The now commonly-used German idiom wer Wind sät, wird Sturm ernten (literally “whoever sows wind will reap a storm”), was originally not used exactly like that by Luther (he used wer Wind sät, wird Sturm ernten or “whoever sows wind will reap bad weather”) but is now used in its common form in many modern Bible translations, including the Luther Bible, starting in 1964. Today it’s used both as a threat and as a warning. (Source: Günther 2017, p. 114)
In Russian, the phrase is also widely used as an idiom. The wording of the quote originated in the Russian Synodal Bible (publ. 1876). (Source: Reznikov 2020, p. 79)
For other idioms or terms in German that were coined by Bible translation, see here.
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated in English as “grain” (or: “corn”) is translated in Kui as “(unthreshed) rice.” Helen Evans (in The Bible Translator 1954, p. 40ff. ) explains: “Padddy [unthreshed rice] is the main crop of the country and rice the staple diet of the people, besides which [grain] is unknown and there is no word for it, and it seemed to us that paddy and rice in the mind of the Kui people stood for all that corn meant to the Jews.” “Paddy” is also the translation in Pa’o Karen (source: Gordon Luce in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 153f. ).
Other translations include: “wheat” (Teutila Cuicatec), “corn” (Lalana Chinantec), “things to eat” (Morelos Nahuatl), “grass corn” (wheat) (Chichimeca-Jonaz) (source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), “millet” (Lambya) (source: project-specific notes in Paratext), “food” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)or ntimumma lujia / “seeds for food” (Lokạạ — “since Lokạạ does not have specific terms for maize and rice that can be described as grains”) (source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 8:7:
Kupsabiny: “When they plant a wind they harvest a whirlwind. The wheat has no food at all in their heads and it does not give any flour. Even if it did produce food foreigners would have eaten it all up.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “They sow in the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. Not even a head will be borne on the stalks. it will not produce any flour. Even if there are any, foreigners will get to eat them. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “(It is) just like they are-sowing the wind and harvesting the whirlwind. (It is) also like wheat without stalk, this can- not -give food. But even-if it-could-give, the ones from-another place are the-(ones-who) will-devour it.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The foolish thing that the people of Israel have done is like trying to plant wind; but what they harvest will be like a whirlwind. So the grain that they planted will have no heads on the stalks, and as a result there will be no grain from which to make flour. And if it did produce good grain, foreigners would come and steal it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Hebrew word ki rendered For often suggests a causal relationship, but there are exceptions. Here it is more likely an emphatic marker (as in the previous verse), although a causal connection with the last line of the previous verse is possible. Given the imagery here, it is more likely that the first lines of this verse are the prologue to the remaining line of the verse.
They sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: This is an agricultural proverb. The wind stands for the sins of the Israelites, and the whirlwind represents the troubles that they will suffer as a consequence. Ordinary wind is often used as a picture of what is useless, valueless, and empty in the wisdom literature of the Bible (Pro 11.29; Eccl 1.14, 17). The Hebrew word for wind can also mean “breath,” which is considered momentary (Job 7.7). In Hosea the same word is associated with a spirit of prostitution (4.12; 5.4). The Hebrew word for whirlwind can refer to any wind strong enough to be destructive, not just winds that are circular in movement. This word is related to the Hebrew word for “end,” therefore it is a wind that can bring something to an end by destroying it. A similar figure of plowing evil and reaping a harvest of punishment occurs in 10.13.
For the verb sow, see 2.23. Most cultures are familiar with this concept and its use in the figurative expression they sow the wind should not create problems. However, if it does, translators may say “they sow sinfulness” or “they spread a spirit of sinfulness.” Similarly, the verb reap is unlikely to cause problems in its figurative sense. If necessary, a nonfigurative rendering of they shall reap the whirlwind is “they will experience great trouble.” For these two lines Good News Translation says “When they sow the wind, they will reap a storm!” The use of the conjunction “When” weakens this statement to a possibility. The direct statement in Revised Standard Version is stronger.
The standing grain has no heads, it shall yield no meal: This is another agricultural proverb. Here it means that without good actions there can be no good results for Israel. The Hebrew word for standing grain refers to grain that is still on the stalks, standing in the fields. The word for heads refers to the sprouts that contain the grains. When harvested, the grains are ground into meal (that is, flour), which is later made into bread. Meal and “flour” (New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) are more accurate than “bread” (Good News Translation), which is only made afterward. Good News Translation‘s model interrupts the cycle of stalks → grains → flour.
In Hebrew these two agricultural proverbs have a certain degree of assonance, which is a pattern of certain similar sounds, and in the second proverb it almost forms a rhyming pattern. Wolff attempts to reflect this assonance in English: “they sow the wind and mow the whirlwind” and “Grain with no head yields no bread” (similarly Mays for the second proverb). For some languages it will be possible to use poetic forms, but translators should not force such patterns into the text.
If it were to yield, aliens would devour it: These two lines depend upon the previous figure of standing grain, but they use that image to warn of a real danger. Whatever harvests the Israelites produce will be devoured by invading foreigners. The theme of aliens (foreign enemies) first occurs in this major section in 8.1-3 (“a vulture” and “the enemy”) and again in the next verse (“the nations”). The Hebrew verb for devour does not just mean “eat” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation), but rather wolfing down big chunks of food. This word is often used to refer to the way animals eat.
A translation model for this verse is:
• For sure, they are sowing a wind,
so they will reap a storm.
The stalks do not produce grains,
the grains do not yield any flour,
and even if they did, foreigners would gobble it.
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 .
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