Hosea 12:10-12 New English Translation

¹⁰I spoke to the prophets;
I myself revealed many visions;^[a]
I spoke in parables^[b] through^[c] the prophets.”
¹¹Is there idolatry^[d] in Gilead?^[e]
Certainly its inhabitants^[f] will come to nothing!^[g]
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

Jacob in Aram, Israel in Egypt, and Ephraim in Trouble

¹²Jacob fled to the country of Aram,
then Israel worked^[h] to acquire a wife;
he tended sheep to pay for her.

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Footnotes

Hosea 12:10 tn Heb “I myself multiplied vision[s]”; cf. NASB “I gave numerous visions.”
Hosea 12:10 tn There is debate whether אֲדַמֶּה (ʾadammeh, Piel imperfect first person common singular) is derived from I דָמָה (damah, “similitude, parable”) or II דָמָה (“oracle of doom”). The lexicons favor the former (BDB 198 s.v. I דָּמָה 1; HALOT 225-26 s.v. I דמה). Most translators favor “parables” (cf. KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV, NJPS), but a few opt for “oracles of doom” (cf. NRSV, TEV, CEV).
Hosea 12:10 tn Heb “by the hand of”; cf. KJV, ASV “by the ministry of.”
Hosea 12:11 tn The noun אָוֶן (ʾaven) has a broad range of meanings that include: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry (cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols”).
Hosea 12:11 tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (ʾim) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”
Hosea 12:11 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Hosea 12:11 tn The noun שָׁוְא (shavʾ, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (ʾaven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).
Hosea 12:12 tn Heb “served” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); cf. NLT “earned a wife.”

New English Translation (NET)