning line and give another pronoun choice in the second meaning line.
General Comment on 2:16b–c
In some languages, it may be more natural to put the negative statement before the positive statement. For example:
16c you will no longer call me by the name of your god, Baal. 16b Instead, you will acknowledge that I am your husband.
In some languages, it may also be more natural to combine the parallel verbs. For example:
husband is the word that you will use when you speak to me, not Baal
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