Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 2:20
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
20. and thou shalt know the Lord ] The ‘knowledge’ of Jehovah is repeatedly insisted upon by Hosea (see Hos 4:1, Hos 5:4, Hos 6:3; Hos 6:6); not however a merely intellectual one, but that which rests upon spiritual experience, and results in moral practice. Such experience was lacking in Hosea’s countrymen; ‘the spirit of whoredom is in the midst of them, and they have not known Jehovah’ (Hos 5:4). It was natural to describe as an element of the realized ideal that Jehovah’s people should at last ‘know’ him. How much weaker is the alternative reading, ‘know that I am the Lord’, though supported by the precious Babylonian codex, as well as by the Vulgate!
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And thou shalt know the Lord – This knowledge of God follows on Gods act of betrothal and of love. We love God, because God first loved us. And the true knowledge of God includes the love of God. To love man, we must know him: to know God, we must love Him. To acknowledge God, is not yet to know Him. They who love not God, will not even acknowledge Him as He Is, Supreme Wisdom and Goodness and Power, the Creator and Preserver; the Author of all which is good, the Governor of the world, Redeemer of man, the most bounteous Rewarder of those who serve Him, the most just retributor of those who persevere in rebellion against Him. They who will not love God, cannot even know aright of God. But to know God, is something beyond this. It is to know by experience that God is good; and this God makes known to the soul which he loves, while it meditates on Him, reads of Him; speaks of Him, adores Him, obeys Him. This knowledge cometh from the revelation of God the Father, and in it is true bliss. Whence, when Peter confessed Him to be the Son of man and Son of God, He said, Blessed art thou, for Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. Yea, this knowledge is life eternal, as He said, This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent Joh 17:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 2:20
I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord.
The husband of the Church
I. The condescension of Christ in calling Himself the husband of His church. This appears if we consider that–
1. She is a debtor.
2. Deformed (Isa 1:6).
3. A prostitute (Jer 3:1-2).
4. An enemy.
II. The properties of this relation.
1. Righteousness.
2. Judgment.
3. Loving-kindness.
4. Mercies.
5. For ever.
6. Faithfulness.
III. The experience she has of this relation. Thou shalt know. Know signifies–
1. To choose (Amo 3:2).
2. To delight in (Psa 1:6).
3. To be familiar with (2Sa 3:25). (H. Foster.)
And thou shalt know the Lord.
Knowing Jehovah
We indeed see that we are in confusion as soon as we turn aside from the right and pure knowledge of God. Since then our salvation consists in the light of faith, our minds ought ever to be directed to God, that our union with Him, which He hath formed by the Gospel, may abide firm and permanent. But as this is not in the power or will of man, we draw this evident conclusion that God not only offers His grace in the outward preaching, but at the same time in the renewing of our hearts. It is necessary that God should work inwardly and efficaciously on our hearts, that His covenant may stand firm; nay, since the knowledge of Him is the special gift of the Spirit, we may with certainty conclude that what is said here refers not only to outward preaching, but that the grace of the Spirit is also joined, by which God renews us after His own image. The covenant of God can be strengthened and preserved only by the knowledge He conveys to us of Himself by the illumination of His Spirit. (John Calvin.)
Of the knowledge of God
There can be no cordial obedience to God by those who are ignorant of Him. Ignorance is not the mother of devotion, but the parent of superstition and idolatry. An unknown person cannot be truly and cordially loved.
I. Persons in a natural ann unregenerate state are destitute of Divine knowledge. (Act 17:30.)
1. Sin has deprived us of communion with God, corrupted our nature, and darkened our understandings (Eph 4:18).
2. This ignorance is increased by a course of sinning.
3. There is many an affected ignorance which is very criminal. Men are unwilling to understand what they might. They love darkness rather than light.
4. Some are given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart (Rom 1:28). Whilst men are in this state of darkness, they are ignorant–
(1) Of God, His nature, and perfections.
(2) Of Christ, His person and offices, and the way of salvation by Him.
(3) Of the Spirit of God.
(4) Of themselves, and of their state and condition by nature.
(5) Of sin, and the sad effects of it.
(6) Of the sacred Scriptures, and the truths contained in them.
II. In every regenerate person there is a knowledge of God and of Divine things. Observe–
1. The object of it–God.
(1) There is a knowledge by the light of nature, through the works of creation, which show His eternal power and Godhead: and through the works of providence, by which He has not left Himself without a witness of His being and beneficence.
(2) There is a knowledge of God by the moral law. It came by Moses, and it shows what is His good and perfect will. It is a transcript of His nature, His justice and holiness.
(3) There is a knowledge of God which comes by the Gospel, the doctrine of grace and truth, that is, by Christ, who declares Gods person, nature, grace, mind, and will to men. This knowledge of God may be considered as respecting the three Divine Persons in the Godhead. The knowledge of God is of Him as Father. The knowledge of Christ is affectionate, confidential, experimental, and appropriating. The knowledge of the Spirit is of Him as a Spirit of conviction and illumination; as the Comforter; as the Spirit of adoption; as a Spirit of grace and of supplication.
III. The nature and properties of this knowledge.
1. It is practical. The mere theory of any science is of little avail.
2. It is of a soul-humbling nature. Other knowledge puffs up.
3. It is pleasant, savoury, and satisfying.
4. It is super-excellent.
5. It is but imperfect in this life, yet it is progressive. (T. Hannam.)
A sanctified knowledge of God
This passage teaches–
1. God is the undertaker for, and worker in His people of all that is required on their part for entering into, and keeping covenant with Him.
2. A right and sanctified knowledge of God is the root and companion of all sanctifying graces and covenant dispositions; therefore all are comprehended in this, to know the Lord. Faith gets that name, not only because of the certitude and evidence it brings with it, but because it is begotten by His Word, and by the knowledge of Him in it, and is cherished and confirmed by taking Him up still more, as He is revealed there. (George Hutcheson.)
Thou shalt know the Lord: the best knowledge
Luther described theology, the knowledge of God, as the queen of the sciences. And in comparison with it, all other knowledge is vain. We have lost, said Dr. Bennett, Bishop of Cloyne, to Dr. Parr, when announcing the death of John Cowper, brother of the poet, the best classic and most liberal thinker in the university. What said John Cowper himself in his dying hours? I have laboured day and night to perfect myself in things of no profit. I have sacrificed myself to these pursuits, and am suffering the consequences of my mis-spent labour. I wanted to be highly applauded, and was flattered up to the height of my wishes. Now I must learn a new lesson.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. In faithfulness] Thou shalt no more prostitute thyself to idols, but be faithful to him who calls himself thy husband.
Thou shalt know the Lord.] There shall be no more infidelity on thy part nor divorce on mine; and thou shalt experience me to be the sole, present, and eternal good of thy immortal spirit: and when this conviction is fully rooted, then there can be no more idolatry, for it shall be seen that an idol is nothing in the world.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This verse is a third promise in the same words to comfort and encourage the true Israel, only faithfulness is here added a qualification of this new marriage, which shall continue firm on a mutual, faithful promise, love, and contract.
Thou shalt know the Lord; his just anger which hath punished, his rich grace which hath now pardoned and taken into covenant again, his faithfulness and tender compassions, his all-sufficiency and sovereignty, that we may obey him, and rest satisfied in his love, as it is our reward and happiness.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. faithfulnessto My newcovenant of grace with thee (1Th 5:24;Heb 10:23).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness,…. Which lies in keeping the marriage contract inviolable; Christ will never suffer his faithfulness to fail, nor break his covenant; as he is faithful to his Father that appointed him, so he is, and will be, to his church and people, and to every believer, to whom he is espoused; and it is he that makes them faithful unto him, and gives them faith to believe in him, receive, embrace, own, and acknowledge him as their husband: and in this sense some understand it, rendering it, “in faith” z; so the Targum and others. This is the third time the word “betroth” is used, or this promise made; which, according to Jerome, refers to them espousing of the Jews in Abraham, at Mount Sinai, and in the times of Christ; and, according to Kimchi, to the three captivities of the Jews, in Egypt, in Babylon, and that in which they now are: and some Christian writers think the mystery of the Trinity is here pointed at; and the sense to be, that all the three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, would espouse them: but rather it is so often repeated to confirm it, and express the certainty of it, which might, on many accounts, seem a thing incredible.
And thou shall know the Lord; that the Messiah is Jehovah, and that he is their husband; they shall all know him, from the least to the greatest; they shall have a saving knowledge of him, which will issue in eternal life; they shall own him, and acknowledge him, serve and obey him, as their Lord, Head, and Husband, as well as love him, and believe in him. The Targum is,
“and ye shall know to fear before the Lord;”
see Jer 31:34. Let it be observed, here are no conditions throughout, it is only “I will”, and “thou shalt”.
z “in fide”, V. L. &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the third place, he adds, In faithfulness: and this confirms what we have before briefly referred to, — the fixed and unchangeable duration of this marriage.
The words, righteousness and judgment, are, I know, more refinedly explained by some. They say that righteousness is what is conferred on us by God through gratuitous imputation; and they take judgment for that defense which he affords against the violence and the assaults of our enemies. But here the Prophet, I doubt not, intimates in a general way, that this covenant would stand firm, because there would be truth and rectitude on both sides. That this may be more clearly understood, let us take a passage from the 31 st chapter of Jeremiah [Jer 31:31 ] where God complains, that the covenant he had made with the ancient people had not been firm; for they had forsaken it. ‘My covenant,’ he says, ‘with your fathers has not continued.’ — Why? ‘Because they departed from my commandments.’ God indeed in perfect sincerity adopted the people, and no righteousness was wanting in him; but as there was no constancy and faithfulness in the people, the covenant came to nothing: hence God afterwards adds, ‘I will hereafter make a new covenant with you; for I will engrave my laws on your hearts,’ etc. We now then see what the Prophet means by righteousness and judgment, even this, that God would cause the marriage vow to be kept on both sides; for the people, restored from exile, would no more violate their pledged faith nor act unfaithfully.
But we must notice what is added, In goodness and mercies. And this part Jeremiah does not omit, for he adds, ‘Their iniquities I will not remember.’ As then the Israelites, conscious of evils might tremble through fear, the Prophet seasonably anticipates their diffidence, by promising that the marriage which God was prepared anew to contract, would be in kindness and mercies. There is then no reason why their own unworthiness should frighten away the people; for God here unfolds his own immense goodness and unparalleled mercies. The Prophet might indeed have expressed this in one word, but he adds mercies to goodness. The people had indeed sunk into a deep abyss, that restoration could have been hardly hoped: hence the word, kindness, or goodness, would have been hardly sufficient to raise up their minds, had not the word, mercies, been added for the sake of confirmation.
Now he adds, in faithfulness; and by faithfulness is to be understood, I doubt not, that stability of which I have spoken; for what some philosophize on this expression is too refined, who give this explanation, ‘I will espouse thee in faith,’ that is by the gospel; for we embrace God’s free promises, and thus the covenant the Lord makes with us is ratified. I simply interpret the word as denoting stability.
And the Prophet shows afterwards that this covenant would be confirmed, because faithfulness would be reciprocal, they shall know, he says, Jehovah. Jeremiah, I doubt not, borrowed from this place what is written in the 31 st chapter; for there he also adds, ‘No one shall hereafter teach his neighbor, for all, from the least to the greatest shall know me, saith Jehovah.’ Our Prophet says here in one sentence, they shall know Jehovah Hence then is the stability of the covenant, because God by his light shall guide the hearts of those who had before strayed in darkness and wandered after their own superstitions. Since then a horrible darkness prevailed among the Israelitic people, Hosea promises the light of true knowledge; and this knowledge of God is such, that the people fall not away from the Lord, nor are they seduced by the fallacies of Satan. Hence God’s covenant stands firm. We now understand the import of the words.
Jerome thinks that the Prophet promises espousals thrice, because the Lord once espoused the people to himself in Abraham, then when he led them out of Egypt, and, thirdly, when once he reconciled the whole world in Christ: but this is too refined, and even frivolous. I take a simpler meaning, — that the Prophet proclaims an espousal thrice, because it was difficult to restore the people from fear and despair, for they well understood how grievously and in how many ways they had alienated themselves from God: it was hence necessary to apply many consolations, which might serve to confirm their faith. This is the reason why the Lord does not say once, I will espouse thee to myself, but repeats it thrice. The Prophet indeed seemed then to speak of a thing incredible: for what sort of an example is this, that the Lord should take for his wife an abominable harlot? Nay, that he should contract a new marriage with an unclean adulteress, immersed in debauchery? This was like something monstrous. Hence the Prophet, that nothing might hinder souls from recumbing on the promise, says, “Doubt not, for the Lord very often assures you, that this is certain.”
Now, since we have this promise in common with them, we see by the words of the Prophet what is the beginning of our salvation: God espoused the Israelites to himself, when restored from exile through his goodness and mercies. What fellowship have we with God, when we are born and come out of the womb, except he graciously adopts us? for we bring nothing, we know, with us but a curse; this is the heritage of all mankind. Since it is so, all our salvation must necessarily have its foundation in the goodness and mercies of God. But there is also another reason in our case, when God receives us into favor; for we were covenant-breakers under the Papacy; there was not one of us who had not departed from the pledge of his baptism; and so we could not have returned into favor with God, except he had freely united us to himself: and God not only forgave us, but contracted also a new marriage with us, so that we can now, as on the day of our youth, as it has been previously said, openly give thanks to him.
But we must notice this short clause, They shall know Jehovah. We indeed see that we are in confusion as soon as we turn aside from the right and pure knowledge of God, nay, that we are wholly lost. Since then our salvation consists in the light of faith, our minds ought ever to be directed to God, that our union with him, which he has formed by the gospel, may abide firm and permanent. But as this is not in the power or will of man, we draw this evident conclusion, that God not only offers his grace in the outward preaching, but at the same time in the renewing of our hearts. Except God then recreates us a new people to himself, there is no more stability in the covenant he makes now with us than in the old which he made formerly with the fathers under the Law; for when we compare ourselves with the Israelites, we find that we are nothing better. It is, therefore, necessary that God should work inwardly and efficaciously on our hearts, that his covenant may stand firm: nay, since the knowledge of him is the special gift of the Spirit, we may with certainty conclude, that what is said here refers not only to outward preaching, but that the grace of the Spirit is also joined, by which God renews us after his own image, as we have already proved from a passage in Jeremiah: but that we may not seem to borrow from another place, we may say that it appears evident from the words of the Prophet, that there is no other bond of stability, by which the covenant of God can be strengthened and preserved, but the knowledge he conveys to us of himself; and this he conveys not only by outward teaching, but also by the illumination of our minds by his Spirit, yea, by the renewing of our hearts. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
“I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you will know YHWH.”
Furthermore it would be in faithfulness. They will have a new heart and a new spirit, so that they will truly know YHWH. Faithful response to One Whom they have truly and genuinely come to know in their hearts is required, and will be accomplished in them, a response which will result in full covenant obedience.
This is also what God requires of us, for He requires it of all His people. And it will find its full fulfilment in the eternal kingdom.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Hos 2:20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness By faith. Houbigant. By that virtue which is the foundation of all religion, and of all other virtues. The perfect accomplishment of this prophesy can belong only to the Christian church.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Hos 2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
Ver. 20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness ] Tremellius, Drusius, and Tarnovius render it in fide, in faith, and interpret it of de fide vera et salvifica, of that true justifying faith whereby we are united to Christ; and for this they urge the next words as an exposition of these. “And they shall know the Lord”: alleging some other texts of Scripture wherein saving knowledge is put for justifying faith, as Isa 53:11 Jer 31:33 Joh 17:3 . The Septuagint also render it . Now in the New Testament is often used for saving and growing faith, 1Ch 2:11Ch 2:11Ch 2:11Ch 2:1 ; Col 3:10 , which indeed is the bond of the spiritual marriage, and is itself nothing else but a fiducial assent presupposing knowledge. For man is a rational creature, faith a prudent thing, comprehending in itself these three Act 1:1-26 . Knowledge in the understanding; 2. Assent, or rather consent, in the will; 3. Trust or confidence in the heart; certainty of adherence, if not of evidence. The Papists fasten faith in the will as in the adequate subject, that they may the meanwhile do what they will with the understanding and the heart. To which purpose they exclude all knowledge, aud detest trust in Christ’s promises, expunging the very name of it everywhere by their Indices Expurgatorii. A blind belief, as the Church believes, is as much as they require of their misled and muzzled proselytes. Bellarmine saith that faith may far better be defined by ignorance than by knowledge. But how shall men believe on him of whom they have not heard? Let us leave to the Papists their implicit faith and their blind obedience, and cry after Christ as that poor man did, “Lord, that mine eyes might be opened,” and that I may “know the Lord”; yea, “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “These things have I written unto you” (saith St John to those that were no babies or zanies in faith or knowledge) “that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may (yet more) believe in the Son of God,” 1Jn 5:13 . David, though he had proceeded farther in the discovery of divine truths than those before him, Psa 119:99 , yet he was still to seek of that which might be known, Psa 119:96 . Even as those great discoverers of the newly found lands in America were wont to confess, at their return, that there was still a plus ultra, more yet, to be discovered.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
thou shalt know, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exo 6:7, &c). This is the sign of Israel’s blessing (Isa 11:9; Isa 54:13. Jer 31:33, Jer 31:34. Joh 6:45). Their evils came from not knowing (Isa 1:3. Luk 19:42, Luk 19:44).
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.(with ‘eth) = Jehovah Himself. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
and: Jer 9:24, Jer 24:7, Jer 31:33, Jer 31:34, Eze 38:23, Mat 11:27, Luk 10:22, Joh 8:55, Joh 17:3, 2Co 4:6, Phi 3:8, Col 1:10, 2Ti 1:12, Heb 8:11, 1Jo 4:6, 1Jo 5:20
Reciprocal: Son 3:11 – in the day of his Son 4:9 – my spouse Isa 11:5 – and faithfulness Isa 54:5 – thy Maker Isa 62:4 – Beulah Jer 3:14 – for I am married Jer 31:12 – wheat Jer 32:41 – assuredly Eze 16:60 – I will establish Eze 36:11 – and ye Eze 39:28 – shall they Hos 6:3 – we know Rom 7:4 – that ye 1Co 10:13 – but 2Co 11:2 – I have Rev 12:1 – a woman Rev 19:7 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Hos 2:20. Betroth . . . in faithfulness means that God will always be a constant and faithful husband to His people.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in {y} faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
(y) With a covenant that will never be broken.