Hosea2
New American Standard
1Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.”
2“Dispute with your mother, dispute, Because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; But she must remove her infidelity from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,
3Otherwise, I will strip her naked And expose her as on the day she was born. I will also make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land, And put her to death with thirst.
4Also, I will take no pity on her children, Because they are children of infidelity.
5For their mother has committed prostitution; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
6Therefore, behold, I will obstruct her way with thorns, And I will build a stone wall against her so that she cannot find her paths.
7And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not reach them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, Because it was better for me then than now!’
8“Yet she does not know that it was I myself who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they used for Baal.
9Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax That I gave to cover her nakedness.
10So now I will uncover her lewdness Before the eyes of her lovers, And no one will rescue her from My hand.
11I will also put an end to all her joy, Her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, And all her festivals.
12And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, ‘They are my wages for prostitution Which my lovers have given me.’ And I will turn them into a forest, And the animals of the field will devour them.
13I will punish her for the days of the Baals When she used to offer sacrifices to them And adorn herself with her nose ring and jewelry, And follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me,” declares the Lord.
14“Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, Bring her into the wilderness, And speak kindly to her.
15Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will respond there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt.
16And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord, “That you will call Me my husband And no longer call Me my Baal.
17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be mentioned by their names.
18On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them lie down in safety.
19I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion,
20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord.
21“And it will come about on that day that I will respond,” declares the Lord. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,
22And the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, And they will respond to Jezreel.
23I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘You are my God!’”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Hosea 2.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The idolatry of the people. (1-5). God's judgments against them. (6-13). His promises of reconciliation. (14-23).
vv1-5
This chapter continues the figurative address to Israel, in reference to Hosea's wife and children. Let us own and love as brethren, all whom the Lord seems to put among his children, and encourage them in that they have received mercy. But every Christian, by his example and conduct, must protest against evil and abuses, even among those to whom he belongs and owes respect. Impenitent sinners will soon be stripped of the advantages they misuse, and which they consume upon their lusts.
vv6-13
God threatens what he would do with this treacherous, idolatrous people. They did not turn, therefore all this came upon them; and it is written for admonition to us. If lesser difficulties be got over, God will raise greater. The most resolute in sinful pursuits, are commonly most crossed in them. The way of God and duty is often hedged about with thorns, but we have reason to think it is a sinful way that is hedged up with thorns. Crosses and obstacles in an evil course are great blessings, and are to be so accounted; they are God's hedges, to keep us from transgressing, to make the way of sin difficult, and to keep us from it. We have reason to bless God for restraining grace, and for restraining providences; and even for sore pain, sickness, or calamity, if it keeps us from sin. The disappointments we meet with in seeking for satisfaction from the creature, should, if nothing else will do it, drive us to the Creator. When men forget, or consider not that their comforts come from God, he will often in mercy take them away, to bring them to think upon their folly and danger. Sin and mirth can never hold long together; but if men will not take away sin from their mirth, God will take away mirth from their sin. And if men destroy God's word and ordinances, it is just with him to destroy their vines and fig-trees. This shall be the ruin of their mirth. Taking away the solemn seasons and the sabbaths will not do it, they will readily part with them, and think it no loss; but He will take away their sensual pleasures. Days of sinful mirth must be visited with days of mourning.
vv14-23
After these judgments the Lord would deal with Israel more gently. By the promise of rest in Christ we are invited to take his yoke upon us; and the work of conversion may be forwarded by comforts as well as by convictions. But usually the Lord drives us to despair of earthly joy, and help from ourselves, that, being shut from every other door, we may knock at Mercy's gate. From that time Israel would be more truly attached to the Lord; no longer calling him Baali, or "My lord and master," alluding to authority, rather than love, but Ishi, an address of affection. This may foretell the restoration from the Babylonish captivity; and also be applied to the conversion of the Jews to Christ, in the days of the apostles, and the future general conversion of that nation; and believers are enabled to expect infinitely more tenderness and kindness from their holy God, than a beloved wife can expect from the kindest husband. When the people were weaned from idols, and loved the Lord, no creature should do them any harm. This may be understood of the blessings and privileges of the spiritual Israel, of every true believer, and their partaking of Christ's righteousness; also, of the conversion of the Jews to Christ. Here is an argument for us to walk so that God may not be dishonoured by us: Thou art my people. If a man's family walk disorderly, it is a dishonour to the master. If God call us children, we may say, Thou art our God. Unbelieving soul, lay aside discouraging thoughts; do not thus answer God's loving-kindness. Doth God say, Thou art my people? Say, Lord, thou art our God.
Key Words
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אָח: a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like father))
עַם: a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock
אָחוֹת: a sister (used very widely (like brother), literally and figuratively)
רָחַם: to fondle; by implication, to love, especially to compassionate
רִיב: properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend
אֵם: a mother (as the bond of the family); in a wide sense (both literally and figuratively (like father))
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
אִשָּׁה: a woman
אִישׁ: a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
Cross References
Hosea 2Explicitly cited by Paul to show the inclusion of the Gentiles as God's people.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Peter quotes this verse to describe the spiritual identity of the New Testament church.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The husband imagery for Yahweh, contrasting Baali with Ishi (my husband).
Supported by JFB
Direct continuation of the prophetic names (Lo-ammi, Lo-ruhamah) reversed in restoration.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Detailed parallel of stripping the unfaithful wife naked in judgment before her lovers.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels God's hedging up the way with thorns and blocking paths in times of judgment.
Supported by JFB
The Valley of Achor, once a place of trouble, is transformed into a door of hope.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallels the concept of God blocking one's path so they cannot pass.
Supported by JFB
The resolution of the wayward wife echoes the Prodigal Son's decision to return.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The law's command that the names of other gods should not be mentioned.
Supported by John Calvin
God as husband inviting the backsliding children to return and be married to Him.
Supported by JFB
The Lord's metaphorical divorce of the nation of Israel due to her transgressions.
Supported by JFB
Using God-given silver and gold to construct idolatrous images.
Supported by JFB
Jeroboam's false, manufactured feasts contrasted with God's divinely ordained sabbaths.
Supported by JFB
A covenant of peace securing safety from dangerous beasts.
Supported by JFB