Passage

A harsh plea in Hosea

Source and translation

World English Bible, Protestant Edition · Public domain · en

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¹⁴Give them—LORD what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

Hosea 9:14World English Bible, Protestant Edition

The scene

The speaker addresses the LORD and asks for wombs that miscarry and breasts without milk.

To understand

The surrounding speech describes Ephraim's children being brought to a killer and condemns evil deeds in Gilgal. This threatening speech addresses Ephraim collectively; it does not establish the cause of an individual pregnancy loss.

A question

How does the threat concerning Ephraim's children shape the meaning of this disturbing plea?