Humanitext Reader

Septuagint · Hosea §3.1-3.5

Redemption of the Adulterous Wife and Israel's Return

Passage 3 of 14 · Greek

Summary

By the Lord's command, the prophet buys back an adulterous woman and keeps her chaste for a period, symbolizing Israel's temporary loss of leaders and rituals before returning to God and King David in the end times.

§3.1Καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος πρὸς μέ Ἔτι πορεύθητι καὶ ἀγάπησον γυναῖκα ἀγαπῶσαν πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλίν, καθὼς ἀγαπῷ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραήλ, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐπιβλέπουσιν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ φιλοῦσιν πέμματα μετὰ σταφίδος. §3.2καὶ ἐμισθωσάμην ἐμαυτῷ πέντε καὶ δέκα ἀργυρίου καὶ γόμορ κριθῶν καὶ νέβελ οἴνου,
And the Lord said to me, "Go again, and love a woman who loves evil and is an adulteress, even as God loves the children of Israel, yet they look to other gods and love raisin cakes." So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, a homer of barley, and a nebel of wine.
§3.3καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτήν Ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσῃ ἐπʼ ἐμοί, καὶ οὐ μὴ πορνεύσῃς οὐδέ μὴ γένῃ ἀνδρί, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σοί. §3.4διότι ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως οὐδὲ ὄντος ἄρχοντος οὐδὲ οὕσης θυσίας οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρίου οὐδὲ ἱερατίας οὐδὲ δήλων.
And I said to her, "For many days you shall abide for me; you shall not commit whoredom, nor shall you belong to any man; and I likewise will be for you." For many days the children of Israel shall abide without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without priesthood, and without manifestations.
§3.5καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιστρέψουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐπιζητήσουσιν Κύριον τὸν θεὸν αὐτῶν καὶ Δαυεὶδ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐκστήσονται ἐπὶ τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπʼ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν.
Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they shall come in awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.

Notes

  1. 3.1γυναῖκα ἀγαπῶσαν πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλίν — γυναῖκα is the accusative direct object of ἀγάπησον. The present participle ἀγαπῶσαν takes the neuter plural accusative πονηρά ('evil things') as its object, while μοιχαλίν ('adulteress', accusative) stands in apposition to or coordinates with γυναῖκα.
  2. 3.3καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σοί — An elliptical clause consisting only of the subject and a dative phrase. A verb corresponding to καθήσῃ in the preceding clause (such as ἔσομαι 'I will be' or μενῶ 'I will remain') is omitted, meaning 'and I likewise will be toward you.'
  3. 3.4οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως — The series of phrases beginning with οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως are genitive absolute constructions using the present participles ὄντος / οὔσης (from εἰμί), accompanied by negatives οὐκ/οὐδέ, to express a state of lack ('there being no king, nor...').

Cite this passage

Septuagint, Hosea §3.1-3.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0527.tlg036.humanitext-grc1:3.1-3.5

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