And the LORD said: The Hebrew is literally “And he said,” but most translators will need to make the LORD explicit. Good News Translation also identifies the prophet explicitly by adding “to Hosea.” The conjunction And may be translated “Then” (New International Version) in this context.

Call his name Not my people, for …: For the construction of this sentence, see 1.4 and 1.6. The third symbolic name, Not my people, is a sign that God no longer regards Israel as his people. New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, and New International Version transliterate this name, saying “Lo-Ammi,” but we also do not recommend this (see comments on 1.6). The Hebrew word for people refers to a group of people that can be identified, such as a clan or a nation. Bible en français courant avoids the use of a negative particle by translating the name as “Foreigner,” but the contrast with “My people” in 2.1 then becomes less obvious in most languages. So this rendering is not recommended.

You are not my people and I am not your God: This statement resembles a decree of divorce. In this case God cancels the covenant relationship between himself and Israel (see Exo 6.7). The Hebrew pronouns for you and your are both plural. Since God is speaking to Hosea, not to Israel, Good News Translation restructures this statement as follows: “the people of Israel are not my people and I am not their God.” Stylistically the repetition of “people” within one sentence may not be acceptable to everybody. An alternative is “Israel is not my people, and I am not their God” (New Living Translation). Many languages distinguish between you (singular) and you (plural). In that case the problem does not arise. The change from second to third person plural pronouns (for example, from your to “their”) seems to exclude Hosea. The Hebrew text does not support this. An alternative rendering that includes Hosea is “You, Israelites, are not my people and I am not your God.”

In Hebrew I am not your God is literally “I [am] not I AM for you.” This is a clear reference to Exo 3.14, where God revealed his name to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (see the comments on “LORD” at 1.1). It is as if God cancels his covenant with Israel, saying “I am not Yahweh for you,” “I am not effectively present for you,” or “I am not available for you.” The Hebrew can also be translated “I do not exist for you” (New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). It is difficult to render the full impact of this statement. Most translations only provide the broad meaning, as in Good News Translation with “I am not their God” (similarly Revised Standard Version, King James Version, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, An American Translation, Zürcher Bibel). This rendering does make it easier to coordinate the translation of this verse with that of 2.23, which reverses the idea of this verse and clearly expresses “my God.” If the actual Hebrew reading (literally “I [am] not I AM for you”) is preferred, translators can follow Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling by saying “I am no longer there for you.” It may also be helpful to add a footnote explaining that this statement is an allusion to the divine name in Exo 3.14 (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

Translation models for this verse are:

• Then the LORD said, “You should name him Not-My-People, because you are not my people and I do not exist for you.”

• The LORD told Hosea, “Call him Not My People, for you, Israelites, are not my people and I am not your 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 .