bury

The Hebrew in Hosea 9:6 that is translated as “bury” or “funeral” in English is translated in Dan with a word that can mean either “hide” or “bury.” To prevent misunderstandings the translation makes it explicit that this refers to dead being buried. (Source: Don Slager)

complete verse (Hosea 9:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 9:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “Even if people might escape from Assyria,
    Egypt will crush them
    and they will be buried there in Memphis.
    The bush shall grow until it covers their silver that they had collected for themselves
    and thorn bushes will grow in their homes.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Even if they escape destruction,
    those who live in the land of Egypt will gather their corpses and
    bury them in Memphis.
    Their treasures of silver and
    the places where their homes once stood will be overgrown with weeds and thorn bushes.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Even-though you (plur.) can-escape from destruction, you (plur.) still be-gathered in Egipto and be-buried in Memfis. Your (plur.) precious silver articles will- just -be-covered by grass and your (plur.) tents will-grow-on-it thorny bushes.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “And even if you escape and are not killed by the Assyrians,
    you will be captured by the army of Egypt,
    and you will die and be buried in Memphis, the capital of Egypt.
    Briers will grow up and cover your treasures of silver,
    and thorns will grow in your ruined tents/houses.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Hosea 9:6

For behold, they are going to Assyria: Revised Standard Version follows an emended text here. The Hebrew text reads “For [or Even if], behold, they are going from destruction” (similarly New Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation follows the Hebrew with “When the disaster comes and the people are scattered.” The disaster, of course, is the defeat of the Israelites and the destruction of their cities. Revised Standard Version‘s emendation is not supported by any ancient version and is not necessary to achieve good sense. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives full support to the Hebrew text (an {A} decision). Since Egypt is paralleled by Memphis, the emendation is also not necessary.

The Hebrew word ki rendered For is better translated “Even if” (New International Version, New Living Translation), since it introduces a concession here. The Hebrew word hinneh translated behold draws attention to the final picture of disaster in this section. It introduces a new element of judgment. In this verse the Hebrew refers to Israel in the third person (they, them, their), and this continues through the first three lines of 9.7. Translators should be consistent with their earlier decision about the pronouns used to refer to Israel (see comments on 9.2 and 9.5). NET Bible provides a helpful model for this line: “Look! Even if they flee from the destruction.”

Egypt shall gather them, Memphis shall bury them: The Israelites will return to Egypt and will be buried there. The Hebrew text personifies Egypt and Memphis by making them actors, but this can be misunderstood in some languages. If so, Good News Translation can serve as a model: “the Egyptians will gather them up—gather them for burial there at Memphis!” Memphis was the northern capital of ancient Egypt, and near this city in the western desert was one of the largest cemeteries of the ancient world. The Hebrew verb for gather sometimes refers to the Israelites’ joyful gathering to celebrate a festival (see, for example, 2 Chr 15.9-10), so its use here is probably intended as irony, that their next gathering will be for burial in exile! De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling expresses some irony here by rendering the third line as “plenty of graves there in Memphis.”

Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver; thorns shall be in their tents: After they go into exile, thorny weeds will overgrow the Israelites’ abandoned silver treasures and houses. These two lines render three short phrases in the Hebrew. Wolff represents them well as follows:

Precious is their silver—
weeds shall inherit them,
thorns (shall grow) in their tents.

The Hebrew word order, as shown by Wolff, is chiastic: things affected (silver), affecters (weeds); affecters (thorns), things affected (tents). Revised Standard Version uses the following order: affecters (Nettles), things affected (silver); affecters (thorns), things affected (tents). Good News Translation, however, uses prose and brings together the two things affected (“silver” and “home”) and the two affecters (“weeds” and “thorn bushes”).

The Hebrew words for Nettles and thorns refer to two different kinds of thorny weeds. Revised Standard Version‘s Nettles is better than Good News Translation‘s “weeds,” because this plant has spines.

Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver personifies Nettles. For languages that have difficulty with this personification, a possible model is “Your silver treasures will be lost among thorny weeds” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

Instead of their precious things of silver, New English Bible emends the Hebrew text to read “the sands of Syrtes shall wreck them,” but this reading is not supported by any ancient version, and Syrtes, consisting of sand bars off the coast of modern Libya, is so far away as to be unlikely.

The Hebrew word for tents, which is its most common meaning, probably means “homes” (Good News Translation) in this context, since the Israelite houses were usually built out of stone. By referring to their solid homes as tents, this probably reminded the Israelites of their wandering in the wilderness, or the life of many of them as shepherds. Here the word is used in a poetic context, so translators will need to decide whether their readers will understand it correctly. Good News Translation renders their tents as “the places where their homes once stood,” but a better model is “your ruined homes” (New Living Translation).

A translation model for this verse is:

• Look! Even if you run away from destruction,
Egypt will gather you,
in enough graves at Memphis!
Nettles will grow over your precious silver,
thorns will overgrow your homes.

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 9:6

9:6a

For even if they flee destruction: In Hebrew, this phrase is more literally “for look/behold they have gone from devastation.” Hosea uses the past tense “have gone” here to indicate that fulfillment of this prophecy is absolutely certain. Some versions use past tense. For example:

What a scene of devastation they have left! (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
For look, the people have fled from a scene of devastation (Revised English Bible)

In most languages, it will be clearer to use non-past or future verbs as Hebrew does in 9:6b–e. The meaning lines in the Display will do the same.

This verse part means that when their enemy destroys their cities and land, the people of Israel who are still alive will try to escape. But if they do escape, the event(s) in 6:b-c will still happen.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse part:

Even if they escape without being destroyed (God’s Word)
-or-
When the disaster comes and the people are scattered (Good News Translation)

In Hebrew, the first two words of this clause are literally “For look,” as in the Revised English Bible quoted above.

The word For introduces the reason the people will not be able to celebrate their feasts (see 9:5). It is because Israel will be destroyed, and the people who escape the destruction will never live there again. For example:

For even if they escape destruction (New Revised Standard Version)

The word “look” draws attention to the statement that follows it. Some versions translate the word literally here. For example:

Look ! Even if they flee from the destruction (NET Bible)

Some English versions leave the words For and “look” implied.

9:6b–c

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

6b
Egypt will gather them

6c and Memphis will bury them.

These lines indicate that the people of Israel will die in a land that is foreign to them. Egypt and Memphis probably refer indirectly here to Israel’s past, when the people died in the foreign land of Egypt. Hosea compares their future exile and death in Assyria to their slavery and death in Egypt in the past. This is similar to 9:3b.

9:6b

Egypt will gather them: There are two ways to interpret the word gather here:

(1) It refers here to gathering people together to be punished. They will be captured and sent/guided to their destination in exile. The captives will later die in exile and be buried. For example:

Egypt will capture them (New Century Version)
-or-
Egypt will round them up (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) It refers here to gathering up dead bodies. The bodies will then be buried. For example:

Egypt will gather them up (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
The Egyptians will gather them up—gather them for burial… (Good News Translation)

The Display will follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. It fits better with the preceding context in chapter 8 and with 9:6a. However, interpretation (2) fits better with the parallel phrase “will bury them.” Whichever interpretation you follow, it is suggested that you put the other interpretation in a footnote.

9:6c

and Memphis will bury them: Memphis was an important city in the country of Egypt. It was well known for its large burial grounds and pyramid tombs.

Hosea describes Memphis as if it is a person who buries dead bodies. This is a figure of speech (personification). In some languages, it may not be clear or natural to say that a country or a city buries people.

Here are some other ways to express the meaning:

Memphis will be their grave (Revised English Bible)
-or-
they will be buried in ⌊the city/graveyards of ⌋ Memphis
-or-

⌊ the people of⌋Memphis will bury them

9:6d–e

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

6d
Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles,

6e and thorns will overrun their tents.

These lines describe what will happen to the former possessions and property of the people of Israel after the Assyrians take the people into exile. It will be abandoned and weeds will grow there.

9:6d

Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles: In Hebrew, this clause is more literally “nettles will take possession of their treasure of silver.” Normally it is people who take possession of things. However, in this clause, it is thorny weeds that figuratively take possession of the treasures of the people.

Their precious silver: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as precious refers to something that is pleasant or desirable. The Hebrew word for silver can refer to literal silver or money. Here the phrase precious silver may be a figure of speech that refers to wealth. Either way, it refers to treasures that are precious to the people.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the silver they treasure (NET Bible)

thistles: In Hebrew, this word means “thistle” or “nettle.” These are thorny weeds.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver (English Standard Version)
-or-
Weeds will grow over their silver treasures. (God’s Word)

9:6e

and thorns will overrun their tents: In Hebrew, this clause is more literally “thorn[s] [will be] in their tents.” The Hebrew word for tents can also mean “dwellings.” It probably refers to the former homes of the people of Israel. Thorns will grow where their homes were once located.

thorns: In Hebrew, this word means “brier” or “bramble.” It is a thorny weed similar to “nettle” in the previous clause.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Thorns will grow over their tents. (God’s Word)
-or-
and thorn-bushes ⌊will ⌋ invade their homesteads (New Jerusalem Bible)

General Comment on 9:6d–e

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in these two lines. See 9:6d–e (combined/reordered) in the Display for an example.

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