Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Hosea 13:9:
Kupsabiny: “I will destroy you, people of Israel because you opposed me who could have saved you.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “O Israel, I will utterly destroy you. Because you are against me, against the one who helps you. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “I will-destroy you (plur.) who -come-from-Israel, because you (plur.) (are) against me your (plur.) helper.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “‘If/When I destroy you (sing.) Israel, who then will-be-able-to-save/rescue you (sing.)?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “You people of Israel, you will be destroyed because you oppose me, the only one who can help/helps you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
I will destroy you, O Israel; who can help you?: This verse has difficult textual and translation problems. Revised Standard Version follows an emended text, mostly based on the Septuagint and the Peshitta. A literal translation of the Hebrew text is:
He/It has destroyed you, Israel,
because with/in me [is] with/in your help.
This literal translation illustrates that the basic problem is simply trying to understand the Hebrew text in the present context. The context supports the renderings of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation for this verse, although it is possible to remain closer to the Hebrew text, as in De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling: “It will be fatal to you, Israel, that you are dependent on my help!”
The pronouns “you” and “your” are singular in the Hebrew, not plural, referring to the people of Israel as if one person (as in verses 4-5).
The Hebrew verb for “He/It has destroyed you” is in the perfect tense, as if it had already happened. But this can be considered “prophetic perfect,” that is, we are so sure it will happen that it is as though it had already happened: “You are surely destroyed.” However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers to understand this verb as a noun that means “Your destruction” (a {C} decision).
Who can help you? (similarly Good News Translation) follows the Septuagint and the Peshitta. This reading is based on a slightly different underlying Hebrew text. As noted above, the Hebrew has “because with/in me [is] with/in your help” (see Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation footnotes). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the Hebrew text with a {C} decision.
Hebrew Old Testament Text Project provides three possible ways of understanding and translating this verse:
(1) That which has caused your destruction, O Israel, is that you are against me, who am your help.
(2) That which has caused your destruction, O Israel, is that in me alone is your help [while you looked for it elsewhere].
(3) That which has caused your destruction, O Israel, is that in me you look for your help [that is, trusting blindly in my longsuffering and patience].
Some modern translations are as follows:
Revised English Bible: I have destroyed you, Israel;
who is there to help you? (similarly Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem)
New International Version: You are destroyed, O Israel,
because you are against me, against your helper.
New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh: You are undone, O Israel!
You had no help but Me.
New Jerusalem Bible: Israel, you have destroyed yourself
though in me lies your help.
Another possible model is:
• Israel, it will be destructive to you
to depend on my help!
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 .
The New Revised Standard Version has been used as the source line for 13:9a–b because of the recommended interpretation and textual options.
13:9a
(New Revised Standard Version) I will destroy you, O Israel: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “it/he has destroyed you Israel.” There are four interpretations of the subject of this clause:
(1) The LORD destroys Israel. For example:
“I will destroy you, people of Israel! (Good News Translation)
(2) Israel destroys itself. For example:
Israel, you have destroyed yourself (New Jerusalem Bible)
(3) The destroyer is unspecified. For example:
“You are destroyed, O Israel (New International Version)
(4) Hatred of the LORD destroys Israel. For example:
It is your destruction, O Israel, that you are against me, against your help. (New American Standard Bible)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It makes good sense following the animal descriptions in 13:7–8. The Hebrew verb pattern also best matches this interpretation.
The verb tense/aspect of this clause is probably prophetic perfect. A prophetic perfect presents a future event as if it has already happened. This also matches the future time frame of the animal descriptions in 13:7–8. The majority of versions that follow interpretation (1) translate the verb as future.
13:9b
(New Revised Standard Version) who can help you?: There is a textual variant of this clause:
(1) The LXX and the Peshitta have a rhetorical question: “who will help you?” For example:
Who is there to help you? (NET Bible)
(2) The Masoretic Text has a statement: “for in me in your help.” For example:
though in me lies your help (New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow option (1). It is a fitting introduction to the rhetorical questions in the following verse. It is also recommended by the editors of the BHS.
The implied answer to this question is “Not me” or “No one.” If a rhetorical question is unnatural in your language, you may translate it as a statement. For example:
Don’t expect help from me. (Contemporary English Version)
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