Hos 2:7 | NET2full | STEP | Then she will pursue her lovers , but she will not catch them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say , ‘I will go back to my husband , because I was better off then than I am now .’

Hosea 2:7

7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch ^{▼▼tn Heb “overtake” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); cf. NLT “be able to catch up with.”} them;
she will seek them, but she will not find them. ^{▼▼tn In the Hebrew text the accusative direct-object pronoun אֹתָם (ʾotam, “them”) is omitted/elided for balanced poetic parallelism. The LXX supplies αὐτούς (autous, “them”); but it is not necessary to emend the MT because this is a poetic literary convention rather than a textual problem.}
Then she will say,
‘I will go back ^{▼▼tn Heb “I will go and return” (so NRSV). The two verbs joined with vav form a verbal hendiadys. Normally, the first verb functions adverbially, and the second retains its full verbal sense (GKC 386-87 §120.d, h). The Hebrew phrase אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה (ʾelekhah veʾashuvah, “I will go and I will return”) connotes, “I will return again.” As cohortatives, both verbs emphasize the resolution of the speaker.} to my husband, ^{▼▼tn Heb “to my man, the first.” Many English translations (e.g., KJV, NAB, NRSV, TEV) take this as “my first husband,” although this implies that there was more than one husband involved. The text refers to multiple lovers, but these were not necessarily husbands.}
because I was better off then than I am now.’ ^{▼▼tn Or “because it was better for me then than now” (cf. NCV).}