אָלֹ֣ה וְכַחֵ֔שׁ וְרָצֹ֥חַ וְגָנֹ֖ב וְנָאֹ֑ף פָּרָ֕צוּ וְדָמִ֥ים בְּדָמִ֖ים נָגָֽעוּ׃
Contextual Introduction
Hosea 4:2 forms part of YHWH’s indictment against Israel for covenantal infidelity. The prophet lists a litany of violations—oath-breaking, deceit, murder, theft, adultery—before declaring a breakdown of social and moral order. The verse exemplifies poetic indictment, using verbal chains, asyndeton, and the stark image of blood touching blood to portray societal collapse. The grammar plays a key role in intensifying the accusation and dramatizing the consequences.
Grammatical Focus: Verb Chain Structure, Asyndeton, and Poetic Juxtaposition
1. אָלֹ֣ה וְכַחֵ֔שׁ וְרָצֹ֥חַ וְגָנֹ֖ב וְנָאֹ֑ף – Infinitive Absolutes in a Sin Catalogue
– These five verbs appear in infinitive absolute forms: אָלֹ֣ה (“to swear falsely”), כַחֵ֔שׁ (“to lie”), רָצֹ֥חַ (“to murder”), גָנֹ֖ב (“to steal”), and נָאֹ֑ף (“to commit adultery”).
– The infinitive absolute here functions nominally—naming offenses without anchoring them in specific time. This structure is used to list sins emphatically, similar to the Decalogue (Exod 20).
– The first verb אָלֹ֣ה is not clearly connected syntactically to a main clause; the series overwhelms with its rapid accumulation.
2. פָּרָ֕צוּ – Qal Perfect 3mp: “They Break Out”
– From פָּרַץ (“to break forth”), this verb shifts the verse from naming sins to describing consequence: societal breakdown.
– The verb is perfect and plural, emphasizing completed and collective action.
3. וְדָמִ֥ים בְּדָמִ֖ים נָגָֽעוּ – Graphic Climax with Poetic Wordplay
– דָמִ֥ים בְּדָמִ֖ים (“blood upon blood”) is a poetic expression found in prophetic judgment contexts (cf. Ezek 18:10).
– נָגָֽעוּ (Qal perfect 3mp from נָגַע, “to touch”) describes piling violence—bloodshed that is constant and cumulative.
– The repetition of דָמִים and the preposition בְּ evokes the imagery of unending, overlapping guilt.
Theological and Literary Implications
The structure of this verse mirrors its content: an avalanche of sin. The use of infinitive absolutes in rapid succession creates the feel of relentless transgression. The shift to a finite verb (פָּרָ֕צוּ) indicates the breaking of moral and societal structures. The final image—דָמִ֥ים בְּדָמִ֖ים נָגָֽעוּ—is both theological and visceral: unatoned blood contaminates the land (cf. Num 35:33), and the people live amid constant, unrelenting violence.
Theologically, Hosea ties societal sin to covenantal breach. The grammatical progression from sin catalog to action to image reflects covenantal cause and effect. It is not random violence—it is what comes when Israel forsakes Torah.
Versions and Comparative Linguistics
The Septuagint reflects the weight of the sin list: ἀναθεματίζειν καὶ ψεύδεσθαι καὶ φονεύειν καὶ κλέπτειν καὶ μοιχεύειν· ἐξέχεαν καὶ αἷμα μετὰ αἵματος ἥψατο—capturing both the asyndeton and the final violent image.
The Vulgate reads: maledictum, et mendacium, et homicidium, et furtum, et adulterium inundaverunt: et sanguis sanguinem tetigit—also portraying a flood of transgression.
Later Hebrew, including Rabbinic Hebrew, tends to describe sins with more legal precision. The poetic piling and grammatical fluidity of Hosea 4:2 reflect classical prophetic urgency.
When Blood Touches Blood: Grammar of Degeneration
Hosea 4:2 uses grammar to indict and image to accuse. Infinitives pile like crimes; verbs shatter boundaries; blood overlaps blood. The verse is both syntactic spiral and theological storm. In its poetic construction, it warns that when covenant law is discarded, society unravels not slowly but with brutal force—and even grammar cannot hold back the flood.
