anger

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The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is translated as “anger” or similar in English in this verse is translated with a variety of solutions (Bratcher / Nida says: “Since anger has so many manifestations and seems to affect so many aspects of personality, it is not strange that expressions used to describe this emotional response are so varied”).

  • Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “be warm inside”
  • Mende: “have a cut heart”
  • Mískito: “have a split heart”
  • Tzotzil: “have a hot heart”
  • Mossi: “a swollen heart”
  • Western Kanjobal: “fire of the viscera”
  • San Blas Kuna: “pain in the heart”
  • Chimborazo Highland Quichua: “not with good eye”
  • Chichewa: “have a burning heart” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation) (see also anger burned in him)
  • Citak: two different terms, one meaning “angry” and one meaning “offended,” both are actually descriptions of facial expressions. The former can be represented by an angry stretching of the eyes or by an angry frown. The latter is similarly expressed by an offended type of frown with one’s head lowered. (Source: Graham Ogden)

In Akan, a number of metaphors are used, most importantly abufuo, lit. “weedy chest” (the chest is seen as a container that contains the heart but can also metaphorically be filled with other fluids etc.), but also abufuhyeε lit. “hot/burning weedy chest” and anibereε, lit. “reddened eyes.” (Source: Gladys Nyarko Ansah in Kövecses / Benczes / Szelid 2024, p. 21ff.)

See also God’s anger and angry.

complete verse (Hosea 7:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 7:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “They make a conspiracy/plot
    that burns like the fire for baking bread.
    Their anger glows red till morning.
    And at dawn it burns brightly like a fire.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “For their hearts are hot with anger like an oven,
    They go before him to deceive.
    The whole night their anger is burning,
    in the morning it becomes like a blazing fire.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And while they come-near to kill the king and his officers, their anger blaze like a hot oven. For as they still just wait to attack, they hold their anger all night, and in-the-morning it blazes as-if-like fire.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The officials angrily plan to murder the king;
    it is like they have an oven in their inner beings.
    All during the night their eagerness/wanting to murder the king is like a fire that is smouldering,
    but in the morning it becomes like a roaring fire.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Hosea 7:6

In 7.5 Revised Standard Version uses past tense, while in 7.6-7 it uses present tense, making past events more vivid through the present tense. In most languages it is better not to make this shift, but to express all three verses in present (New International Version, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling) or past tense (Good News Translation).

The Hebrew word ki rendered For is often a logical connector, but what follows does not give a reason for what goes before. Here this word is used to mark emphasis, so it is better translated “Surely.” Good News Translation‘s “Yes” expresses it well. The translator should use the proper expression in the receptor language for this emphasis.

Like an oven their hearts burn with intrigue: Instead of burn, the Hebrew text has “approach” (New International Version, NET Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; see Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation footnotes), but Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and many other translations follow an emendation supported by the Septuagint. However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project suggests retaining the Hebrew text and translating “they draw near, their heart [was] as if in an oven because of their plotting.” This rendering reflects the idea of the assailants gradually drawing nearer. Although this is a {B} decision, it is hard to follow Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, since the proposed translation does not make much sense. New International Version, NET Bible, and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh connect the verb “approach” in different ways with the rest of the text, but in all cases elements of the text must be reshaped to accommodate the translation. It is therefore recommended to use the verb burn. It makes better sense in the present context.

Like an oven brings us back to the simile of verse 4, and again the picture is of an oven kept warm by a smoldering fire until it is time to stir up the fire to bake bread. Their hearts means their inner beings. Good News Translation simply says “they.” The Hebrew word for intrigue refers to the treacherous plot; it reflects the idea of planning to trap or attack someone.

All night long their anger smolders: The Hebrew here is actually “all the night their baker slept.” The word for “their baker” is likely a play on words, since in Hebrew their anger has the same consonants as “their baker,” and only the Masoretic vowel points are different. Many Hebrew manuscripts, the Peshitta, and the Aramaic Targum support the reading followed by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, although Hebrew Old Testament Text Project is undoubtedly correct in assuming that there is a reference here to a baker as leader in the plot. Yet the primary thought to convey is that of Revised Standard Version. It is unlikely that any translator will be able to retain such a play on words in the receptor language. No matter which decision is used for the translation, the alternative should be given in a footnote, if the translators use footnotes. The verb smolders continues the comparison of the plotters’ anger with a fire in an oven burning very slowly through the night.

In the morning it blazes like a flaming fire: This line refers again to their anger, which bursts forth, like the fire stirred up in the oven, ready for baking bread. Some languages will find that it blazes like a flaming fire is redundant. Good News Translation‘s “it burst into flames” may be a useful model to follow.

Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch changes some of the imagery in this verse into nonfigurative language: “They burn [that is, are eager] to take action; but the whole night they hold themselves back. Only in the morning do they attack.” A model that keeps all the imagery is:

• Indeed, they are kindled like an oven,
their hearts burning as they plot,
their anger glowing all night.
In the morning it rages like fire.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hosea 7:6

7:6a

This verse further explains the simile of the oven in 7:4. In Hebrew and in some English versions, this verse begins with a word that introduces this explanation. For example:

For like an oven their hearts burn with intrigue (Revised Standard Version)
-or-

Yes, they burned like an oven with their plotting. (Good News Translation)

Other versions simply let the context imply this relationship. Use a natural way in your language to indicate that this verse adds more details to the oven simile in 7:4.

they prepare their heart like an oven while they lie in wait: In Hebrew, this verse part is literally “they have brought near like (the) oven their heart in their deceit.” There are two main ways to interpret it:

(1) It means that people have intense anger or other emotions as they make plans to assassinate the king. For example:

Their hearts are like an oven as they plot. (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It means that people approach the king with intense anger or other emotions in order to assassinate him. For example:

the plotters approach with hearts like ovens (New American Bible)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It best fits the Hebrew grammar. It also seems more logical that a period of intense planning (7:6a) would precede the waiting (7:6b) and eventual action (7:6c). It is less likely that the plotters would approach and then allow their emotions to smolder all night.

This statement is a simile. In this simile, the hearts of people are compared to an oven. Their strong feelings as they treacherously make evil plans is like the extreme heat of the oven. See the General Comment on 7:6a–c following 7:6c for other ways to translate this simile and the related figures of speech in this verse.

they: This pronoun probably refers to the princes in 7:5.

heart: The people of Israel considered the heart to be the center of attitudes and thoughts. Some languages use a different body organ, such as the liver, to signify attitudes and thoughts. Use an expression that is natural in your language for this purpose.

lie in wait: In Hebrew, this word usually refers to an ambush in which people wait in hiding in order to kill their enemies or victims. It probably refers here to a treacherous plan to murder the king.

7:6b

all night their anger smolders:
This clause is a metaphor that continues the simile of the oven in 7:6a. In this metaphor, the people’s anger or passion is compared to the coals in an oven. During the night the coals are allowed to smolder or die down. Similarly, the intensity of the people’s emotion is at a low level during the night. They are waiting for the right time to put their plans into action.

Here are some other ways to express this similarity:

All night long their anger is low (New Century Version)
-or-
Their plot smolders through the night (New Living Translation (2004))

all night: In the metaphor of the smoldering coals, the phrase all night refers to a literal night. In terms of the people’s anger or plotting, it may refer to an actual night. It may also refer to a longer period of time during which the people waited to take action.

7:6c

in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire: In the morning, after the coals have smoldered all night, the person who tends the oven causes the fire to burn brightly again. This figure of speech indicates that after a period of relative calm, the people suddenly and vigorously put their evil plans into action.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

then flares up at dawn (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire (New Living Translation (1996))

General Comment on 7:6a–c

If the figures of speech that relate to the heat of an oven are not clear in your language, here are some other translation options:

• Make explicit the way in which the people’s hearts are like an oven. For example:

6a Yes, their hearts become ⌊hot ⌋ like an oven in their evil schemes. 6b ⌊The heat of ⌋ their anger/emotions smolders all night. 6c In the morning it blazes ⌊hot ⌋ like a flaming fire.

• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:

6a The feelings of those who are plotting ⌊against the king ⌋ are very strong. 6b For a time they restrain their anger. 6c When the opportunity comes they energetically put their plans into action.

• Use similar figures of speech that convey the right meaning in your language. For example:

6a When they make their evil plans ⌊to kill the king ⌋, their livers are ⌊hot ⌋ like a roaring cooking fire. 6b ⌊The flames die down and ⌋ the coals glow through the night. 6c When the morning comes ⌊they fan the coals and ⌋ the fire blazes hotter ⌊than before ⌋.

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