“Marry a Promiscuous Woman” (Hos. 1:2) and “Your Wife Again” (Hos. 3:1) -- By: Douglas K. Stuart
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 171:682 (Apr 2014)
Article: “Marry a Promiscuous Woman” (Hos. 1:2) and “Your Wife Again” (Hos. 3:1)
Author: Douglas K. Stuart
BSac 171:682 (April-June 2014) p. 131
“Marry a Promiscuous Woman” (Hos. 1:2) and “Your Wife Again” (Hos. 3:1)*
* This is the second article in the four-part series “My Favorite Mistranslations,” delivered as the W. H. Griffith Thomas Lectures at Dallas Theological Seminary, February 5-
Douglas K. Stuart is Professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Massachusetts.
In the New International Version Hosea 1:2 reads, “When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” I propose this translation: “When Yahweh began to speak through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, ‘Marry a woman of ‘prostitution’ and have children of ‘prostitution’ because the land is completely involved in ‘prostitution,’ away from Yahweh.’ “1
If the New International Version is correct, God told Hosea to marry someone who was sexually promiscuous and adulterous, and their eventual children are not specifically characterized. If the proposed translation is correct, Hosea’s wife, children, and country are all described as tainted by idolatry, as indicated by the use of “prostitution” (זנה) to describe each of them.
Please note that I like the New International Version. I preach from the
BSac 171:682 (April-June 2014) p. 132
translation teams back in
Problems With Hosea 1:2
In The New New International Version
First, the new New International Version uses three different English terms (“promiscuous,” “adulterous,” “guilty of unfaithfulness”) to render a single Hebrew root (זנה) that appears four times in the same verse in modifying Hosea’s wife, children, and land in the same way. The new New International Version gives the misimpression that the original text characterize...
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