Hosea 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Hosea son of Beeri. This chapter and the next one may belong to the troubled times that followed Pekah's murder by Hoshea (cf. Hosea 13:11; 2 Kings 15:30). The subject is the idolatry of Ephraim, notwithstanding God's past benefits, destined to be his ruin. It is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.
Text
The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 16 verses in Christian Bibles, but 15 verses in the Hebrew Bible with the following verse numbering comparison:
This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q78 (4QXIIc; 75–50 BCE) with extant verses 3–10, 15–16 (verse 13:16 = 14:1 in Masoretic text); and 4Q82 (4QXIIg; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1, 6–8?, 11–13.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).
Verse 1
When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he was exalted in Israel. But he incurred guilt through Baal worship and he died. "When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he was exalted in Israel": This rendering is supported by the Syriac version: "When Ephraim spake trembling, then he was, and was great in Israel." The Chaldee version supports this rendering with a paraphrase: "When one of the house of Ephraim spake, trembling seized the peoples". "Ephraim": refer to the region of Mount Ephraim, where the royal residence of Samaria was located, instead of the tribe of Ephraim, functioning as a synecdoche of location for its inhabitants (the king of Samaria; cf. Hosea 5:13; 8:8, 10). "Trembling": from Hebrew word , retheth, which is not found elsewhere (hapax legomenon) and can be rendered as: "there was trembling". This word has a cognate root in Aramaic with the assigned meaning "to fear, shudder, tremble". It is attested in 1QH 4:33, meaning “trembling” and used as a synonym with , raʿad, "quaking", which appears in Mishnaic Hebrew for the meaning "trembling", as also reflected in the Greek recensions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, as well as Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. The word , re-ṭeṭ, in , meaning "fear", is similar in both sense and sound. The Greek Septuagint renders the word as , dikaiomata, to read: "According to the word of Ephraim, be adopted ordinances for himself in Israel," that is, "when Ephraim spoke, the rest of the Israelites assented to his ordinances and rights, reverencing his authority". "Exalted": from Hebrew , nasaʾ (Qal perfect third person masculine singular, following Masoretic Text), "lifted up," that is, his head, as in "exalted himself". Usually the Hithphil form that is used for this sense, but the Qal form is also used (cf. Psalm 89:10; Nahum 1:5). The Septuagint and Syriac reflect a vocalization tradition of , nisaʾ (Niphal perfect third person masculine singular), "he was exalted". "Offended in Baal": that is, "in respect to Baal, by worshipping him" (), such as under Ahab, so at this climax of guilt, Ephraim "died" (cf. Romans 7:9). Adam was to die in the day of his sin, although this was not visibly executed until later (Genesis 2:17; 5:5), and Israel is similarly represented as politically dead in Ezekiel 37:1-28. Ephraim's glory vanished because of idolatry.