Gilead is a city of evildoers: Gilead was a city in the district of Gilead east of the Jordan River. Its precise location is unknown. A city of evildoers means it was “a city full of evil people.” Evildoers is literally “those who do evil.” The Hebrew verb for “do” regularly connotes evil. The Hebrew word for “evil” means “trouble,” but it often has the sense of something evil, done deliberately. It is often associated with lack of justice and with oppression of the poor and needy, which in turn negatively impacts the relationship with Yahweh.

Tracked with blood implies that many murderers lived there and that they left blood-stained footprints all over the town. Good News Translation has simply “murderers,” and Bible en français courant says “who leave behind them bloody tracks.” Some think this line refers to the Gileadites who helped Pekah murder Pekahiah, king of Israel (2 Kgs 15.25). The Hebrew word for tracked is also related to the idea of “deceitful” and has the same root as the name Jacob, so Andersen and Freedman have “a deceitful city, because of bloodshed.” Although the writer may have intended a double meaning here, it seems best to retain tracked as the main intended sense.

A translation model for this verse is:

• Gilead is a city occupied with evildoers,
with tracks of blood all over.

Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .