complete verse (Hosea 13:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 13:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “(He) feels pain like a woman who is about to give birth.
    But that child is without understanding.
    (he) Refuses to come out from the stomach of (his) mother
    even though it is the time for being born.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Pain come to him like the pain a woman in childbirth.
    He is like a foolish child
    who refuses being born,
    the time of birth has come, but he stays in the womb.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘You (plur.) have an opportunity to live again. But because you (plur.) have no understanding, you (plur.) are-neglecting it. You (plur.) (are) like a child who does not want to come-out from the womb in times of his/her coming-out.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There should be opportunity for the Israelita to live, but they ignore it. They can-be-compared to a fetus with no mind/thoughts (i.e. foolish/brainless). Its mother is having-difficulty/struggling because its time has arrived to come-out, but it refuses to come-out from the stomach of its mother.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “You people are not wise;
    and now you are helpless.
    You are like a woman who is having birth pains
    but who is unable to give birth to the baby.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Hosea 13:13

Here we have an unusual and surprising metaphor about childbirth and its problems. Instead approaching it from the perspective of the mother, here God focuses on the child who does not want to be born and thus misses the opportunity to have life. The Israelites could have life but refuse it. Good News Translation radically revises the order and presentation of the text to ensure clarity of understanding. Translators will have to determine whether something similar to this is necessary and useful for their own project, but they should always keep in mind that the use of imagery makes the translation more vivid and appealing. Most meaning-based translations opt for changing the metaphor into a simile and adding some explicit notes to enhance the reader’s understanding, as in Contemporary English Version (“You are like a senseless child who refuses to be born at the proper time”) and New Living Translation (“Pain has come to the people like the pain of childbirth, but they are like a child who resists being born. The moment of birth has arrived, but they stay in the womb!”).

Many languages have interesting ways of speaking about childbirth and the body of the mother. Sometimes these are quite poetic. The Hebrew expressions here are no exception.

The pangs of childbirth have come for him: All languages will have a way of expressing the idea of childbirth pain. Normally we think of a woman experiencing such pain, but here the normal expression is used in a surprising way, namely, that the pain is a signal to the child in the womb. This line is literally “The pains of the one who gives birth come to him.” What is important here is not the pain itself, nor does this line mean that the child experiences pain, but the child gets the signal from the pain that it is now time to be born.

But he is an unwise son: The conjunction but is not in the Hebrew text, but in many languages it will be helpful to add a contrastive connector here. He is an unwise son is literally “he a son not wise.” He lacks the awareness and cleverness to correctly interpret the sign of the times and make the right choices, risking his own life.

For now he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb: The conjunction for introduces why the son is not wise. It is because he refuses to be born at the proper time. Now renders a Hebrew expression that shows that it is time, the right moment has come.

He does not present himself at the mouth of the womb is literally “he does not take a stand at the breach of children,” which means he does not move into the proper position for being born when the womb is open.

A translation model for this verse is:

• Labor pains come to him,
but he is like a foolish child.
At the right time he is unwilling
to find the way out of the womb.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hosea 13:13

13:13a

Labor pains come upon him: This line is a figure of speech that describes the pain that Israel experiences. The pain is like the pain a mother feels when she gives birth to a child.

There are two main interpretations of the time reference in this clause.

(1) Present. It refers to Israel at the time of Hosea. For example:

Pangs of childbirth assail him (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)

(2) Future. It refers to Israel at a time yet to come. For example:

The labor pains of a woman will overtake him (NET Bible)
#
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with a majority of versions. The verse makes good sense as a description of Israel at that time.

There are at least two possible aspects of this pain:

(a) It is severe. The nation of Israel suffers terribly as a result of sin.

(b) It signals a time for birth. The nation of Israel has the opportunity to be reborn, by repenting and returning to the LORD.

Both aspects may be intended here. Some versions make the second aspect explicit. For example:

They have the opportunity to live again (God’s Word)

13:13b

but: In Hebrew, there is no explicit contrast. However, many versions regard 13b to contrast with 13a. They supply a word such as but to indicate that contrast. Some versions do not indicate it. Indicate the connection of 13b to 13a in a natural way in your language.

he is an unwise son: This is a new figure of speech that compares Israel to an unwise child. Wisdom in the Old Testament means to live according to the LORD’s standards of right and wrong. In this figure of speech, Israel, like the infant, is described as being capable of such wisdom, but he does not use it.

13:13c

When the time arrives, he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb: This clause gives the reason for the previous line. The child has no wisdom, because he chooses not to be born.

The Hebrew clause begins with a word that introduces this clause as a reason. Some versions use a word such as “for” to indicate it. For example:

…for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. (English Standard Version)

Many other versions, such as the Berean Standard Bible above, allow the context to indicate that this is a reason. Indicate that this is a reason in a natural way in your language.

Some versions make it explicit that the child chooses not to be born. For example:

like a child about to be born, who refuses to come out of the womb. (Good News Translation)
-or-
they are like a child who resists being born. (New Living Translation (2004))

When the time arrives: In Hebrew, this phrase is a single word meaning time. The context indicates that here time refers to the time to be born.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

at the right time (English Standard Version)
-or-
his time is due (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
like a child about to be born (Good News Translation)

he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb: The phrase he fails to present himself refers to the infant failing to move into the birth position.

The phrase at the opening of the womb is more literally “at the breaking forth of children.” It refers to the part of a woman’s body through which an infant is born.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

he does not leave the womb (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
but won’t come out of its mother’s womb (God’s Word)

© 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.