Introduction (Hosea 1:1) – “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel.”

Marriage as a Metaphor for the Covenant (Hosea 1:2-3:5)

The first section of the book is organized around the theme of marriage as a metaphor for God’s relationship with the people. According to this metaphor, God is like a faithful husband who is married to Israel, a faithless wife. This section of Hosea has been the source of much controversy and debate. This section announces judgment on Israel and then promises restoration following punishment.

Hosea’s Marriage to Gomer and the Names of Their Children (Hosea 1:2-2:1)

“In the beginning of the LORD’S speaking to Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: Go, take a harlot wife and harlot’s children, for the land gives itself to harlotry, turning away from the LORD.” (Hosea 1:2)

Hosea married Gomer, “a wife of whoredom,” as an act symbolizing the covenant relationship between God and the people; God is the faithful husband and Israel the faithless wife. Hosea gives the children symbolic names:

• “Jezreel,” which means “God sows,” but was also the name of a place in which the kings of Israel had committed atrocities;
• “Lo-ruhamah” (or “not shown mercy”), because God no longer will have mercy on the people; and
• “Lo-ammi” (or “not my people”).

The end of the chapter reverses the condemnation implied by the children’s names into a proclamation of hope: “For great shall be the day of Jezreel. Say to your brother, Ammi [“My People”], and to your sister, Ruhamah [“Shown Mercy”]” (1:11b-2:1).

God the Husband’s Speech to Israel the Wife (2:2-23)

This is a long and complex speech in which the prophet proclaims a message from God to the people. In the message, God first says that she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. (2:2) God promises to punish the people for their unfaithfulness. The chapter closes with God promising restoration and reunion:

So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. From there I will give her the vineyards she had, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope. She shall respond there as in the days of her youth, when she came up from the land of Egypt. On that day, says the LORD, She shall call me “My husband,” and never again “My baal.” Then will I remove from her mouth the names of the Baals, so that they shall no longer be invoked. (Hosea 2:16–19)

God’s Command to Hosea to Love “an Adulteress” (3:1-5)

God commands Hosea “again” to love an adulteress, “just as the Lord loves the people of Israel.” The chapter includes the hope-filled announcement that the Israelites will return to God. It is not clear whether the chapter is referring to the same incident as chapter 1, to a different incident that also involves Gomer, or to an incident with a different woman.

Image credit: The Prophet Hosea |  Transfiguration church, Kizhi monastery, Karelia, north Russia | PD-US