adulterer

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.

leaven

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).

complete verse (Hosea 7:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 7:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “They all commit adultery.
    They have a fire of adultery that burns hot/much.
    That fire is like when bread is made.
    It burns so much that no firewood is added.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They are all adulterers,
    They are like an oven that keeps hot while baking the bread,
    whose fire does not need to be stirred by the baker
    from the time of kneading the dough till it swells up.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They (are) all deceitful; as-if they (are) like a hot wood-oven which (does) not now/(no longer) needs to-be-stocked-up by the baker from time of kneading until its rising.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The king and his officials are all treacherous.
    They are always eager to do wicked things;
    they are like an oven that is very hot:
    a baker mixes the dough and waits for it to expand,
    and he does not need to cause the oven to become hotter.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 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 .