So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim: The conjunction So indicates a causal relationship, which is not explicitly present in Hebrew. The Hebrew connector at the beginning of this verse simply introduces the next event, so it may be rendered “Then” in many languages. The double verbs, went and took, reflect the command in 1.2. In translation use the terminology that was used in 1.2, if possible. In English narrative style it is normal to introduce a person’s name with an identifier, when the name is first mentioned, so Good News Translation renders Gomer as “a woman named Gomer.” Not all languages will need such a device. Other languages have to be more elaborate by translating this clause as “So he married a woman whose name was Gomer, a child of Diblaim.”

And she conceived and bore him a son: Hebrew style calls for the mention of conception, but English style does not. So Good News Translation has “After the birth of their first child, a son.” Translators should employ an appropriate expression or idiom. The words bore him a son indicate that Hosea was the true father of this child. In other languages the natural expression may be “gave him a son.”

Translation models for this verse are:

• So he married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. She became pregnant and bore him a son.

• Then Hosea married a woman called Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. She conceived and gave him a son.

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 .