The Prophet shows here what charge was given him at the beginning, even to declare open war with the Israelites, and to be, as it were, very angry in the person of God, and to denounce destruction. He begins not with smooth things, nor does he gently exhort the people to repentance, nor adopt a circuitous course to soften the asperity of his doctrine. He shows that he had used nothing of this kind, but says, that he had been sent like heralds or messengers to proclaim war. The beginning, then, of what the Lord spake by Hosea was this, “This people are an adulterous race, all are born, as it were, of a harlot, the kingdom of Israel is the filthiest brothel; and I now repudiate and reject them, I no longer own them as my children.” This was no common vehemence. We hence see that the word beginning was not set down without reason, but advisedly, that we may know that the Prophet, as soon as he undertook the office of teaching, was vehement and severe, and, as it were, fulminated against the kingdom of Israel.

Now, if it be asked, why was God so greatly displeased? why did he not first recall the wretched men to himself, since the usual method seems to have been, that the Prophet tried, by a kind and paternal address, to restore those to a sound mind who had departed from the pure worship of God, — why, then, did not God adopt this ordinary course? But we hence gather that the diseases of the people were incurable. The Prophet, no doubt, intimates here distinctly, that he was sent by God, when the state of things was almost past recovery. We indeed know that God is not wont to deal so severely with men, but when he has tried all other remedies; and this may doubtless be easily learned from the records of Scripture. The ten tribes, immediately after their revolt from the family of David, having renounced the worship of God, embraced idolatry and ungodly superstitions. They ought to have retained in their minds the recollection of this oracle,

‘

The Lord has chosen mount Zion, where he has desired to be worshipped; this,’ he said ‘is my rest forever; here will I dwell, for I have chosen it,’ (Psa 132:13.)

And this prediction, we know, had not been once or ten times repeated, but a hundred times, that it might be more firmly fixed in the hearts of men. Since, then, they ought to have had this truth fully impressed on their hearts, that the Lord would have himself worshipped nowhere except on mount Zion, it was monstrous stupidity in them to erect a new temple and to make the calves. That the people, then, had so quickly fallen away from God was an instance of the most perverse madness. But, as I have said, they had reached the highest point of impiety. When God punished so great sins by Jehu, the people ought then to have returned to the pure worship of God, and there was some reformation in the land; but they ever reverted to their own nature, yea, the event proved that they only dissembled for a short time; so blinded they were by a diabolical perverseness, that they ever continued in their superstitions. It is not, then, to be wondered at, that the Lord made this beginning by Hosea, “ Ye are all born of fornication, your kingdom is the filthiest brothel; ye are not my people, ye are not beloved.” Who, then, will not allow, that God, by fulminating in so dreadful a manner against this people, dealt justly with them, and for the best reason? The contumacy of the people was so indomitable that it could be overcome in no other way. We now understand why the Prophet used this expression, The beginning of speaking which God made

Then it follows, in Hosea. He had said in the first verse, The word of Jehovah which was to Hosea; he now says, נהושע, beusho, in Hosea; and he adds God spake and said to Hosea, repeating the preposition used in the first verse. The word of the Lord is said to have been to Hosea, not simply because God addressed the Prophet, but because he sent him forth with certain commissions, for in this sense is the word of God said to have been to the Prophets. God addresses his word also indiscriminately to others whomsoever he is pleased to teach by his word, but he speaks to and addresses his Prophets in a peculiar way, for he makes them the ministers and heralds of his word, and puts, as it were, into their mouth what they afterwards bring forth to the people. So Christ says, that the word of God came to kings, because he constitutes and appoints them to govern mankind. “If he calls them gods,” he says, “to whom the word of God came;” and that psalm, we know, was written with a special reference to kings. We now perceive what this sentence in the first verse contains. The word of God came to Hosea; for the Lord did not simply address the Prophet in a common way, but furnished him with instructions, that he might afterwards teach the people, as it were, in the person of God himself.

It is now added in the second verse, The beginning of speaking, such as the Lord made by Hosea. They who give this rendering, “with Hosea,” seem to explain the Prophet’s meaning frigidly. The letter ב, beth, I know, has this sense often in Scripture; but the Prophet, no doubt, in this place represents himself as the instrument of the Holy Spirit. God then spake in Hosea, or by Hosea, for he brought forth nothing from his own brain, but God spake by him; this is a form of speaking with which we shall often meet. On this, indeed, depends the whole authority of God’s servants that they give not themselves loose reins, but faithfully deliver, as it were, from hand to hand, what the Lord has commanded them, without adding any thing whatever of their own. God then spake in Hosea. It afterwards follows, The Lord said to Hosea. Now this, which is said the third time, or three times repeated, is nothing else than the commission in different forms. He first said in general, “The word of the Lord which was to Hosea;” now he says, The Lord spake thus, and he expresses distinctly what the word was which he referred to in the first verse.

Go, he says, take to thee a wife of wantonness, and the children of wantonness; and the reason is added, for by fornicating, or wantoning, has the land grown wanton. He doubtless speaks here of the vices which the Lord had long endured with inexpressible forbearance. By wantoning then has the land grown wanton, that it should not follow Jehovah.

Here interpreters labour much, because it seems very strange that the Prophet should take a harlot for a wife. Some say that this was an extraordinary case. (3) Certainly such a license could not have been borne in a teacher. We see what Paul requires in a bishop, and no doubt the same was required formerly in the Prophets, that their families should be chaste and free from every stain and reproach. It would have then exposed the Prophet to the scorn of all, if he had entered a brothel and taken to himself a harlot; for he speaks not here of an unchaste woman only, but of a woman of wantonness, which means a common harlot, for a woman of wantonness is she called, who has long habituated herself to wantonness, who has exposed herself to all, to gratify the wish of all, who has prostituted herself, not once nor twice, nor to few men, but to all. That this was done by the Prophet seems very improbable. But some reply as I have said, that this ought not to be regarded as a common rule, for it was an extraordinary command of God. And yet it seems not consistent with reason, that the Lord should thus gratuitously render his Prophet contemptible; for how could he expect to be received on coming abroad before the public, after having brought on himself such a disgrace? If he had married a wife such as is here described, he ought to have concealed himself for life rather than to undertake the Prophetic office. Their opinion, therefore, is not probable, who think that the Prophet had taken such a wife as is here described.

Then another reason, utterly unresolvable, militates against them; for the Prophet is not only bidden to take a wife of wantonness, but also children of wantonness, begotten by whoredom. It is, therefore, the same as if he himself had committed whoredom. (4) For if we say that he married a wife who had previously conducted herself with some indecency and want of chastity, (as Jerome at length argues in order to excuse the Prophet,) the excuse is frivolous, for he speaks not only of the wife, but also of the children, inasmuch as God would have the whole offspring to be adulterous, and this could not be the case in a lawful marriage. Hence almost all the Hebrews agree in this opinion, that the Prophet did not actually marry a wife, but that he was bidden to do this in a vision. And we shall see in the third chapter (Hos 3:1) almost the same thing described; and yet what is narrated there could not have been actually done, for the Prophet is bidden to marry a wife who had violated her conjugal fidelity, and after having bought her, to retain her at home for a time. This, we know, was not done. It then follows that this was a representation exhibited to the people.

Some object and say, that the whole passage, as given by the Prophet, cannot be understood as relating a vision. Why not? For the vision, they say, was given to him alone, and God had a regard to the whole people rather than to the Prophet. But it may be, and it is probable, that no vision was presented to the Prophet, but that God only ordered him to proclaim what had been given him in charge. When, therefore, the Prophet began to teach, he commenced somewhat in this way: “The Lord places me here as on a stage, to make known to you that I have married a wife, a wife habituated to adulteries and whoredoms, and that I have begotten children by her.” The whole people knew that he had done no such thing; but the Prophet spake thus in order to set before their eyes a vivid representation. Such then, was the vision, a figurative exhibition, not that the Prophet knew this by a vision, but the Lord had bidden him to relate this parable, (so to speak,) or this similitude, that the people might see, as in a living portraiture, their turpitude and perfidiousness. It is, in short, an exhibition, in which the thing itself is not only set forth in words, but is also placed, as it were, before their eyes in a visible form. The reason is added, for by wantoning has the land grown wanton

We now then see how the words of the Prophet ought to be understood; for he assumed a character, when going forth before the public, and in this character he said to the people, that God had bidden him to take a harlot for his wife, and to beget adulterous children by her. His ministry was not on this account made contemptible, for they all knew that he had ever lived virtuously and temperately; they all knew that his household was exempt from every reproach; but here he exhibited in his assumed character, as it were, a living image of the baseness of the people. This is the meaning, and I see nothing strained in this explanation; and we, at the same time, see the meaning of this clause, By wantoning has the land grown wanton. Hosea might have said this in one word, but he had to address the deaf, and we know how great and how stupid is the madness of those who delight themselves in their own superstitions, they cannot bear any reproof. The Prophet then would not have been attended to, unless he had exhibited, as in a mirror before their eyes, what he wished to be understood by them, as though he had said, “If none of you can so know himself as to own his public baseness, if ye are all so obstinate against God, at least know now by my assumed character, that you are all adulterous, and derive your origin from a filthy brothel, for God declares thus concerning you; and as you are not willing to receive such a declaration, it is now set before you in my assumed character.”

That it should not follow Jehovah, literally, From after Jehovah, מאחרי, meachri. We here see what is the spiritual chastity of God’s people, and what also is the signification of the word wantoning. Then the spiritual chastity of God’s people is to follow the Lord; and what else is this to follow, but to suffer ourselves to be ruled by his word, and willingly to obey him, to be ready and prepared for any work to which he may call us? When then the Lord goes before us with his instruction and shows the way, and we become teachable and obedient, and look up to him, and turn not aside, either to the right or to the left hand, but bring our whole life to the obedience of faith, — this is really to follow the Lord; and it is a most beautiful definition of the spiritual chastity of God’s people.

And we may also, from the opposite of this, learn what it is to grow wanton; we do so when we depart from the word of the Lord, when we give ear to false doctrines, when we abandon ourselves to superstitions; when we, in short, wander after our own devices, and keep not our thoughts under the authority of the word of the Lord. But as to the word wantoning, more will be said in chapter 2; but I only wished now briefly to touch on what the Prophet means when he chides the Israelites for having all become wanton. Now follows —

(3) Much difference has prevailed on this subject. That is it was a real transaction, has been the opinion of not a few. Poole quotes Basil, Augustine, Jerome, and Theodoret, as entertaining this view. Bishop Horsley agrees with them; but he makes this wise remark, “This is in truth a question of little importance to the interpretation of the prophecy, for the act was equally emblematical, whether it was real or visionary only; and the significance of the emblem, whether the act were done in reality or in vision, will be the same.”

Henry seems to lean to the opinion that it was a parable; and Scott, that it was a real transaction. The notion of a parable is attended with the least difficulty, and corresponds with the mode of teaching often adopted both in the Old and New Testament. — Ed.

(4) This does not follow; for, as Bishop Horsley justly observes, “the children of wantonness” were those previously begotten. The Prophet was to take a woman who was a harlot, together with her spurious children. This is the evident message of the passage. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

HOMILETICS

CRITICAL NOTES.

Hos. 1:2. By] Lit. in Hosea, the preposition expresses close relationship with another; cf. Num. 12:6; Num. 12:8; Heb. 2:1. First in us and then through us is the Divine order; personal enlightenment and then public service. Wife of whore.] A vision, some; externally acted, others; taken in a real sense by most interpreters. The plural indicates not merely incidental, but continual and manifold acts [Pusey]. Take] i.e. marry one whose livelihood is gained by prostitution, and whose whole element is whoredom. Cf. men of blood, Psa. 5:7; man of sorrows, Isa. 53:3. This is a symbol of Israel in its state of idolatry. Land] Israel, indirectly Judah, wife and children, equally grieved the husband and father, Eze. 16:8; Eze. 16:15. Committed] is whoring, whoring away, from Jehovah, lit. from after Jehovah; the composite preposition denoting more than absence from God, signifies opposed to walking with him; the breaking of the marriage vow, cut off from loving relationship (Psa. 73:27).

THE SYMBOLIC MARRIAGE.Hos. 1:2

Whether this be regarded as a real and external transaction, or a spiritual scenery, or allegorical description, all agree in taking it as a type of Gods dealings with unfaithful Israel. Divine truth was to be acted, embodied in sensible signs and prophetic life. Hosea commanded to marry a prostitute and beget children, whose names, called by God himself, were to set forth the evils of departure from him.

I. A type of Israels fallen condition. It was the chosen people, specially created and brought into covenant relation to God. This relation, often represented under the figure of marriage, they vowed to keep. But the contract was broken, they had fallen away from God, and gone a whoring after other gods. Idolatry was not accidental, but prevalent; the whole land was polluted, and the sin national. The idolatry of foreign nations was regarded as an abomination, but the sin of Israel a more glaring enormity and greater moral guilt. Three things are condemned in Scripture as idolatry.

1. The worshipping of a false god;
2. the worshipping of the true God through an image;
3. the indulgence of those passions which draw the soul from God. Israel were guilty of the first in bowing the knee to Baal, and of the second in setting up the golden calves. Men now often guilty of the third. Lust, covetousness, and pleasure allure their hearts, and they set up gold, honour, popular applause, and worldly distinction, and cry, These be thy gods.

II. A type o Gods love to sinners.

1. Love to the unfaithful. Israel had fallen, but God loved her with a tender love, and sought to restore her to himself. Many have made a profession, Christians have left their first love, broken their engagement with God, and fallen into disgrace. Love is wounded, and deeply wounded, at such treatment, but it remains love, cannot suffer apostasy from him, and seeks to restore and save. Thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works.

2. Love to the unworthy. We shrink from the unchaste and condemn the outcast, but they are not beyond hope. The drunkard, the thief, and the idolater are renewed and restored to God, formed into a church, and sanctified for his service. Love, it has been said, descends more abundantly than it ascends. The love of parents for their children has always been far more powerful than that of children for their parents; and who among the sons of men ever loved God with a thousandth part of the love which God has manifested to us?

III. A type of moral life unstained by surrounding evils. The prophet was holy, separated from sinners, and dared not associate with adulterers.

1. In the family was a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms.
2. In the land corruption and abominations were prevalent. What a trial of patience! What a test of character this would be! Christians are often so placed, but must be the salt of the earth, preserve from corruption, and incite men to live godly in dangers by which they are surrounded. Even in Sardis were a few who had not defiled their garments. To keep himself unspotted from the world.

IV. A type of parental sin portrayed in childrens character. Parents leave behind them legacies of guilt and shame; contaminate their offspring by their influence and example. Children inherit the lands and the lusts of their ancestors, and are often cursed with the consequences of parental folly. Drunkenness, debauchery, and adultery entail on human life their ruinous and loathsome effects. Men transmit to remote posterity guilt and misery, and God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. This should excite pity for children and caution in parents for their solemn charge and responsibility.

HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES

Go, take, Hos. 1:3.

1. A people sunk into sin and idolatry need desperate and extraordinary efforts to save them.

2. Men employed in saving them must deny themselves, and adopt the means God directs. Hosea takes a strange wife. Ezekiel loses his own, Eze. 24:16-17. Our will must be merged into Gods. This figure was proposed to the people that they might perceive in the looking-glass of this allegory, first, their duty towards God; second, their disloyalty; thirdly, their penalty for the same [Trapp].

Idolatry is spiritual whoredom. It defiles the soul, Gods bridal-bed. It breaks the marriage-knot, and discovenants. It enrageth God, who in this case will take no ransom. It subjecteth men to the deepest displeasure of God, it besots them and unmans them [Trapp].

Children of whoredom. The sins of parents also descend in a mysterious way on their children. Sin is contagious, and unless the entail is cut off by grace, hereditary [Pusey].

Depart from God.I. God is the great end of life. Man restless and insufficient without God. Natural bodies seek a natural resting-place; sensitive creatures seek good adapted to their rank and being: so the soul longs for God. Echoes of God resound through its depths, and it is made to turn instinctively towards Himself. Some have found and walk with God, like Enoch; some walk near to him and others are far from him. Without God in the world. God should be the supreme object of life and affection. This pursuit should be earnest and continued. My soul followeth hard after (is glued) to thee. The renewed soul is acquainted with God, and follows him with intensity of feeling and desire. When the Christian has lost God, he never rests satisfied until he has found him again. When he has found and enjoys him he longs to enjoy him more. And though he can never attain to God in perfection, yet he follows on, first, as a necessary discipline, and then as a necessary preparation for the future. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.

II. Departure from God is idolatry. Sin hinders and indisposes in the pursuit after God. It is a violation of his law and rejection of his love and authority. It renounces all subjection to him, and casts him off entirely. This is, to prefer the creature to the Creator, in whom all joys and blessings consist. If we seek anything out of God, we turn from following him, and take something else to be our god. This is to make an idol, and prefer emptiness and vanity. An idol is nothing. Men have many idols. When they do not worship God, they worship themselves, their fellow-creatures, their works, and their substance. It is not necessary that each one should sing a psalm and offer a prayer to deify self. The outward life is a psalm, and the inward life a prayer. Man cannot dethrone God in heart and life without putting an idol in his place. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

III. This departure involves others in its consequences. Every individual is a centre of moral influence. Every word and deed sends forth more than electric fluid. He may choose what he will do, but having done, he cannot stay the consequences of the act. Kings and priests, ministers and parents, influence others for good or evil, produce effects which do not terminate on themselves, but extend to society, and are transmitted to posterity as mighty, indestructible forces of existence. When one member suffers, all suffer with it. By neglect of duty, wrong example, and leading others into sin we injure our fellow-creatures, and leave an active influence, which does not cease when we repent or die. Wealth, language, and customs influence the health and morals of society. And as the seed sown will produce the harvest, so licentiousness and idolatry sow their fruits in families, churches, nations, and fill the earth with violence. The land hath committed great whoredom.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

(2) The beginning of the word . . .More correctly, In the beginning when the Lord spoke to Hosea, the Lord said . . .

Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms.How are we to interpret the prophets marriage to the licentious Gomer? Is it an historic occurrence, the only too real tragedy of the authors personal experience, employed for the purpose of illustration? (Comp. the domestic incident, Isa. 8:1-4.) Or is this opening chapter a merely allegorical representation, designed to exhibit in vivid colours the terrible moral condition of Israel? (Comp. the symbolic actions described in Jer. 25:15-29; Eze. 4:4-6; and perhaps Isa. 20:1-3.) Able writers have advocated each of these opposed theories; but in our opinion the balance of evidence inclines to the former view, which regards the events as historic. The further question arises, Was Gomer guilty before or after the marriage? The former supposition involves the harshness of conceiving such a marriage as the result of a Divine command; but the latter supposition admits of a satisfactory interpretation. The wickedness which after marriage revealed itself to the prophets agonised heart was transfigured to the inspired seer into an emblem of his nations wrong to Jehovah. In the light of this great idea, the prophets past came before him in changed aspect. As he reflected on the marvellous symbolic adaptation of this episode to the terrible spiritual needs of his fellow-countrymen, which he was called by God to supply, the Divine purpose which shaped his sorrowful career became interpreted to his glowing consciousness as a Divine commandGo, take unto thyself a wife of whoredoms. He had suffered acutely, but the agony was part of Gods arrangement, and the very love that was repeatedly outraged proves ultimately to have been suggested by a Divine monition.

Children of whoredoms.Children of Hoseas marriage. The whole result of his family history was included in this divinely ordered plan.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

HOSEA’S WIFE AND CHILDREN, Hos 1:2-9.

The prophet relates how, at the divine command, he took in marriage a wife of whoredoms, Gomer the daughter of Diblaim. By her he had three children, to whom he gave names symbolic of the truths he taught: Jezreel, symbolizing the overthrow of the dynasty of Jehu; Lo-ruhamah, announcing that Jehovah will have no more mercy upon Israel; and Lo-ammi, symbolizing the utter rejection of Israel.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2b-5. The marriage of Hosea and the birth of the first child. 2.

Take a wife Common expression for marry.

A wife of whoredoms Not harlot, that is, a woman already a sinner, whether in a literal or a spiritual sense (Hos 2:5), but a woman with deeply rooted tendencies toward unchastity (Introduction, pp. 12ff.).

Children of whoredoms Either children inheriting the mother’s evil tendencies, or children born of a woman with such tendencies, or both (Hos 2:4).

The land hath committed [“doth commit”] great whoredom The reason for leading the prophet into this peculiar experience. By his own domestic life he was to apprehend more clearly the relation of Jehovah to Israel. As the prophet in his later life meditated over his own sad experience he recognized that the affliction came to him from Jehovah to teach him, in order that he might be a teacher of others. That does not mean that he was not a prophet until his eyes were thus opened. He was conscious of a prophetic call when his first son was born, as is clear from the giving of the symbolic name. In fact, he understood the significance of his own domestic experience because he had the prophetic gift. Nevertheless, his experience led him into a deeper appreciation of the most important phase of his message to the people. Israel, like his wife, had adulterous tendencies; for a while they were restrained, but at the slightest provocation they broke forth.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘When YHWH spoke at the first by Hosea, YHWH said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom, for the land does commit great whoredom, departing from YHWH.’

God’s first requirement for Hosea’s prophetic ministry was that he marry and have children. And when he did so he was to recognise that they were involved in a land of spiritual whoredom (spiritual unfaithfulness), a land which had proved unfaithful to YHWH and was lusting after the Baalim, with the result that they were ignoring God’s true worship and God’s covenant requirements. They had ‘departed from YHWH’. (‘Land’ here equals ‘the people of the land’, with their actions seen as having tainted the land). This idea of considering ‘going after other gods’ as ‘whoredom’ was already rooted in the nation’s history (see Exo 34:15-16; Deu 31:16), and the whole verse is pregnant with God’s clearly expressed disgust, horror and disapproval of what they were doing. It is a complete indictment of Israel. And the final aim of what Hosea was to do was to use the naming of his children as a warning message from YHWH to Israel.

‘Wife of whoredom’ and ‘children of whoredom’ merely indicate that they were identified with the whole people in their unfaithfulness. People were seen in those days as very much a part of the society in which they lived and the society to whom they owed allegiance. Thus if Hosea married he had no choice but to take a ‘wife of whoredom’, because the whole nation was seen as tainted by the behaviour of the king and the majority of the people. And it was that behaviour that YHWH was bringing out. It is a reminder to us that to ‘depart from the living God’, replacing Him with other things, is whoredom.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Hosea’s Wife And Children Are To Be A Sign Of The Unfaithfulness Of Israel ( Hos 1:2 to Hos 2:5 a).

There is no reason in chapter 1 for seeing Gomer’s ‘whoredom’ as being anything other than spiritual whoredom, (even though some do choose to see it differently). But whatever view might be taken about that, there can be no doubt that the main thought behind the presentation is certainly that Gomer and her children are to be seen as a part of the land which commits great whoredom (Hos 1:2), that is, has deserted YHWH and His covenant and is both following false religion and rejecting the requirements of His Law. And that was what Israel as a whole were seen as doing. Thus the whole land was ‘a land of whoredom’ (seeking other lords than YHWH). Consequently any wife whom Hosea selected could have been described as a ‘wife of whoredom’, however pure she was. With regard to this it should be noted that it was not the name of Gomer, Hosea’s wife, that was to be a sign to Israel, but the names of his children. We are therefore probably doing Gomer an injustice to suggest that she was initially a prostitute, or even a fallen woman, (whatever may have happened to her later).

But the chapter is undoubtedly intended to bring out the horror of Israel’s situation in God’s eyes. Here was the land of God’s inheritance, the land that God had given to His people, and it had become prostituted to Baalism. For although Jeroboam, following the example of Jehu, had eschewed the Phoenician Baal of the house of Ahab, he had continued the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, together with their Canaanite accompaniments, which included features of local Baalism carried out both in the sanctuaries of Bethel and Gilgal, and on the hills of Israel. And it was based on a false priesthood, and would appear very much to have included the utilisation of cult prostitutes (Hos 4:13-14). The consequence was that there was an open breach of God’s commandments (Hos 4:2). God’s ‘wife’ (Israel) had become unfaithful to Him.

Of course, we today would not behave in such a way. Instead our gods are sports stars, film stars, musicians and singers, or even celebrity chefs. But they nevertheless similarly entice us or encourage us into breaches of God’s commandments. And where that is so they must be put away, otherwise we too are guilty of spiritual adultery.

The consequence of all this is brought out in the naming of Hosea’s children. The name ‘Jezreel’ indicated that the sin of Jezreel would be expurgated by judgment on both the royal house and the land, the name ‘Lo-Ruhamah’ indicated that Israel would become ‘not pitied’ and the name ‘Lo-ammi’ indicated that they would be ‘not My people’, (although it will turn out that, in the mercy of God, that will not be the end, for there is to be a final restoration). That is why the children must wrestle with their ‘mother’ (Israel) about her behaviour. It is because she is breeding sin.

Analysis of Hos 1:2 to Hos 2:5 a.

a When YHWH spoke at the first by Hosea, YHWH said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom (unfaithfulness) and children of whoredom (unfaithfulness), for the land does commit great whoredom (unfaithfulness), departing from YHWH (Hos 1:2).

b So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived, and bore him a son (Hos 1:3).

c And YHWH said to him, “Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. And it will come about at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel” (Hos 1:4-5).

d And she conceived again, and bore a daughter. And YHWH said to him, “Call her name Lo-ruhamah; for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them, but I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by YHWH their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen” (Hos 1:6-7).

e Now when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son. And YHWH said, “Call his name Lo-ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God” (Hos 1:8-9).

f Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered (Hos 1:10 a).

e And it will come about that, in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people”, it will be said to them, “You are the sons of the living God.”

d And the children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head (Hos 1:11 a).

c And they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel” (Hos 1:11 b).

b “Say you to your brothers, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah, ‘Contend with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, nor am I her husband’ (Hos 2:1-2 a).

a “And let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts, lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. Yes, upon her children will I have no mercy, for they are children of whoredom; because their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has done shamefully” (Hos 2:2-5 a).

Note that in ‘a’ Hosea has to take a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom, because the land is a land of whoredom, and in the parallel the wife is to cease her whoredom, and if she does not her children will suffer for her whoredom. In ‘b’ Gomer conceives and bears a son (who is to be a warning to Israel), and in the parallel that son has to advise his brothers and sisters to contend with their mother (Israel) because of what she has done. In ‘c’ the son is called Jezreel as a sign of what is to happen to the house of Jehu (and of Jeroboam) and to Israel, and in the parallel the day of Jezreel is to be the sign of restoration for Israel of the true dynasty. In ‘d’ Judah is to experience deliverance, and in the parallel it will lead to Israel and Judah being united under one head. In ‘e’ Israel are to be called ‘not My people’, and in the parallel in the place where it was said to them ‘you are not My people’ they will be called the children of the living God. In ‘f’ we have the renewal of the promise made to Jacob/Israel, that the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea (Gen 32:12).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

YHWH’S STEADFAST LOVE FOR ISRAEL AND HER UNFAITHFULNESS TO HIM IS EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP WITH AN ASSURANCE THAT ONE DAY THERE WILL BE FULL RESTORATION ( Hos 1:2 to Hos 3:5 ).

There is nothing more poignant than this beautiful picture of God in His love seeing Israel as His wife, even though she has been unfaithful to Him, and determining that once she has learned her lesson He will woo her back to Himself. But the picture comes first as a stark warning to the current Israel, by means of three children of Hosea, of what will happen to them if they do not turn back to Him.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Hosea Takes Gomer as His Wife (The Naming of Hosea’s Three Children) We find in Hos 1:2-11 that God gave Hosea three children by his wife Gomer. With the birth of these children, God told Hosea to name each of them as a testimony of the prophecies that he given to speak unto the children of Israel. We find this also happening in the ministry of Isaiah the prophet, a contemporary of Hosea, where the Lord also told him to give his son a prophetic name in Isa 8:3-4.

Isa 8:3-4, “And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.”

Hos 1:2  The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

Hos 1:2 Comments – The Mosaic Law forbade a priest from taking a wife of whoredom (Lev 21:7).

Lev 21:7, “They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.”

Why did God charge Hosea to take a wife of whoredom; because Israel was in whoredom from God? When the men of Israel saw this prophet with a harlot, they would look in disgust at a man of God for loving such a woman, and thus their conscience would convict them as adulterers in God’s eyes. The names of Hosea’s three children also became a reminder to the Israelites of God’s soon coming judgment.

Gomer would later forsake her husband, and he would purchase her back from bondage. This would serve as a symbol of God’s everlasting love for the children of Israel, as well as a prophetic message that God would one day redeem His people through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

This living drama in the life of Hosea would display for those around him how God is joined faithfully to the nation of Israel in its whoredom.

Hos 1:3  So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

Hos 1:3 Word Study on “Gomer” Strong says the Hebrew name “Gomer” ( ) (H1586) means, “completion,” and comes from the Hebrew verb ( ) (H1584), which means, “to end (in the sense of completion or failure)”, thus, “to cease, to come to an end, to fail to perfect, to perform.”

Gomer was also the name of one of the sons of Japheth in Gen 10:2-3.

Gen 10:1-3, “Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer , and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer ; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.”

Hos 1:3 Word Study on “Diblaim” Strong says the Hebrew name “Diblaim” ( ) (H1691) means, “two cakes,” and is in the dual form and comes from the masculine of ( ) (H1690), which means “a cake of pressed figs,” probably from an unused root verb that means, “to press together.” Isa 1:3 gives the only use of this Hebrew word in the Scriptures.

Hos 1:4-5 Hosea’s First Prophecy of the Judgment of the Northern Kingdom of Israel Hosea directs his prophecy against the dynasty of Jehu, which reigned from 852 to 757 B.C. for five generations. Hosea most likely gave this prophecy shortly before 757 B.C. In this prophecy, God tells the children of Israel that the punishment for the sins of Jehu will be the desolation of the northern kingdom.

Hos 1:4  And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

Hos 1:4 “And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel” – Word Study on “Jezreel” Strong says the Hebrew name “Jezreel” ( ) (H3157) means, “God will sow,” and it comes from two Hebrew words ( ) (H2232), meaning “to sow” and ( ) (H410), a shortened form for the word “Almighty.”

Comments – Some scholars translate this proper name to mean, “God will scatter,” symbolizing the way that God would bring to an end the northern kingdom. [12] The Assyrians came in 722 B.C. and scattered the Israelites among the heathen nations, while they brought the heathens to live in their land.

[12] John Gill, Hosea, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on Hosea 1:4.

Hos 1:4 “for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu” Comments – The city of Jezreel was located on the border of the territory of Issachar (Jos 19:17-18).

Jos 19:17-18, “And the fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families. And their border was toward Jezreel , and Chesulloth, and Shunem,”

This city did not play an important role in the history of Israel nor the northern kingdom until the days of King Ahab. At that time, the king made it one of his residences by building a royal palace there.

1Ki 21:1, “And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.”

It was in this city that Jehu killed King Ahab and his wife Jezebel as well as the king of Judah, all of Ahab’s family, the priests of Baal, etc. This was one of most intensive bloodsheds in Bible by a new king on the throne. This act of purging sin was in God’s heart to do. God had promised that a son of Jehu would reign to the fourth generation (note 2Ki 10:30), and this was about to come to completion. God cut it short because Jehu and his sons continued in the sins of Jeroboam. Therefore, God would judge Jehu for his act of killing Jezebel and Ahab’s family, since it became evident that he did it in greed for power, rather than in a zeal for God. See this story in 2Ki 9:16 and following:

2Ki 10:11, “So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.”

2Ki 10:30, “And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.”

The dynasty of Jehu lasted about 95 years:

Jehu (852 to 825 B.C.), 10 th king of Israel

Jehoahaz (825 to 813 B.C.), 11 th king of Israel

Jehoash (Joash) (813 to 798 B.C.), 12 th king of Israel

Jeroboam (798 B.C. to 757), 13 th king of Israel

Zechariah (757 B.C.), 14 th king of Israel

God cut off his fifth generation after only 6 months in office, thus fulfilling His promise to Jehu. God soon brought the nation of Assyria to judge the northern kingdom of Israel and they were carried away captive in 722 B.C.

Note how God used the nations of Assyria and Babylon to execute judgment upon the nations of Israel and Judah.

Isa 10:5-7, “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.”

Jer 20:4, “For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.”

God then punished Assyria and Babylon for the pride and cruelty in which they performed this divine decree.

Jer 50:10-11, “And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;”

Jer 50:17-18, “Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.”

Hos 1:5  And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

Hos 1:5 “I will break the bow of Israel” Comments – The bow was one of the principle weapons of wars during these days. Thus, the bow is used figuratively here to represent the strength of the northern kingdom. The phrase, “I will break the bow of Israel” means that God take away Israel’s strength as a nation by allowing Assyria to conquer them.

Hos 1:5 “in the valley of Jezreel” Comments – Hosea tells us that the place where a key battle will be fought which determined the fall of the northern kingdom would be the Valley of Jezreel. Leon Wood tells us that this valley was located north of “the city of Jezreel, between the ridges of Gilboa and Moreh.” Towards the west, this valley merges with the Esdraelon Valley. Both of these locations have been scenes of major battles in ancient times. Wood suggests that the fulfillment of this prophecy in Hos 1:5 took place during “the campaign of Tiglath-pileser III, who in 733 B.C. seized the area.” [13]

[13] Leon J. Wood, Hosea, in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 7, ed. Frank E. Gaebelien, J. D. Douglas, Dick Polcyn (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1976-1992), in Zondervan Reference Software, v. 2.8 [CD-ROM] (Grand Rapids, Michigan: The Zondervan Corp., 1989-2001), comments on Ezekiel 1:5.

1Ch 5:25-26, “And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.”

Hos 1:5 Comments – Was it not in Jezreel that Jehu slew the king of Israel with his own bow? (2Ki 9:16; 2Ki 9:24)

2Ki 9:16, “So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.”

2Ki 9:24, “And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.”

Hos 1:6-7 Hosea’s Second Prophecy of the Fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel Hos 1:6-7 gives us the second prophecy of the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Hos 1:6  And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.

Hos 1:6 Word Study on Loruhamah Scholars generally agree that the Hebrew name “Loruhamah” ( ) (H3819) means, “no mercy,” or “not having obtained mercy.” Strong says this name is a compound of two Hebrew words: ( ) (H3808), which means, “not,” and ( ) (H7355), which means, “to have compassion, mercy, love.” The Enhanced Strong says it is Hebrew verb is used 47 times in the Old Testament being translated in the KJV as “mercy 32, …compassion 8, pity 3, love 1, merciful 1, Ruhamah 1, surely 1.” The name “Loruhamah” is only used 2 times in the Old Testament, being found in Hos 1:6; Hos 1:8.

Hos 1:7  But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

Hos 1:8-11 Hosea’s Third Prophecy of the Restoration of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms Hos 1:8-11 gives us the third prophecy, this time of the restoration of both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Hos 1:8  Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.

Hos 1:9  Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.

Hos 1:9 Word Study on “ Loammi” Strong says the Hebrew name “Loammi” ( ) (H3818) means, “not my people,” and comes from the two Hebrew words ( ) (H3808), which means, “not”, and ( ) (H5971), which means, “tribe, nation, people.”

Hos 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

Hos 1:10 “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered” Comments – This phrase is a clear reference to God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 15:5; Gen 22:17 where God promised that his descendents would be without number. God is saying that although He would forsake them for now, yet He would ultimately fulfill His promises to Abraham.

Gen 15:5, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”

Gen 22:17, “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;”

Hos 1:10 “and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God” – Comments – Hos 1:10 gives us a clear prophecy of the “time of the Gentiles” when God will usher in His Church and graft the Gentiles nations into the vine of Israel. The Gentiles were originally “not His people,” but they will one day be called “His people.” Hosea will again make this prophecy in Hos 2:23.

Hos 2:23, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

We find Paul quoting from Hos 1:10 in Rom 9:26.

Rom 9:26, “And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.”

Paul quotes from Hos 2:23 in Rom 9:25. Thus, Paul picks up on these two verses in Hosea as parallel verses.

Rom 9:25, “As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.”

It is significant to point out that Hosea both prophecies of the end of the northern kingdom as well as the receiving of the Gentiles. Paul will later point out in Romans 9-10 that God did not utter abandon His people Israel, but rather grafted the Gentiles into this vine that He has cared for and nourished since its birth from the loins of Abraham.

Hos 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Hos 1:11 “for great shall be the day of Jezreel” Comments – In search for the meaning of the phrase “the day of Jezreel,” we can find several clues that will lead us to believe that this is a reference to Israel’s restoration and glorification during the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth. We know that the children of Israel were gathered together after their 70-year Babylonian Captivity. However, their first return from Captivity was not with the appointment of their own leader, as this verse prophesies. They remained under the dominion of the Gentile nations from the time of Nebuchadnezzar until the destruction of Israel in A.D. 70 by the Romans. Many scholars suggest that the phrase “they shall come up out of the land” is a reference to the restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948 as they gathered themselves together from the nations of the earth. The word “land” would then refer to the nations of the earth. Therefore, the most likely fulfillment of this prophecy would be when the time of the Gentiles closes at the end of the seven-year Tribulation Period and Christ returns on earth to rule and reign on earth from Jerusalem. Thus, He is the “one head” referred to in this verse.

In the context of God receiving the Gentiles, Hosea says,

Hos 2:23, “And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

Regarding God receiving the Gentiles, note the context of Jer 31:27-34:

Jer 31:27, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.”

In this context, it means that “God will multiply men among you”:

Eze 36:9-10, “For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Hos 1:2. Take unto thee a wife of whoredoms That is, a woman, who, before her marriage, had lived an impure life, but who afterward should retire from all bad conversation, and whose children should be legitimate, notwithstanding that, by reason of the blemish which their mother had contracted by her former life, they were called the children of whoredoms. This prostitute woman, and the children to be born of her, were a figure, and a kind of real prophecy, which described the idolatry and infidelity of Samaria and the ten tribes, formerly the Lord’s spouse, but afterwards become adulterous and corrupt. God gives these children the names of Jezreel, Loruhamah, or without mercy, and Lo-ammi, or thou art no longer my people; to shew, 1. That God was going to retaliate upon the house of Jehu, king of Israel, the sins which he had committed at Jezreel, when he came to the kingdom of the ten tribes. 2. That the Lord would treat his idolatrous and sinful people without mercy; and lastly, That he would reject them, and no more look upon them as his people. Many interpreters, offended at the irregularity of Hosea’s marriage with a woman of a bad life, have thought this relation to be only a parable: that the prophet called the wife whom he had taken a prostitute, with a design only of awakening the attention of the Israelites; or that all this passed only in a vision, without the prophet’s coming to the execution of it. But the whole sequel of Hosea’s narration sufficiently shews, that this marriage was real, though figurative as to the things which it described, and which were to be afterwards performed. This is the opinion of St. Basil, Theodoret, St. Augustin, and many good interpreters. Dr. Pococke observes, “Seeing each opinion [that for the literal interpretation, and that for the figurative] is backed by great authority, and the maintainers thereof will not yield to one another’s reasons; it must be still left to the considerate reader to use his own judgment; only with this caution, that he conceive nothing unworthy of God, or unworthy his holy prophet, nor draw from the words any unfavourable and unhandsome conclusions.” See Pococke on Hosea. Besides, God was able to make ample compensation to the prophet in the course of eternity for any sufferings or reproaches which he might endure in consequence of this marriage.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Some have thought, that what is here said of Hosea, was in vision, and not in reality. But others have deemed it to be literally as is here stated. In either sense, the doctrine is the same. God intended to show thereby the divorcement of his people. The name of Gomer is very expressive, meaning waste. God’s Israel are threatened to be wasted and scattered. And Jezreel is to the same amount, meaning scattered. Reader! while we read these scriptures, and behold in the day in which we live their fulfillment; is it not sweet to recollect the promise, He that scattered Israel will gather him. Jer 31:10 ; Gen 49:10 ; Joh 11:52 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Hos 1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, [departing] from the LORD.

Ver. 2. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea ] Heb. in Hosea: to note, that the Lord was both in his mind and mouth, in his spirit and speech. God spake in him before he spake out to the people. His prophecy must therefore needs be divine and deep. That is the best discourse that is digged out of a man’s own breast, that comes a corde ad cor, from the heart to the heart. And blessed are the people (saith one) that have such ministers, that shall speak nothing to them but what hath been first spoken by God in them: saying, with David and Paul, “We believe, therefore have we spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak,” 2Co 4:13 ; we have experimented what we deliver; we believe and are sure, that God is in us of a truth, and that we preach cum gratia et privilegio, with grace and prvilege.

The beginning ] Hence some gather that Hosea was the first prophet: Hoseas videtur tempore et maiestate aliis prior, saith Oecolampadius. Certain it is he began before Isaiah (because he prophesied in the days of Jeroboam, who was before Uzziah); whether before Amos or not is not so certain. Eusebius tells us there was no Greek history extant before Hosea’s time. a Well, therefore, might that ancient priest of Egypt say to Solon, You Grecians are all boys and babes in matters of antiquity: neither is there one old man among you (Plato in Timaeo). Samuel is counted the first prophet, Act 3:24 , but Hosea was the first of those that lived in these kings’ days, and likely held out longest; See Trapp on “ Hos 1:1 “ as did father Latimer, preaching twice every sabbath day, though of a very great age; and rising to his study winter and summer at two o’clock in the morning. Others read the words thus, At the beginning when the Lord spake by Hosea, he said to Hosea himself, “Go, take unto thee,” &c. An uncouth precept, and a rough beginning for a young preacher, whose youth might be despised, and whose sharpness might be disgusted. But truth must be spoken, however it be taken; and a preacher should take the same liberty to cry down sin that men take to commit sin, Isa 58:1 . Jerome was called fulmen Ecclesiasticum, the Church thunderbolt; and our Mr Perkins applied the word so close to the consciences of his hearers, that he was able to make their hearts fall down and their hairs almost to stand upright (Mr Puller’s Holy State). But in old age he was more mild, and delighted much to preach mercy; as did also our prophet Hosea, whose prophecy is comminatory in the fore part, consolatory in the latter part.

And the Lord said to Hosea ] This is now the third time inculcated for more authority’ sake, which the people, so rubbed and menaced, would be apt enough to question. He therefore shows them his commission, and that he hath good ground for what he saith; that they may have no cause to cavil, but reply, as that good Dutch divine did (if God would give them a heart so to do), Veniat, veniat, verbum Domini, et submittemus ei, sexcenta si nobis essent colla: Let the word of the Lord come, yea, let it come, and we will submit thereunto, though we had six hundred lives to lose for so doing (Melch. Ad.).

Go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms ] An arrant whore, a stinking strumpet, scortum obsoletum, a known and trite harlot; such as were Thais, Lais, Phryne, &c.; yea, and such a one as, after marriage with a former husband at least, went astray after other sweethearts; for so the application of the figure to the subject, Hos 2:2-5 , requireth it to be understood. Whereby it appears (saith Diodati) that all this was done in a vision. Others infer as much from that phrase in this verse, “The beginning of the word of the Lord in Hosea,” that is (saith Polanus), appearing and speaking to him by an inward vision, as it were in an ecstasy. Besides, in the third chapter and three first verses, the prophet is bidden to marry another harlot, to buy her for his own use, and to keep her at his house for a time. Now, scimus hoc non fuisse completum, saith Calvin; we know that this was never really done. It follows therefore that this figure was only proposed to the people, that they might perceive, in the looking glass of this allegory, first, their duty towards God; second, their disloyalty; thirdly, their penalty for the same. It is not a historical narration, but a prophetic vision. “Children of fornication, a bustardly brood,” such as this “evil and adulterous generation” is; sons of the “rebellious whorish woman, children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,” Isa 57:4 . The Hebrews call such children brambles, such as Abimelech was, who grew in the hedgerow of a harlot: they call them also Mamzer, as ye would say, a strange blot; and Shatuki, or silent, because when others are praising their parents, such must hold their peace, and hold down their heads with shame enough, because they are bastards.

For the land hath committed great whoredoms ] Fornicando fornicata est, i.e. frequentissime et fiedissime, most frequently and most filthily. See Eze 23:2-4 , throughout. Aholah (that is, Israel) played the harlot when she was mine, Eze 23:5 , In her youth they lay with her, Eze 23:8 , so that she might say, with that impudent strumpet, Quartilla, in Petronius, that she could never remember herself a virgin: yea, she grew old in her adulteries, Eze 23:43 , opened her feet to every passenger, and multiplied her whoredoms, Eze 16:25 . Meretricis scilicet hoc est meretricissimae. Such a common prostibulum prostitute is the whore of Rome, whom her followers call piam matrem, quae gremium claudat nemini. a pius matron who excludes no one. Joan of Naples was a saint to her. Idolatry is spiritual whoredom in many respects. It defiles the soul, God’s bridal bed. It breaks the marriage knot, and discovenants. It enrageth God, who in this case will take no ransom. It subjecteth men to God’s deepest displeasure: it besots them and unmans them: they that make idols are “like unto them, so are all they that trust in them,” Psa 115:8 .

Lastly, idolatry is seldom without adultery, in a proper sense; as appears in the old heathens, at their feasts of Priapus, Lupercalia, &c., the Canaanites had filled the land from one end to another with their uncleanness, Ezr 9:11 ; and in the Papists today, who reckon fornication a venial sin, have their stews allowed them; yea, among the very Indians, who abhor their most loathsome living. And for Rome itself – tota est iam Roma lupanar, it is become a great brothel house, and her stench is come up to heaven, as Matthew Paris (one of her sons) long since said.

Departing from the Lord ] In whom all amiables and admirables are concentred. This did exceedingly aggravate the unkindness.

a De Praep. Evang. l. 20, c. ult.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Hos 1:2-5

2When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the LORD. 3So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a Song of Solomon 4 And the LORD said to him, Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

Hos 1:2

NASB, NRSV,

TEVWhen the LORD first spoke through Hosea

NKJVWhen the LORD began to speak by Hosea

NJBThe beginning of what Yahweh said through Hosea

G. Campbell Morgan, Hosea, pp. 9-11, asserts that the ASV, When Jehovah spoke at first by Hosea, is the temporal key to see that Hosea, looking back over his life, writes Hos 1:2 from the advantage of hindsight. Therefore, he asserts that Gomer was faithful when he married her, but that she became unfaithful. Therefore, from God’s foreknowledge, He knew what would happen and now from Hosea’s later years he, too, knows well the tragic marriage (also see Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pp. 294-295 and Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 322-324).

Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry YHWH’s first message to Hosea has two IMPERATIVES and the implication of a third.

1. Go (BDB 229, KB 246, Qal IMPERATIVE)

2. Take (BDB 542, KB 534, Qal IMPERATIVE)

3. Have children, implied by context

These commands, related to marriage and children, imply that God called Hosea while he was very young, possibly around the time of the consummation of his adolescent rites (13-14 years old).

The term harlotry (BDB 276, KB 275) is PLURAL, which can convey (1) intensity or (2) repitition in Hebrew. It seems to refer to either a cultic prostitute (cf. Hos 4:14; NET Bible) or probably a typical woman of his day who, because of the cultural climate of Ba’alism, was involved in promiscuous activities (at least initial sexual union with priest to ensure fertility) and, therefore, was considered (biblically) to be a harlot. This has caused much discussion among commentators:

1. Origen said that nothing unworthy of God should be taken literally, but must be spiritualized /allegorized (followed Philo).

2. Jerome and Iben Ezra (many rabbis) interpret this as a vision.

3. Calvin and E. J. Young interpret this as an allegory.

4. Martin Luther interprets this as Gomer being a faithful wife and they only acted out this drama to convey the message.

5. Wellhausen says that she became promiscuous after marriage. (KB lists one meaning as inclined to fornicate).

The term znh (BDB 275,276) in two forms (VERB, NOUN) is used four times in Hos 1:2 and is translated variously:

1. NASB, NKJV – harlotry

2. NRSV – whoredom

3. TEV – unfaithful

4. NJB – whore

The combination of the Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and the Qal IMPERFECT of the same root intensifies the meaning:

1. has been habitually committing fornication (temporal)

2. guilty of the vilest adultery or great harlotry (type of sin)

Violated, faithful love, not just the violation of rules, becomes the central message of the prophet. The VERB is used in Hos 1:2 (twice); Hos 2:5; Hos 3:3; Hos 4:10; Hos 4:12-15; Hos 4:18(twice); Hos 5:3; Hos 9:1 and the NOUN in Hos 1:2 (twice); Hos 2:2; Hos 2:4; Hos 4:12; Hos 5:4. Israel does not stand guilty before an impartial judge, but before a brokenhearted lover! There are other places in the prophets where the marriage analogy is used to describe the intense relationship between YHWH and Israel (cf. Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16, also note Eph 5:23-33).

have children of harlotry The three children are given prophetic names. It is uncertain if the last two are Hosea’s biological children because of the promiscuity of Gomer.

for the land commits flagrant harlotry It is obvious that God is using an analogy between the prophet’s experience of disloyalty and God’s experience of disloyalty with Israel! However, the real purpose is to reveal the broken heart and forgiving love of YHWH. Hosea’s great truth is the undeserved, faithful, lasting love of God!

When thinking about the analogy between Israel and YWHW illustrated in Gomer and Hosea, the question comes, was Gomer unfaithful before the marriage? If so then how do we explain the analogy?

1. Abraham was a polytheist along with his family in Ur before God revealed Himself to him (cf. Genesis 11).

2. Israel was already involved in idolatry before the Exodus (cf. Exodus 32 or Amo 5:25-27).

Israel’s repeated attraction to idolatry is characterized by Moses as they play the harlot with their gods (e.g., Exo 34:15-16; Lev 17:7; Lev 20:5-6; Num 15:39; Num 25:1; Deu 31:16). This phrase was both literal and figurative when it referred to fertility worship. The background of the metaphor was YHWH as husband and Israel as wife (e.g., Isa 54:5; Isa 62:4-5; Jer 2:2; Jer 3:1; Jer 3:6-9; Jer 3:14; Jer 31:32; Ezekiel 16; Ezekiel 23; Hos 2:19).

Hos 1:3 Gomer There are two people in the OT by this name.

1. Grandson, son of Japheth (cf. Gen 10:2-3; 1Ch 1:5-6)

2. Hosea’s wife

The meaning of the name is uncertain, but the same consonants mean end, come to an end (BDB 170). One wonders if this also has symbolic meaning since the children’s names and possibly Diblaim, her father, are symbolic (similar to the names in Ruth).

Diblaim This term seems to be related to the raisin cakes (BDB 84) of Hos 3:1. It can mean lump of figs or raisin cakes (BDB 179). Raisin cakes were a part of the Canaanite fertility ritual (cf. Jer 44:19).

she conceived and bore him a son It is clearly stated that Hosea is the father of the first child, but not the other two.

Hos 1:4 Name him This VERB (BDB 894, KB 1128) is a Qal IMPERATIVE. The prophetic purpose related to Israel is seen in these children’s names.

Jezreel Jezreel means God scatters, God sows, or God makes fruitful. Therefore, this term can refer to (1) judgment (cf. Hos 1:4-5) or (2) prosperity (cf. Hos 2:22-23). In context, #1 is the obvious meaning. It refers to both a city and a valley in Galilee (Valley of Armageddon). This northern city (Omri’s second capital) was the site of the slaughter of Ahab’s house (the one whose wife popularized fertility worship in Israel) by Jehu (cf. 2Ki 9:7 to 2Ki 10:28), and it became a symbol or idiom for judgment.

Was Jehu punished for doing as he was commanded? This is the question that Hard Sayings of the Bible, IVP, answers (pp. 235-236). Jehu did as God commanded him and wiped out the house of Ahab, but he did it with an intensity and scope that draws God’s condemnation.

for yet a little while This temporal phrase (the two ADVERBS BDB 728 plus 589) is used seven times, six of them are in judgment passages (cf. Psa 37:10; Isa 10:25; Jer 51:33; Hos 1:4; Hag 2:6). The one positive usage is Isa 29:17.

Hos 1:5 I will break the bow of Israel The bow is a symbol of military power and stability. This occurred during the reign of the Assyrian king, Shalmanesar V, who invaded Israel in 724 B.C., but the naturally fortified capital of Samaria did not fall until 722 B.C. in the reign of Sargon II.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

The beginning, &c. This may be understood not merely of Hosea’sprophecies, but as referring to the fact that Hosea was the first (canonically) of fifteen prophets included in the Hebrew canon. See App-77.

by = in, as in Num 12:6, Num 12:8. Hab 2:1. Zec 1:9, i.e. through.

a wife of whoredoms: i.e. a woman of the northern kingdom, and therefore regarded as an idolatress.

whoredoms = idolatries. The one term is used for the other by Figure of speech Metonymy (of the Subject), App-6, because both were characterized by unfaithfulness; the former to a husband, and the latter to Jehovah, Who sustained that relation to Israel (Jer 31:32). Compare 2Ki 9:22. 2Ch 21:13. Jer 3:2. Eze 16:17-35; Eze 20:30; Eze 23:3, Eze 23:7, Eze 23:43. Nah 3:4. See Hos 4:2, Hos 4:12; Hos 5:3, Hos 5:4; Hos 6:10; Hos 7:4, &c.

and = and [beget].

children = offspring. Hebrew. yalad. The mother is symbolical of the kingdom, and the offspring of the people.

for the land, &c. Note this reason (Hos 1:4-9) above): which explains what is meant by, and gives the interpretation of, “whoredoms”. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 34:16. Lev 17:7; Lev 20:5. Num 15:39. Deu 31:16). App-92.

land. Hebrew. ‘eretz = earth. Put by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of the Whole), App-6, for the land of Israel. Rendered “land” in Hos 4:1. Compare Joe 1:2, &c.

departing, &c. Compare Hos 4:10; Hos 7:8; Hos 8:11, Hos 8:14; Hos 10:1; Hos 12:14; Hos 13:9.

from = from after.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

beginning: Mar 1:1

Go: Hos 3:1, Isa 20:2, Isa 20:3, Jer 13:1-11, Eze 4:1 – Eze 5:17

a wife: That is, says Apb. Newcome, a wife from among the Israelites, who were a people remarkable for spiritual fornication or idolatry.

children: Hos 2:4, 2Pe 2:14, *marg.

for: Exo 34:15, Exo 34:16, Deu 31:16, 2Ch 21:13, Psa 73:27, Psa 106:39, Jer 2:13, Jer 3:1-4, Jer 3:9, Eze 6:9, Eze 16:1-63, Eze 23:1-49, Rev 17:1, Rev 17:2, Rev 17:5

Reciprocal: 1Ki 17:2 – General 1Ch 5:25 – and went Isa 57:3 – sons Isa 59:13 – departing Jer 13:2 – according Jer 13:27 – thine adulteries Jer 17:5 – whose Eze 16:15 – and playedst Eze 23:37 – they have Eze 24:24 – Ezekiel Dan 9:5 – departing Hos 2:2 – let Hos 12:10 – used Luk 3:2 – the word Joh 8:41 – We be Rom 9:25 – in Osee Heb 3:12 – in

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Hos 1:2. It has been seen in numerous instances that prophets have been required to do some acting in con-nection with their prophetic office, and Hosea is another in that class. The case is so strange that I consider it advisable to copy most of my comments on the subject given on 1Ki 20:35 : At various times inspired men have been called upon to go through certain physical performances as a form of prediction. Some of such in-stances wil! be cited. The torn garment. 1Ki 11:29-31; the wounding of the prophet, 1Ki 20:35; the cohabiting with the wife, Isa 8:3; wearing a girdle, Jer 13:1-7; eating of filth, Eze 5:1-4; moving of household goods, Eze 12:3-7; eating a book, Rev 10:8-11. We are not told specifically why all this was done; but it was in line with the statement of Paul in Heb 1:1. It might be suggested that visible exhibitions of divine predictions are sometimes impressive where the simple wording is not. Harlotry is compared to Idolatry and other forms of unfaithfulness all through the Bible. The Jews were so generally guilty of this spiritual adultery that the Lord wished them to be impressed with its serious-ness through seeing this kind of performance by the prophet. We know that such was His purpose in the in-structions, for they are immediately followed by the words, for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord,

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Hos 1:2. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea Or, as some render it, to Hosea; phrases however of different import; for to speak to a person, expresses that the discourse was immediately addressed to him. To speak by him, that through him it was addressed to others. And that the speech so addressed to others was not the persons own, but Gods; God using him as his organ of speech to the people. This latter is evidently the meaning of the Hebrew phrase here used, which is not , but , and has been judiciously attended to by our translators, as it was also by the LXX., the Vulgate, the Chaldee, Luthers Latin translation, Calvins, and Archbishop Newcomes. And the Lord said, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms Commentators differ much with respect to the meaning of this command. Maimonides, a noted Jewish writer, supposes, that what was enjoined was only to be transacted in a vision; and many learned men, both ancient and modern, have been of his opinion. Archbishop Newcome supposes, that the command refers to the spiritual fornication, or idolatry, of the Israelites: and that its meaning is only, Go, join thyself in marriage to one of those who have committed fornication against me; and raise up children, who, by the power of example, will themselves swerve to idolatry: see Hos 5:7. Some others suppose, that God only enjoins the prophet to marry one, who, he foresaw, would afterward be unfaithful to him, and become a harlot. Others again, and persons of great eminence for learning and Biblical knowledge, suppose the command implied, that he was to marry one who actually was at the time, or had been, a harlot. These different opinions, Bishop Horsley, in a preface to his translation of this prophecy, examines at large; and seems to have clearly proved, that the last-mentioned sense of the words is the true one. His train of reasoning on the subject is too long to find a place in these notes; a very short extract is all that can be inserted. Here two questions arise, upon which expositors have been much divided; 1st, What is the character intended of the woman? What are the fornications by which she is characterized? Are they acts of incontinence, in the literal sense of the word, or something figuratively so called? And, 2d, This guilt of literal or figurative incontinence, was it previous to the womans marriage with the prophet, or contracted after it? The Hebrew phrase, a wife of fornications, taken literally, certainly describes a prostitute; and children of fornications are the offspring of a promiscuous commerce. Some, however, have thought, that the expression may signify nothing worse than a wife taken from among the Israelites, who were remarkable for spiritual fornication, or idolatry. And that children of fornications may signify children born of such a mother, in such a country, and likely to grow up in the habit of idolatry themselves, by the force of ill example. But the words thus interpreted contain a description only of public manners, without immediate application to the character of any individual; and the command to the prophet will be nothing more than to take a wife. It is evident, that a wife of fornications describes the sort of woman with whom the prophet is required to form the matrimonial connection. It expresses some quality in the woman, actually belonging to the prophets wife in her individual character. And this quality was no other than gross incontinence, in the literal meaning of the word. The prophets wife was, by the express declaration of the Spirit, to be the type, or emblem, of the Jewish nation, considered as the wife of God. The sin of the Jewish nation was idolatry, and the Scriptural type of idolatry is carnal fornication; the woman, therefore, to typify the nation, must be guilty of the typical crime; and the only question that remains is, whether the stain upon her character was previous to her connection with the prophet, or afterward? I should much incline to the opinion of Diodati, that the expression may be understood of a woman that was innocent at the time of her marriage, and proved false to the nuptial vow afterward, could I agree to what is alleged in favour of that interpretation by Dr. Wells and Mr. Lowth, that it makes the parallel more exact between God and his blacksliding people, than the contrary supposition of the womans previous impurity; especially if we make the further supposition, that the prophet had previous warning of his wifes irregularities. But it seems to me, on the contrary, that the prophets marriage would be a more accurate type of the peculiar connection which God vouchsafed to form between himself and the Israelites, upon the admission of the womans previous incontinence. Gods marriage with Israel was the institution of the Mosaic covenant, at the time of the exodus, Jer 2:2; but it is most certain that the Israelites were previously tainted, in a very great degree, with the idolatry of Egypt, Lev 17:7; Lev 18:3; Jos 24:14; and they are repeatedly taxed with this by the prophets, under the image of the incontinence of a young unmarried woman: see Ezekiel 23. To make the parallel, therefore, exact in every circumstance between the prophet and his wife, God and Israel, the woman should have been addicted to vice before her marriage. The prophet, not ignorant of her numerous criminal intrigues, and of the general levity of her character, should nevertheless offer her marriage, upon condition that she should renounce her follies, and attach herself, with fidelity, to him as her husband; she should accept the unexpected offer, and make the fairest promises, Exo 19:8; Exo 24:3-7; Jos 24:24. The prophet should complete the marriage contract, (Deu 7:6; Deu 26:17-19,) and take the reformed harlot with a numerous bastard offspring to his own house. There she should bear children to the prophet; (as the ancient Jewish Church, amidst all her corruptions, bore many true sons of God;) but in a little time she should relapse to her former courses, and incur her husbands displeasure, who yet should neither put her to death according to the rigour of the law, nor finally and totally divorce her. Accordingly, I am persuaded, the phrases , and , are to be taken literally, a wife of prostitution, and children of promiscuous intercourse; so taken, and only so taken, they produce the admirable parallel we have described.

If any one imagines, that the marriage of a prophet with a harlot is something so contrary to moral purity as in no case whatever to be justified; let him recollect the case of Salmon the Just, as he is styled in the Targum upon Ruth, and Rahab the harlot. If that instance will not remove his scruples, he is at liberty to adopt the opinion, which I indeed reject, but many learned expositors have approved, that the whole was a transaction in vision only, or in trance. I reject it, conceiving that whatever was unfit to be really commanded, or really done, was not very fit to be presented, as commanded, or as done, to the imagination of a prophet in his holy trance. Since this, therefore, was fit to be imagined, which is the least that can be granted, it was fit, (in my judgment,) under all the circumstances of the case, to be done. The greatness of the occasion, the importance of the end, as I conceive, justified the command in this extraordinary instance. The command, if it was given, surely sanctified the action: and, upon these grounds, till I can meet with some other exposition, which may render this typical wedding equally significant of the thing to be typified by it in all its circumstances, I am content to take the fact plainly, as it is related, according to the natural import of the words of the narration; especially as this way of taking it will lead to the true meaning of the emblematical act, even if it was commanded and done only in vision. In taking it as a reality, I have with me the authority, not certainly of the majority, but of some of the most learned and cautious expositors; which I mention, not so much to sustain the truth of the opinion, as to protect myself, in the avowal of it, from injurious imputations.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Hos 1:2-9. Hoseas Marriage: a Parable of Yahwehs Relations with Israel.The prophet receives a Divine command to take (i.e. marry) a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom. The reason given for this startling procedure is that the land (i.e. the land of Israel) doth commit great whoredom departing from the LORD.Hosea obeys and takes as his wife Gomer bath Diblaim (? daughter of fig-cakes), who bears three children to him. These are given symbolical names: the first, a son, is called Jezreel, a prophetic name pointing to the coming of vengeance on the house of Jehu[7] for the massacre at Jezreel of Ahabs house (2Ki 10:11); the second a daughter and the third a son, bearing the names Lo-ruhamah (uncompassionated) and Lo-ammi (not my people), in token of Yahwehs rejection of Ephraim.

[7] Jeroboam II. whose son Zechariah was the last of Jehus kin to reign, must still have been on the throne when Jezreel was born.

Hos 1:2 a. Render the beginning of Yahwehs speaking by (or to) Hosea. The clause is abrupt, and may have stood at the head of the Book before the title in Hos 1:1 had been added: Here beginneth the prophecy of Hosea.

Hos 1:4. Hosea regards the massacre of Ahabs family by Jehu unfavourably (contrast 2Ki 10:30).Jezreel: see Hos 2:21 f.*

Hos 1:7. Probably a post-exilic interpolation. The exception of Judah from the doom pronounced upon Israel is obviously out of place in a prophecy otherwise dealing with Israel exclusively.

The old interpretation of Hos 1:2-9, which regarded the prophets marriage as pure allegory, may rightly be dismissed. Gomer is the name of a real person. But can the narrative be accepted literally? By some scholars (Volz, J. M. P. Smith, Toy) the language descriptive of Gomer is taken literally. Hosea, according to this view, was commanded to marry a woman of notoriously profligate life. Hosea was not led blind folded by Yahweh into a marriage that was to break his heart and wreck his life. On the contrary, he married a woman of evil reputation with his eyes wide open. The Divine command had a higher purpose in viewto bring home, by a startling parable in action, the unfaithfulness of Israel to her Divine spouse, Yahweh (cf. Isa 20:2 ff., Eze 22:9 ff.). The parable was intended to reflect the existing situation in Israel, from the Divine standpoint. By most the language is interpreted proleptically. When the prophet married Gomer she was a pure maiden (this symbolises Israels early faithfulness to Yahweh (cf. Hos 11:1, Ezekiel 16), but she afterwards became profligate. Brooding over the tragedy of his married home-life and still yearning with love to redeem the fallen Gomer, Hosea is led to see a Divine lesson in it all of Yahwehs unconquerable love for faithless Israel

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

1:2 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife {c} of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, [departing] from the LORD.

(c) That is, one that has been a harlot for a long time: not that the Prophet did this thing in effect, but he saw this in a vision, or else was commanded by God to set forth under this parable or figure the idolatry of the Synagogue, and of the people her children.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

A. Signs of coming judgment 1:2-9

The Lord used Hosea’s family members as signs to communicate His message of coming judgment on Israel.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

At the beginning of Hosea’s ministry, Yahweh commanded him to take a wife of harlotry and to have children of harlotry. The reason the Lord gave for this unusual command was that the land of Israel (i.e., the people of the Northern Kingdom, cf. Hos 4:1) were committing flagrant harlotry in the sense that they had departed from the Lord to pursue other loves. The Lord used personification to picture the land (i.e., the people of the land) as a woman acting as a prostitute.

Students of this book have understood the phrase "a wife of harlotry" (Heb. ’esheth zenunim) to mean one of four things. These major views fall into two groups: non-literal and literal interpretations.

First, some believe the text means that God gave Hosea a vision or that He told him an allegory in which his wife was or would become a harlot. [Note: E. J. Young, Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 245-46.] This view avoids the moral problem of God commanding His prophet to marry a woman who was already or would become a harlot. However, there is no indication in the text that this was a visionary experience or an allegorical tale, and there are many details that point to it being a real experience. For example, Hosea recorded the name of his wife and her father’s name (Hos 1:3). He also named the exact amount that he paid for her (Hos 3:2).

Second, some interpreters believe that Hosea’s wife became "a wife of harlotry" because she was already or became a worshipper of a false god; her harlotry was spiritual rather than physical. A related view is that she was a spiritual harlot merely by being an Israelite since the Israelites had been unfaithful to Yahweh. [Note: Stuart, pp. 26-27.] Again the details of the story as it unfolds argue for literal sexual unfaithfulness.

Third, it is possible that Hosea’s wife was sexually promiscuous before he married her. [Note: Keil, 1:29, 37; T. E. McComiskey, "Hosea," in The Minor Prophets, pp. 11-17; J. L. Mays, Hosea: A Commentary, p. 26; Longman and Dillard, p. 402; and Warren W. Wiersbe, "Hosea," in The Bible Exposition Commentary/Prophets, p. 316.] Some have even suggested that she may have been a temple prostitute. One writer suggested that she had participated in a Canaanite rite of sexual initiation in preparation for marriage, but this would not likely have made her a harlot. [Note: Wolff, pp. 14-15.] If the Lord meant that Hosea was to marry a harlot, it would have been more natural for Him to say "take to yourself a harlot" (Heb. zonah) or "prostitute." The biggest problem with this view is ethical. It seems very unlikely that God would command His prophet to marry a woman who was already a harlot.

Fourth, the preferred view seems to be that Hosea’s wife became unfaithful to him after they got married, and that Yahweh told him that she would do this before they got married. [Note: Andersen and Freedman, p. 162; Harper, p. 207; Wood, "Hosea," p. 166; idem, The Prophets . . ., p. 279; Robert B. Chisholm Jr., Handbook on the Prophets, p. 337; Freeman, pp. 181-82; and Kaiser, p. 197.] Similarly, God told Moses that Pharaoh would harden his heart and not allow the Israelites to leave Egypt before Moses first went into Pharaoh’s presence (Exo 3:19). This view posits a situation that was most similar to the relationship that existed between Yahweh and Israel, which Hosea’s marital relations illustrated (cf. Hos 2:2; Hos 2:4; Hos 4:12; Hos 5:4). Israel became unfaithful to Yahweh after previous faithfulness; Israel was not unfaithful when Yahweh married her (at Sinai). She was a brand new bride freshly redeemed out of Egyptian slavery (cf. Jer 2:2-3). This parallelism suggests that the woman whom Hosea loved again (ch. 3) was Gomer, his original wife. Another view is that two wives are involved, one in chapter 1 and a different one in chapter 3. Discussion of this issue follows under chapter 3.

Another difficulty is the meaning of "children of harlotry." Were these children that Gomer already had? [Note: Keil, 1:29.] Were they children that Hosea would have by Gomer that would prove unfaithful like their mother? [Note: Wood, "Hosea," p. 171.] Or were they born to Hosea and Gomer after she became unfaithful? [Note: McComiskey, pp. 15-16.] Probably the phrase means "children of a wife who is marked by harlotry." [Note: Andersen and Freedman, p. 168; and Kaiser, p. 197.] It seems to me that the children in view were the children born to Hosea and Gomer, and they became known as children of harlotry when their mother became a harlot.

"In ancient Israelite society harlots were chiefly foreigners." [Note: McComiskey, p. 19.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

II. THE FIRST SERIES OF MESSAGES OF JUDGMENT AND RESTORATION: HOSEA’S FAMILY 1:2-2:1

Though we know nothing of Hosea’s personal life before he began prophesying, we do know about a crisis that arose in his family while he ministered. This personal tragedy and its happy ending proved to be a lesson to the people of Israel. This lesson corresponds to and illustrated the other messages of judgment and restoration that follow. Other prophets also experienced personal problems that the Lord used to teach His people (e.g., Isa 20:1-4; Eze 4:1 to Eze 5:4).

The major themes of the book come into view in this opening section: Israel’s unfaithfulness to Yahweh, His judgment of her, and His later restoration of her.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)