Passage

Hosea 11.8

Book: Hosea · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

6. And the sword shall fall upon their cities, and shall consume their bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels. 7. And my people are bent on backsliding from me: though they call them to him that is on high, none at all will exalt him.

8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I cast thee off, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboiim? my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together.

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in wrath. 10. They shall walk after Jehovah, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children shall come trembling from the west. (Hosea 11:6-10, ASV)

WEB

6. The sword will fall on their cities, and will destroy the bars of their gates, and will put an end to their plans. 7. My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won’t exalt them.

8. “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused.

I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One among you; and I will not come in wrath. 10. They will walk after Yahweh, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west. (Hosea 11:6-10, WEB)

KJV

6. And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. 7. And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him. ^{none: Heb. together they exalted not}

8. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. 10. They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west. (Hosea 11:6-10, KJV)

YLT

6. Grievous hath been the sword in his cities, And it hath ended his bars, and consumed, from their own counsels. 7. And My people are hanging in suspense, about My returning, And unto the Most High they do call, Together they exalt not.

8. How do I give thee up, O Ephraim? Do I deliver thee up, O Israel? How do I make thee as Admah? Do I set thee as Zeboim? Turned in Me is My heart, kindled together have been My repentings.

I do not the fierceness of My anger, I turn not back to destroy Ephraim, For God I [am], and not a man. In thy midst the Holy One, and I enter not in enmity, 10. After Jehovah they go, as a lion He roareth, When He doth roar, then tremble do the sons from the west. (Hosea 11:6-10, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: YHWH
Audience: Ephraim
Location: the northern kingdom of Israel, repeatedly called Ephraim after its dominant tribe
Time period: c. 750-722 BC, from the last years of Jeroboam II through the dynastic chaos that followed to the eve of Samaria's fall to Assyria

Theological reading

Four rhetorical questions, then a statement about God's own interior state: "my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together." Admah and Zeboiim are the cities destroyed alongside Sodom and Gomorrah (Deuteronomy 29:23), so the outcome being refused is annihilation without remnant, not punishment as such.

The verse is central to debates over divine impassibility. Classical theists read the language as anthropopathic, describing God's relation to Israel in terms drawn from human emotion without implying change in God. Open theists and theistic personalists read it as reporting a genuine affective response. Verse 9 constrains both readings and is often skipped: the reason given for not destroying is precisely "for I am God, and not man." Whatever the passage attributes to God is offered as evidence of his difference from human beings, not of his similarity to them, which tells against any reading that makes the verse a straightforward report of God changing his mind under emotional pressure.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H3820 - lev, lev, Strong's H3820

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.