Hosea 13:3

לָכֵ֗ן יִֽהְיוּ֙ כַּעֲנַן־בֹּ֔קֶר וְכַטַּ֖ל מַשְׁכִּ֣ים הֹלֵ֑ךְ כְּמֹץ֙ יְסֹעֵ֣ר מִגֹּ֔רֶן וּכְעָשָׁ֖ן מֵאֲרֻבָּֽה׃

Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the dew that early goes away, like chaff driven from the threshing floor, and like smoke from a window.

Morphology

1. לָכֵן (lakhen) – Root: כן (ken); Form: Adverb; Translation: “therefore”; Notes: Introduces consequence—links Israel’s idolatry to its coming judgment and transience.
2. יִהְיוּ (yihyu) – Root: היה (hayah); Form: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural; Translation: “they shall be”; Notes: Refers to Efrayim and Israel collectively; denotes an inevitable future condition decreed by YHWH.
3. כַּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר (ka-ʿanan boqer) – Root: ענן (ʿanan); Form: Preposition כְּ + noun masculine singular construct + noun masculine singular; Translation: “like the morning cloud”; Notes: Metaphor for transience and unreliability—symbolizing Israel’s fleeting loyalty.
4. וְכַטַּל (ve-ka-tal) – Root: טל (tal); Form: Conjunction וְ + preposition כְּ + noun masculine singular; Translation: “and like the dew”; Notes: Continues the imagery of evanescence—dew disappears quickly after sunrise.
5. מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) – Root: שׁכם (shakam); Form: Hiphil participle masculine singular; Translation: “that early goes” or “that quickly departs”; Notes: Literally “rising early”—the dew departs swiftly, symbolizing ephemeral faithfulness.
6. הֹלֵךְ (holekh) – Root: הלך (halakh); Form: Qal participle masculine singular; Translation: “goes” or “passes away”; Notes: Suggests constant vanishing motion; depicts Israel’s unstable devotion.
7. כְּמֹץ (ke-mots) – Root: מוץ (mots); Form: Preposition כְּ + noun masculine singular; Translation: “like chaff”; Notes: Metaphor of lightness and worthlessness; describes those easily swept away by judgment.
8. יְסֹעֵר (yesoʿer) – Root: סער (saʿar); Form: Pual imperfect 3rd person masculine singular; Translation: “is driven” or “is whirled about”; Notes: Depicts the forceful scattering of chaff—symbolizing divine judgment and instability.
9. מִגֹּרֶן (mi-goren) – Root: גרן (goren); Form: Preposition מִן + noun feminine singular; Translation: “from the threshing floor”; Notes: Contextually, a place of separation—symbolic of judgment and purification by YHWH.
10. וּכְעָשָׁן (u-ke-ʿashan) – Root: עשׁן (ʿashan); Form: Conjunction וְ + preposition כְּ + noun masculine singular; Translation: “and like smoke”; Notes: Represents fleeting presence—vanishing into nothingness, echoing moral and spiritual emptiness.
11. מֵאֲרֻבָּה (me-arubbah) – Root: ארב (ʾarav); Form: Preposition מִן + noun feminine singular; Translation: “from a window” or “from a lattice”; Notes: The final image—smoke escaping upward and disappearing—underscores the ephemerality of Israel’s existence without YHWH.