Charles Ellicott Commentary Hosea 7:6

"For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire." — Hosea 7:6 (ASV)

The passage is rendered: Yes, they draw near together. Like an oven in their heart with their wiles. Their baker sleeps all the night, etc. The metaphor of Hosea 7:4 is resumed.

The baker, having left his dough to become leavened and his fire to smoulder, can afford to sleep. The baker may mean the evil passion which has been raging.

Indeed, Wünsche and Schmoller, by a slight change of punctuation, obtain the rendering “their anger,” instead of “their baker,” which is supported by the Targum and Syriac version. After the murderous plots and revelry, the conspiracy ripens with the day; then will come the outburst of violence.