This verse consists of two pairs of parallel lines. The first pair accuses the people of idol worship, while the second pair speaks of that idolatry as straying from God into harlotry.

My people inquire of a thing of wood: Scholars debate whether the Hebrew word rendered My people should end 4.11 or begin this verse (see comments on the previous verse). The Hebrew word for people is singular, so the verb for inquire in this line and the pronouns for their and them in the next line are singular by grammatical agreement. Other languages may need to use plural forms.

The Hebrew verb for inquire can mean “ask” or “request,” but in this context it means “consult a deity for advice or information about the future.” Good News Translation therefore has “ask for revelations.”

Of a thing of wood is literally “in/from his [the people’s] wood.” Wood refers to a wooden idol in this context. Although the possessive pronoun “his” is not used in many translations, it is suggested to keep it as an indication of the deliberate and intimate relationship that the people had developed with their idols.

And their staff gives them oracles means it guides them by revealing things to them. This line is parallel in meaning to the previous one. The Hebrew word for staff refers to a straight branch or stick from a tree that can be used as a walking stick. Some people used such a stick as a magic rod for telling the future or to indicate the proper course of action, for example, by observing the position of the rod after it was dropped (compare Ezek 21.21). This word may also refer to a small wooden idol, but the emphasis in either case is on the senselessness of seeking advice from a piece of wood. The Hebrew text uses personification in the first two lines of this verse. NET Bible renders them well with “They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle.”

For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the harlot: This pair of lines is also parallel in meaning. Here the Hebrew word rendered For (ki) is an emphatic marker introducing the basic problem that caused the people to seek advice from wooden idols.

The Hebrew expression for a spirit of harlotry must be translated with care. Wolff believes it refers to a non-personal spirit, a general attitude or tendency of all the people to engage in harlotry (that is, unfaithfulness to God). Similarly, Stuart considers it either “their own traitorous attitude, or else the power of unfaithfulness.” In that sense it is possible to render the third line of this verse as “Harlotry has led them astray,” treating this expression as a community habit. The Hebrew word for spirit can also mean “wind,” a meaning that fits well in this context; for example, Bible en français courant renders this line as “A wind of prostitution has blown over them and has led them astray.” NET Bible is similar with “The wind of prostitution blows them astray.” Mays considers a spirit of harlotry to be a personal spirit, with of harlotry indicating the effect of the spirit when it influences someone. The Israelites at that time thought such spirits existed as individual creatures, but these spirits were not human and were not ghosts of the dead, nor were they related to any physical location such as rocks or trees (see 1 Kgs 22.19-23). There is no indication that Yahweh sent this spirit. Translators are free to consider this spirit to be either an impersonal force or a personal being, since scholars have not been able to come to a solid conclusion. See the comments on 1.2 for the significance of harlotry among the Israelites.

Led them astray shows the effect of the spirit. The people are like an animal that has strayed away (see Exo 23.4, where the Hebrew verb here is used), or like a drunkard who has lost his way (see Isa 28.7, where this verb is rendered “stagger”). In this case it is the spirit of harlotry that has caused them to lose their way. If the translator opts for the translation “wind of prostitution,” then this verb may be translated “blow away” to combine better with the subject (so NET Bible, Bible en français courant).

The next line shows the effect of this spirit: wandering away from Yahweh. They have left their God to play the harlot is literally “they have prostituted themselves from under their God.” For the Hebrew verb here, see 2.5. The phrase “from under their God” means the people got out from under their submission to God. The word “under” is used in Hebrew here to contrast with the way it is used in 4.13.

Good News Translation has greatly restructured the last half of this verse, saying “Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods.” Good News Translation makes it clear that harlotry is an image for idol worship. Good News Translation also avoids the issue of whether the spirit is personal or non-personal, by not making it explicit. Finally, Good News Translation is consistent in having Yahweh as the speaker refer to himself in the first person.

A translation model for this verse is:

• My people, they consult their piece of wood,
their divining rod responds with an oracle.
Indeed, a wind of prostitution blows them away,
prostituting themselves they abandon their God.

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 .