In the NKJV, this passage is translated thus:
Hosea 13:14 NKJV “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes.”
In the KJV, it is translated thus:
Hosea 13:14 KJV I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
There was a comment about how the word “pity” is not the same as “repentance”.
In Hebrew, the word is נֹחַם The transliteration is nōḥam (Pronunciation no’-kham). That is derived from נָחַם The transliteration is nāḥam (Pronunciation naw-kham’)
In the LSV, we read thus:
Hosea 13:14 (LSV) 14 Will I ransom them from the hand of Sheol? Will I redeem them from death? Where [is] your plague, O death? Where your destruction, O Sheol? Comfort is hid from My eyes.
nāḥam means to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted
(Niphal)
- to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
- to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
- to comfort oneself, be comforted
- to comfort oneself, ease oneself
- (Piel) to comfort, console
- (Pual) to be comforted, be consoled
- (Hithpael)
- to be sorry, have compassion
- to rue, repent of
- to comfort oneself, be comforted
- to ease oneself
נָחַם nâcham, naw-kham’; a primitive root; properly, to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by implication, to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself):—comfort (self), ease (one’s self), repent(-er,-ing, self).
Strong’s H5162 – nāḥam
Abbreviations
† [נחם] verb Niph. be sorry, console, oneself, etc. (only in derived species) (Late Hebrew Pi. comfort; Phoenician in proper name Lzb322; Targum Pa. = Late Hebrew, and derivatives; Christian-Palestinian Aramaic, Pa. id., SchwIdioticon 54; Arabic bdb063604 breathe pantingly (of horse)); — Niph. Perfect נִחַם Amos 7:3 + 4 times; נִח֑ם Jeremiah 20:16 + 2 times; 1st person singular נִחַמְתִּי Genesis 6:7 + 8 times; נִחָ֑מְתִּי Zechariah 8:14; 2nd person masculine plural נִחַמְתֶּם Ezekiel 14:22; Imperfect יִנָּחֵם Exodus 13:17 + 6 times; וַיִּנָּ֫תֶם Genesis 6:6 + 6 times; + 5 times Imperfect; Imperative הִנָּחֵם Exodus 32:12; Psalm 90:13; Infinitive הִנָּחֵם Jeremiah 31:15; 1 Samuel 15:29; Participle נִחָם Judges 21:15 + 3 times; —
In the Amplified Bible, it says
Hosea 13:14 AMP Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Shall I redeem them from death? O death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes [because of their failure to repent].
Hosea 13:14 AMPC Should I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)? Should I redeem them from death? O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your destruction? Relenting and compassion are hidden from My eyes.
In Malayalam, we read
ഞാൻ അവരെ പാതാളത്തിന്റെ അധീനത്തിൽനിന്നു വീണ്ടെടുക്കും; മരണത്തിൽനിന്നു ഞാൻ അവരെ വിടുവിക്കും; മരണമേ, നിന്റെ ബാധകൾ എവിടെ? പാതാളമേ, നിന്റെ സംഹാരം എവിടെ? എനിക്കു സഹതാപം തോന്നുകയില്ല. ഹോശേയ 13:14
I add Malayalam here to drive home the point to my KJV only brethren that I tend to be focused on getting souls saved rather than sitting idly arguing about translations.
So, comfort, pity, all fall into an understanding of what is meant by God.
When I think of the comment I got, I think of what Jesus meant when he said
Luke 10:2 AMP He was saying to them, “The harvest is abundant [for there are many who need to hear the good news about salvation], but the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few. Therefore, [prayerfully] ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.
Jesus Christ is coming soon. We can fix all our translation errors after rapture, till then we’ve got work to do.