Hosea 1 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Hosea 1

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

Hosea’s Wife and Children

2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4 And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy,¹ for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People,² for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”³

10 ⁴ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children⁵ of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Footnotes

[1] 1:6 Hebrew Lo-ruhama, which means she has not received mercy
[2] 1:9 Hebrew Lo-ammi, which means not my people
[3] 1:9 Hebrew I am not yours
[4] 1:10 Ch 2:1 in Hebrew
[5] 1:10 Or Sons

Commentary

v1: The dating of Hosea, see Is 1.1, who is one of his contemporaries. The dates refer both to Judah and Israel, for much is addressed to both kingdoms. Like Isaiah (Is 8.18) the prophet and the message are intimately linked; he is the message.

At this time, God raised up writing prophets (Isaiah, Micah being the first), so that their message be preserved. Other prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, did not write.

v2: The theme of the book is Judah's and Israel's unfaithfulness to God; both departed from the Lord, and committed 'spiritual prostitution.' Hosea's message was delivered by word, but also by his life. Thus, he takes an "adulterous wife," illustrating Israel's persistent unfaithfulness. Hosea lived during a time of political instability in the Northern Kingdom; see 2 Kings 14-15.

v3: Hosea obeyed his call, and took a prostitute as wife. Marriage in this way would bring great shame on Hosea, and doubly so, since he was considered a prophet, a holy man. It seems her children were not his, 2.4-5.

v4-5: The name Jezreel was prophetic and meaningful, referring back to a massacre perpetrated by Jehu. The dynasty of Jehu lasted through Jeroboam's reign (2 Kings 10.30) to Zechariah (2 Kings 15.8).

Some 50 years after Jeroboam's death, Israel was defeated by Assyria. So this prophecy was quickly fulfilled, as the kingdom of Israel reached its end, and its bow broken.

v6-7: No mercy for Israel, but mercy for Judah; salvation is only by God's power, not by human strength, see 1 Sam 17.47; Zech 4.6. This was certainly fulfilled during Hezekiah's reign; in Is 37.33, the invading army was defeated, but not by military means.

v8-9: The third child, Lo-Ammi, for the relationship between God and Israel is broken. The sequence of names indicates growing severity in God’s judgment against His people.

v10-11: Yet Israel and Judah will be restored together, under "one leader," even Christ. Israel will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore; see Gen 13.16, where God originally gave this promise to Abraham. Such will be their repentance, that they will willingly appoint for themselves their leader. The relationship with God, broken as prophesised by Hosea, will be restored.