כֻּלָּם֙ מְנָ֣אֲפִ֔ים כְּמ֣וֹ תַנּ֔וּר בֹּעֵ֖רָה מֵֽאֹפֶ֑ה יִשְׁבּ֣וֹת מֵעִ֔יר מִלּ֥וּשׁ בָּצֵ֖ק עַד־חֻמְצָתֽוֹ׃
4They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker does not need to stir the fire
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “adulterer” in English would imply “I only take unmarried girls” in Telugu, so it was necessary to be more generic and say “I go after other women” (source: David Clark).
In Central Subanen an “adulterer” is “one who can’t be trusted” (source: Bratcher / Nida) and in Yagaria as “woman-theft man” (source: Renck 1990, p. 139)
See also adulteress and adultery.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “leaven” (or “yeast”) in English is translated in Tzotzil as “the thing that swells the stomach of bread” and in Mairasi “bread cooking ingredient” (source: Enggavoter 2004)
In the occurrences in Mark 8:15 it is translated in Wantoat as “salt.” (Source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)
See also leaven (1Cor 5:6).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 7:4:
They are all adulterers: The pronoun They refers to the Israelite people in general. If this pronoun causes ambiguity (with possible reference to the king and his officials), it may have to be made explicit by saying “the people.” Calling them adulterers is undoubtedly meant in a figurative sense. Good News Translation uses nonfigurative language, saying “They are all treacherous and disloyal.” Adultery is frequently used as a picture of religious disloyalty to Yahweh, especially in the book of Hosea. But political disloyalty was also disloyalty to Yahweh. In this context political unfaithfulness is probably in focus. New American Bible emends the Hebrew text to read “They are all kindled to wrath,” but this emendation is not supported by any ancient version and is unnecessary. NET Bible proposes another emendation, saying “They are all like bakers.” This too is not recommended, since there is no evidence or support for it elsewhere in reliable sources.
They are like a heated oven… uses heat as a figure for anger or hatred, so Good News Translation makes the comparison clear with “Their hatred smolders like the fire in an oven….” The figure of an oven continues through 7.7. Ovens in Palestine were usually made of clay, shaped like cylinders about 1 meter (3 feet) high, with one opening at the top and another on one side at the bottom. A wood fire inside the oven made it hot. Dough that was formed to make loaves but was not yet leavened was placed on the inner wall of the oven. At first the fire was kept low until the dough was leavened. Then the walls were fully heated until the bread was fully baked.
Good News Translation introduces the verb “smolders” at the beginning of the comparison to keep the idea clear that hatred is kept under cover for a long time until the proper moment for the plot to be put into action. This may be the intended meaning behind whose baker ceases to stir the fire, that is, he allows the fire to smolder at a low heat from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened. Good News Translation says “which is not stirred by the baker until the dough is ready to bake.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch is similar by rendering this whole comparison as “their passion glows like an oven, which the baker has so carefully fired that he does not have to add anything while he kneads the dough and lets it rise.” De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling takes a different approach, saying “Their passion resembles an oven that has been heated up so high by a baker that he no longer needs to see it as he kneads the dough and makes it rise.” The Hebrew verb for heated usually means “burn” or “scorch,” so “smolders” seems to be chosen by Good News Translation to fit the context.
Kneading is the process of mixing the flour, water, and other ingredients to make the dough. It is then kept at a low heat at first. When the yeast produces the small bubbles of gas in the dough to make it swell to a larger size, it has been leavened and is ready to be baked. It would be senseless to prepare a roaring fire before the dough is ready.
Since the meaning of this simile may not be clear in some languages, a translation with the simile and its meaning may be necessary, such as “Their anger is like a heated oven, not stirred by the baker, who first kneads the dough and lets the yeast work in the dough; that is, they wait until their plot is ready to be carried out.”
A translation model for this verse is:
• All the people are unfaithful to the king and his officials,
their anger burns like an oven.
It has been stoked so hot,
that the baker does not have to attend to it again
while kneading the dough until it rises.
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 .
7:4a
They are all adulterers: The pronoun They refers to all the people of Israel. It includes the king and his officials.
Here the term adulterers probably refers to marital unfaithfulness and also unfaithfulness to God. If possible, translate the phrase in such a way that both literal and spiritual adultery can be understood.
One way to do that is to describe the characteristics of an adulterer. For example:
They are all treacherous and disloyal. (Good News Translation)
7:4b
like an oven heated by a baker: This phrase is a simile that compares the people of Israel to a hot oven. In this simile, the heat of the oven represents the people’s strong desire for doing evil. Their desire burns hot within them just as fire burns hot in an oven.
oven: In Hebrew, this word refers to a small oven used for baking bread. It was made from clay. It had openings for air near the bottom, and it had a large door on top. It usually had a stone floor.
A baker placed wood, dried grass, or dung inside the oven and lit it on fire. It burned until the interior of the oven was glowing hot and the fuel had burned down to hot coals or ash. The baker then pressed the dough onto the inside surface of the oven walls or laid it among the coals. The baker then sealed the door at the top of the oven and waited for the bread to bake.
In some cultures, people may not be familiar with ovens. If that is true in your area, an option is to substitute a different comparison that has the same meaning and impact. For example:
cooking pot
7:4c
who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough: This sentence part describes the intense heat in the oven. The fire in the oven is so hot that the baker does not need to stir the coals (stoke) to keep it going or to make the oven any hotter. In this simile, the intensity of heat represents the intensity of the people’s desire for evil. Some versions make it explicit that the extreme heat is the reason that the fire does not need to be stirred. For example:
They are like a heated oven, an oven so hot that a baker doesn’t have to fan its flames when he makes bread. (God’s Word)
If this simile is not clear in your language, see the General Comment on 7:4b–c for some translation options.
from the kneading to the rising of the dough: This phrase describes a period of time during which a baker prepares dough in order to bake bread. The time starts when the baker kneads the bread dough and ends after the dough rises from the effect of yeast. At that point, the bread is ready to place in the oven. Normally a baker needed to stir the fire at that time to make it hot enough to bake the bread. However, this oven is already hot enough, so there is no need for the baker to stir the fire.
The processes of kneading dough and using yeast to make the dough rise may not be known in some cultures. If that is true in your language group, here are some other ways to describe this period of time:
until the dough is ready to bake (Good News Translation)
-or-
when he makes bread (God’s Word)
the kneading of the dough: To knead dough means to fold, press, and stretch the bread dough. This process mixes all the ingredients well and makes the dough smooth.
the rising of the dough: To make dough rise, a baker adds yeast to the dough. He then places it undisturbed in a warm place for a while. The yeast causes the bread to expand in size in preparation for baking.
General Comment on 7:4b–c
If the simile of the oven is not clear in your language, here are some other translation options:
• Make explicit the way in which the people are like an oven. For example:
Their desire to do evil burns like an oven whose fire is so hot the baker does not need to stir the coals from the time when he kneads the dough until it rises.
• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
Their desire for evil is so intense that it never diminishes.
• Use similar figures of speech that convey the right meaning in your language. For example:
They have a strong desire to do evil. Their desire is like a cooking pot that is red-hot. It is already so hot that a cook doesn’t need to stir-up the fire when the food is ready to cook.
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