Hos 13:3 | NETfull | STEP | Therefore they will disappear like the morning mist, like early morning dew that evaporates, like chaff that is blown away from a threshing floor, like smoke that disappears through an open window.

Hosea 13:3

3 Therefore they will disappear like ^{▼▼ Heb “they will be like” (so NASB, NIV).} the morning mist, ^{▼▼ The phrase כְּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר (k^e’anan-boqer, “like a cloud of the morning”) occurs also in Hos 6:4 in a similar simile. The Hebrew poets and prophets refer to morning clouds as a simile for transitoriness (Job 7:9; Isa 44:22; Hos 6:4; 13:3; HALOT 858 s.v. עָנָן 1.b; BDB 778 s.v. עָנָן 1.c).}
like early morning dew that evaporates, ^{▼▼ Heb “like the early rising dew that goes away”; TEV “like the dew that vanishes early in the day.”}
like chaff that is blown away ^{▼▼ Heb “storm-driven away”; KJV, ASV “driven with the whirlwind out.” The verb יְסֹעֵר (y^eso’er, Poel imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from סָעַר, sa’ar, “to storm”) often refers to the intense action of strong, raging storm winds (e.g., Jonah 1:11, 13). The related nouns refer to “heavy gale,” “storm wind,” and “high wind” (BDB 704 s.v. סָעַר; HALOT 762 s.v. סער). The verb is used figuratively to describe the intensity of God’s destruction of the wicked whom he will “blow away” (Isa 54:11; Hos 13:3; Hab 3:14; Zech 7:14; BDB 704 s.v.; HALOT 762 s.v.).} from a threshing floor,
like smoke that disappears through an open window.