Septuagint · Hosea §6.1-6.11

Call to Repentance and Desire for Mercy over Sacrifice

Passage 6 of 14 · Greek

Summary

The people encourage one another to return to the Lord in repentance, but the Lord condemns their superficial faithfulness, demanding true mercy and knowledge of God rather than sacrifices, while exposing the lawlessness of the priests and the land.

§6.1Ἐν θλίψει αὐτῶν ὀρθριοῦσι πρὸς μέ λέγοντες Πορευθῶμεν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωμεν πρὸς Κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἥρπακεν καὶ ἰάσεται ἡμᾶς, πατάξει καὶ μοτώσει ἡμᾶς, §6.2ὑγιάσει ἡμᾶς μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας· ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ καὶ ἀναστησόμεθα, καὶ ζησόμεθα ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, §6.3καὶ γνωσόμεθα·

In their affliction they will rise early to me, saying, "Come, let us return to the Lord our God, for he has torn and he will heal us; he will strike and he will bind us up." He will restore us to health after two days; on the third day we shall rise up, and we shall live before him, and we shall know; we shall press on to know the Lord.

διώξομεν τοῦ γνῶναι τὸν κύριον, ὡς ὄρθρον ἕτοιμον εὑρήσομεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἤξει ὡς ὑετὸς ἡμῖν πρόιμος καὶ ὄψιμος γῇ.

We shall find him ready as the dawn, and he will come to us like the early and late rain to the earth.

§6.4Τί σοι ποιήσω, Ἐφράιμ;

What shall I do to you, Ephraim?

τί σοι ποιήσω, Ἰούδα;

What shall I do to you, Judah?

τὸ δὲ ἔλεος ὑμῶν ὡς νεφέλη πρωινὴ καὶ ὡς δρόσος ὀρθρινὴ πορευομένη.

For your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away.

§6.5διὰ τοῦτο ἀπεθέρισα τοὺς προφήτας ὑμῶν, ἀπέκτεινα αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥήματι στόματός μου, καὶ τὸ κρίμα μου ὡς φῶς ἐξελεύσεται.

Therefore I have mowed down your prophets; I have slain them by the word of my mouth, and my judgment shall go forth as light.

§6.6διότι ἔλεος θέλω ἡ θυσίαν, καὶ ἐπίγνωσιν θεοῦ ἢ ὁλοκαυτώματα.

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than whole burnt offerings.

§6.7αὐτοὶ δέ εἰσιν ὡς ἄνθρωπος παραβαίνων διαθήκην· ἐκεῖ κατεφρόνησέν μου

But they are like a man transgressing a covenant; there he despised me.

§6.8Γαλαάδ, πόλις ἐργαζομένη μάταια, ταράσσουσα ὕδωρ, §6.9καὶ ἡ ἰσχύς σου ἀνδρὸς πειρατοῦ· ἔκρυψαν ἱερεῖς ὁδόν, ἐφόνευσαν Σίκιμα, ὅτι ἀνομίαν ἐποίησαν

Galaad is a city working vain things, troubling water, and your strength is like that of a pirate; priests hid the way, they murdered at Sichem, because they committed lawlessness in the house of Israel.

§6.10ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ· εἶδον φρικώδη ἐκεῖ, πορνείαν τοῦ Ἐφράιμ· ἐμιάνθη Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδα.

I saw horrible things there, the whoredom of Ephraim; Israel and Judah are defiled.

§6.11Ἄρχου τρυγᾷν σεαυτῷ ἐν τῷ ἐπιστρέφειν με τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ μου,

Begin to harvest for yourself, when I return the captivity of my people.

Notes

6.1ὀρθριοῦσι — Future tense of the verb ὀρθρίζω (to rise early, seek early). It translates the Hebrew verb meaning "to seek earnestly," representing a sincere effort to seek God in times of trouble.
6.5ἀπεθέρισα — First-person singular aorist active indicative of ἀποθερίζω (to reap, mow down). Corresponding to the Hebrew verb meaning "to hew," it expresses the severity of judgment through the prophets' words using an agricultural metaphor.
6.6ἢ — The conjunction ἢ is used here in an exclusive or comparative sense ("rather than", "not"), correlating with θέλω (I desire) to express a strong preference (or negation): "mercy rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than whole burnt offerings."
6.11Ἄρχου — Second-person singular present middle imperative of ἄρχω (to begin). Together with the infinitive τρυγᾶν (to harvest), it forms an imperative construction "begin to harvest," with the personal pronoun in the dative of advantage σεαυτῷ (for yourself) indicating the beneficiary of the action.

Cite this passage

Septuagint, Hosea §6.1-6.11. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0527.tlg036.humanitext-grc1:6.1-6.11

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