The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Ephraim” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “palm tree” referring to the palm of Deborah in the land of Ephraim (see Judges 4:5. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 5:11:
Kupsabiny: “Israel will be judged to be harassed and destroyed because they were intent on praying to mere idols.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Ephraim has been oppressed and has been trampled underfoot in judgment. She tried to go following idols.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Israel is-oppressed and destroyed because I (am) punishing her. For she really continues in following the little-gods.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “And the people of Israel will suffer greatly when I punish them, because they are very determined to worship idols.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment is a literal rendering of the Hebrew, which has been interpreted in various ways. Translating the last Hebrew word of the line as judgment means that God has beaten Israel in order to punish her—in this context, by means of an invading army. The word can also mean “rights,” so New American Bible renders crushed in judgment as “his rights [are] violated.” Good News Translation has expanded this meaning to “she has lost land that was rightfully hers.” Wolff is similar with “justice is crushed.” This meaning is possible, but a reference to Israel’s rights does not seem suitable in this context, where her sin is denounced. Since the word can also mean “verdict,” we prefer rendering this whole line as “Ephraim is oppressed, crushed by the verdict” (similarly Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). Moreover, the conjunction at the beginning of the next line (because) introduces the reason for the verdict. NET Bible also offers a good model, saying “Ephraim will be oppressed, crushed under judgment.” For Ephraim as another name for “Israel” (Good News Translation), see 4.17.
In the first line some translations use future tense (New Living Translation, NET Bible), others use present tense (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling) and one uses past tense (Contemporary English Version). The Hebrew text uses passive participles, so the translator must look at the context for the correct verb tense. In view of the preceding paragraph and the wider context (the prophesies against Israel because of its persistent unfaithfulness), the use of past tense is not recommended.
Because he was determined to go after vanity: This line expresses why God allowed Israel to be oppressed and crushed. The masculine pronoun he refers to Israel, while Good News Translation uses the feminine pronoun “she.” Translators should use the correct pronoun for their language, which may pertain to gender, but also to issues such as word class of geographical names. The Hebrew phrase rendered was determined to go expresses stubborn insistence. Good News Translation says “insisted on going.” There is also the possibility that the verb translated determined may mean “began” in the Hebrew dialect of northern Israel. We prefer “began to go,” but translators may choose the renderings of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation for this phrase. The receptor language may have a good expression for the idea of “determination”; for example, Bible en français courant says “has put it in his head,” meaning “has made up his mind.”
Instead of vanity, the Hebrew text has “commandment” (King James Version; see the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation footnotes), but this word does not make sense in the context. Revised Standard Version follows the Septuagint, which seems to have emended the Hebrew word to one that means “nothingness” (Jerusalem Bible) or “mirage /illusion” (Bible en français courant). New International Version finds that the emended term refers to “idols” in Jer 18.15 and therefore translates thus here. This meaning fits with Hosea’s repeated denunciation of idolatry in Israel and is the interpretation of Brown, Driver, and Briggs in their lexicon. Good News Translation interprets the emended word in this context to mean “those who had none to give” (that is, no help to give), and this meaning fits with 5.13. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers not to emend at all but to understand the Hebrew word to mean “dung.” New American Bible is similar with the euphemism “filth.” “Dung” is a shocking metaphor for all of Israel’s wickedness, including idolatry or anything else in which Israel trusted instead of Yahweh. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project‘s reading seems to be the best, although it too is uncertain (a {C} decision).
A translation model for this verse is:
• Ephraim is oppressed, crushed by the verdict,
because it insisted on going after filth.
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 .
In this verse, the focus shifts from the southern kingdom of Judah back to the northern kingdom of Israel.
5:11a
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment: This verse part implies that the people of Israel are oppressed by their enemies. This oppression is the means by which the LORD judges them.
In the preceding context, the judgment on Ephraim clearly refers to a future event (see 5:7, 5:9). The following context (5:14) also refers to a future event. Here in 5:11a, Hosea describes the judgment as if it has already begun. Scholars have not been able to identify the exact historical context. So we do not know if this judgment refers to the same future event as in 5:9a or if it refers to a different event that has already begun. Examples of both options are given in the following note on “oppressed, trampled.” You may choose either option.
Ephraim: In this context, the tribe of Ephraim probably represents all the people of the nation of Israel. See the note on Ephraim…Israel at 5:3a–b.
oppressed, crushed: The words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as oppressed and crushed have almost the same meaning in this context. Both words are passive forms that refer to people who are being mistreated or caused hardship by their enemies.
The translations crushed and “trampled” are both figurative. They do not refer here to literal crushing or trampling. Use one or more literal or figurative terms in your language that refer to oppression.
Here are some other ways to translate this whole clause using passive forms:
Israel is crushed by the punishment (New Century Version) -or-
The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment (New Living Translation (2004))
In some languages, it may be necessary to use active forms and to make explicit who oppresses the people of Israel and who judges them.
Here are some ways to translate this clause using active forms:
The time ⌊for me ⌋ to punish the people of Israel has arrived. ⌊I will send their enemies ⌋ to cause them great hardship and suffering. -or-
⌊ The enemies of⌋Israel oppress and mistreat them as a result of ⌊my ⌋ judgment against them.
in judgment: This phrase indicates that the LORD allows an enemy to oppress and trample the people as his judgment or punishment against them.
5:11b
for he is determined to follow worthless idols: The reason Israel is oppressed and trampled in judgment is because they are intent on pursuing idols. Some versions translate this word as “because” (Revised Standard Version). Other versions leave it implied. Use a natural way in your language to introduce this reason.
determined to follow: In Hebrew, this phrase is more literally “he was determined to walk after.” It means that the people had made a deliberate decision to follow something.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
having deliberately followed (New Jerusalem Bible) -or-
decided to follow (New Century Version)
worthless idols: There are several textual and interpretation issues involving the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as worthless idols. (See the preceding and following footnote for details). None of the textual choices literally means idols. However, in this context, most of the choices refer to idol worship, which was both worthless and filthy in the sight of God.
Here are some other ways to translate this verse part:
worshiping useless idols (Contemporary English Version) -or-
pursuing what is worthless (Revised English Bible) -or-
follow idols (New Century Version) -or-
determined to go after filth (English Standard Version)
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