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Teks -- Hosea 1:1-11 (NET)

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Konteks
Superscription
1:1 This is the word of the Lord which was revealed to Hosea son of Beeri during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled Judah, and during the time when Jeroboam son of Joash ruled Israel.
Symbols of Sin and Judgment: The Prostitute and Her Children
1:2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, he said to him, “Go marry a prostitute who will bear illegitimate children conceived through prostitution, because the nation continually commits spiritual prostitution by turning away from the Lord.” 1:3 So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. Then she conceived and gave birth to a son for him. 1:4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because in a little while I will punish the dynasty of Jehu on account of the bloodshed in the valley of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 1:5 At that time, I will destroy the military power of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.” 1:6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, “Name her ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) because I will no longer have pity on the nation of Israel. For I will certainly not forgive their guilt. 1:7 But I will have pity on the nation of Judah. I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, by chariot horses, or by chariots.” 1:8 When she had weaned ‘No Pity’ (Lo-Ruhamah) she conceived again and gave birth to another son. 1:9 Then the Lord said: “Name him ‘Not My People’ (Lo-Ammi), because you are not my people and I am not your God.”
The Restoration of Israel
1:10 However, in the future the number of the people of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which can be neither measured nor numbered. Although it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are children of the living God!” 1:11 Then the people of Judah and the people of Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint for themselves one leader, and will flourish in the land. Certainly, the day of Jezreel will be great!
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Nama Orang, Nama Tempat, Topik/Tema Kamus

Nama Orang dan Nama Tempat:
 · Ahaz a son of Jotham; listed as an ancestor of Jesus,son and successor of King Jotham of Judah,son of Micah of Benjamin
 · Beeri the Hittite father of Judith, Esau's wife,father of Hosea the prophet
 · Diblaim father of Hosea's wife, Gomer
 · Gomer son of Japheth son of Noah,son of Japheth; father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, & Togarmah clans,a nation; probably the Cimmerians of eastern Asia Minor (OS),daughter of Diblaim; wife of Hosea
 · Hezekiah the son of Ahaz who succeeded him as king of Judah; an ancestor of Jesus,son of Ahaz; king of Judah,forefather of the prophet Zephaniah,an Israelite chief who signed the covenant to obey God's law
 · Hosea son of Nun of Ephraim; successor of Moses,son of Azaziah; David's chief officer over the tribe of Ephraim,son of Elah; assassin and successor of King Pekah,an Israelite chief who signed the covenant to keep God's law
 · Israel a citizen of Israel.,a member of the nation of Israel
 · Jehu son of Hanani who prophesied against King Baasha of Israel,son of Nimshi who killed King Joram and took his place as king of Israel,son of Obed of Judah,son of Joshibiah; head of a large influential family of Simeon in King Hezekiah's time,a man of Anathoth; one of the Benjamites who defected to David at Ziklag
 · Jeroboam son of Nebat; first king of Israel after it split away from Judah; Jeroboam I,son and successor of Joash/Jehoash, King of Israel; Jeroboam II
 · Jezreel a resident of the town or region of Jezreel
 · Joash son of Becher son of Benjamin,head of the stores of oil under king David,father of Gideon,son of King Ahab of Israel,son and young successor of Ahaziah, King of Judah; father of Amaziah,son and successor of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel,a descendant of Shelah of Judah,son of Shemaah of Gibeah; one of the Benjamites who defected to David at Ziklag
 · Jotham the son who succeeded King Uzziah of Judah; the father of Ahaz; an ancestor of Jesus,the youngest son of Jerubbaal (Gideon),son and successor of King Azariah of Judah,son of Jahdai of Judah
 · Judah the son of Jacob and Leah; founder of the tribe of Judah,a tribe, the land/country,a son of Joseph; the father of Simeon; an ancestor of Jesus,son of Jacob/Israel and Leah; founder of the tribe of Judah,the tribe of Judah,citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah,citizens of the Persian Province of Judah; the Jews who had returned from Babylonian exile,"house of Judah", a phrase which highlights the political leadership of the tribe of Judah,"king of Judah", a phrase which relates to the southern kingdom of Judah,"kings of Judah", a phrase relating to the southern kingdom of Judah,"princes of Judah", a phrase relating to the kingdom of Judah,the territory allocated to the tribe of Judah, and also the extended territory of the southern kingdom of Judah,the Province of Judah under Persian rule,"hill country of Judah", the relatively cool and green central highlands of the territory of Judah,"the cities of Judah",the language of the Jews; Hebrew,head of a family of Levites who returned from Exile,a Levite who put away his heathen wife,a man who was second in command of Jerusalem; son of Hassenuah of Benjamin,a Levite in charge of the songs of thanksgiving in Nehemiah's time,a leader who helped dedicate Nehemiah's wall,a Levite musician who helped Zechariah of Asaph dedicate Nehemiah's wall
 · not My people a man's name representing rejected Israel
 · Not My People a man's name representing rejected Israel
 · Not my people a man's name representing rejected Israel
 · not my people a man's name representing rejected Israel
 · Not pitied daughter of the prophet Hosea
 · Not Pitied daughter of the prophet Hosea
 · Uzziah a son of Jehoram; the father of Jotham; an ancestor of Jesus.,son and successor of king Amaziah of Judah,son of Uriel of Kohath son of Levi,father of Jonathan, the head of country treasuries under David,a priest of the Harim Clan who put away his heathen wife,son of Zechariah; father of Athaiah of Judah, a returned exile


Topik/Tema Kamus: Adultery | Baal | Backsliders | Israel | Symbols and Similitudes | HOSEA | Jezreel | Lo-ruhamah | Lo-ammi | Diblaim | Name | Beeri | AMMI | Gomer | Jehu | Women | EZEKIEL, 2 | Prophets | God | Adoption | selebihnya
Daftar Isi

Catatan Kata/Frasa
Wesley , JFB , Clarke , Calvin , Defender , TSK

Catatan Kata/Frasa
Poole , PBC , Haydock , Gill

Catatan Ayat / Catatan Kaki
NET Notes , Geneva Bible

Catatan Rentang Ayat
MHCC , Matthew Henry , Keil-Delitzsch , Constable , Guzik

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Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Hos 1:2 - Go take This was, probably, done in vision, and was to be told to the people, as other visions were: it was parabolically proposed to them, and might have bee...

This was, probably, done in vision, and was to be told to the people, as other visions were: it was parabolically proposed to them, and might have been sufficient to convince the Jews, would they have considered it, as David considered Nathan's parable.

Wesley: Hos 1:2 - A wife of whoredoms and children Receive and maintain the children she had before.

Receive and maintain the children she had before.

Wesley: Hos 1:4 - The blood The slaughters made by Jehu's hand or by his order, in Jezreel.

The slaughters made by Jehu's hand or by his order, in Jezreel.

Wesley: Hos 1:4 - The house of Jehu Which had now possessed the throne, through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoash, and Jeroboam; but the usurper, and his successors adhering to the idolatr...

Which had now possessed the throne, through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoash, and Jeroboam; but the usurper, and his successors adhering to the idolatry of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and adding other sins to it, had now provoked God to declare a sudden extirpation of the family: all this came to pass when Shallum conspiring against Zechariah, slew him, 2Ki 15:8-10.

Wesley: Hos 1:4 - The kingdom After one and forty years tottering it fell to utter ruin and hath so continued to this day.

After one and forty years tottering it fell to utter ruin and hath so continued to this day.

Wesley: Hos 1:5 - At that day When my vengeance hath overtaken the house of Jehu.

When my vengeance hath overtaken the house of Jehu.

Wesley: Hos 1:5 - Break Weaken and by degrees quite break.

Weaken and by degrees quite break.

Wesley: Hos 1:5 - The bow All their warlike provision, power and skill.

All their warlike provision, power and skill.

Wesley: Hos 1:5 - Jezreel In this valley it is probable the bloodiest battles in the civil wars were fought; the reason whereof might be, because whoever carried the victory in...

In this valley it is probable the bloodiest battles in the civil wars were fought; the reason whereof might be, because whoever carried the victory in this place, were soon masters of Samaria and Jezreel, and consequently of the kingdom.

Wesley: Hos 1:6 - Lo ruhamah - Not pitied. Israel's name had been through many ages Ruhamah, that is, pitied. God had pitied them, and saved them from their enemies. But n...

ruhamah - Not pitied. Israel's name had been through many ages Ruhamah, that is, pitied. God had pitied them, and saved them from their enemies. But now Israel should be no more pitied, God would throw them up to the rage of usurpers, and conspirators.

Wesley: Hos 1:7 - Save them I will preserve them, that violence do not swallow them up, nor length of captivity wear them out; and this preserved remnant shall return and be plan...

I will preserve them, that violence do not swallow them up, nor length of captivity wear them out; and this preserved remnant shall return and be planted in their own land, and there kept in safety.

Wesley: Hos 1:7 - By the Lord Particularly in that extraordinary deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem, from Sennacherib.

Particularly in that extraordinary deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem, from Sennacherib.

Wesley: Hos 1:9 - Loammi That is, not my people. Tho' once you were a peculiar people, you are so no more; you are cast off as you deserved.

That is, not my people. Tho' once you were a peculiar people, you are so no more; you are cast off as you deserved.

Wesley: Hos 1:9 - I will not be your God I will be a God to you, no more than to any of the Heathen nations. This God executed when he gave them up into the hands of Salmaneser, who sent them...

I will be a God to you, no more than to any of the Heathen nations. This God executed when he gave them up into the hands of Salmaneser, who sent them where none now can find them.

Wesley: Hos 1:10 - The children of Israel Not Israel after the flesh, not those very families that are carried captive.

Not Israel after the flesh, not those very families that are carried captive.

Wesley: Hos 1:10 - In the place In those places, were a people dwelt who were not his people, there shall be a people of God.

In those places, were a people dwelt who were not his people, there shall be a people of God.

Wesley: Hos 1:10 - The living God Who is the fountain of life to all his children, and who enables them to offer living sacrifices to the living God.

Who is the fountain of life to all his children, and who enables them to offer living sacrifices to the living God.

Wesley: Hos 1:11 - Then This verse has both an historical and a spiritual sense; the one referring to the return out of Babylon, the other to a more glorious deliverance from...

This verse has both an historical and a spiritual sense; the one referring to the return out of Babylon, the other to a more glorious deliverance from a more miserable captivity.

Wesley: Hos 1:11 - Judah The two tribes, who adhered to the house of David.

The two tribes, who adhered to the house of David.

Wesley: Hos 1:11 - Israel Some of the ten tribes who were incorporated with the kingdom of Judah, and so carried captive with them. But this is spiritually to be understood of ...

Some of the ten tribes who were incorporated with the kingdom of Judah, and so carried captive with them. But this is spiritually to be understood of the whole Israel of God.

Wesley: Hos 1:11 - One head Zerubbabel, who was appointed by Cyrus, yet with full approbation of the people. And so Christ is appointed by the Father, head of his church, whom be...

Zerubbabel, who was appointed by Cyrus, yet with full approbation of the people. And so Christ is appointed by the Father, head of his church, whom believers heartily accept.

Wesley: Hos 1:11 - Come up Literally out of Babylon, spiritually out of captivity to sin and to Satan.

Literally out of Babylon, spiritually out of captivity to sin and to Satan.

Wesley: Hos 1:11 - Great Good, joyous and comfortable.

Good, joyous and comfortable.

Wesley: Hos 1:11 - Of Jezreel Israel is here called Jezreel, the seed of God. This seed is now sown in the earth, and buried under the clods; but great shall be its day, when the h...

Israel is here called Jezreel, the seed of God. This seed is now sown in the earth, and buried under the clods; but great shall be its day, when the harvest comes. Great was the day of the church, when there were daily added to it such as should be saved.

JFB: Hos 1:1 - The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea See Introduction.

See Introduction.

JFB: Hos 1:1 - Jeroboam The second; who died in the fifteenth year of Uzziah's forty-one years' reign. From his time forth all Israel's kings worshipped false gods: Zachariah...

The second; who died in the fifteenth year of Uzziah's forty-one years' reign. From his time forth all Israel's kings worshipped false gods: Zachariah (2Ki 15:9), Menahem (2Ki 15:18), Pekahiah (2Ki 15:24), Pekah (2Ki 15:28), Hoshea (2Ki 17:2). As Israel was most flourishing externally under Jeroboam II, who recovered the possessions seized on by Syria, Hosea's prophecy of its downfall at that time was the more striking as it could not have been foreseen by mere human sagacity. Jonah the prophet had promised success to Jeroboam II from God, not for the king's merit, but from God's mercy to Israel; so the coast of Israel was restored by Jeroboam II from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain (2Ki 14:23-27).

JFB: Hos 1:2 - beginning Not of the prophet's predictions generally, but of those spoken by Hosea.

Not of the prophet's predictions generally, but of those spoken by Hosea.

JFB: Hos 1:2 - take . . . wife of whoredoms Not externally acted, but internally and in vision, as a pictorial illustration of Israel's unfaithfulness [HENGSTENBERG]. Compare Eze 16:8, Eze 16:15...

Not externally acted, but internally and in vision, as a pictorial illustration of Israel's unfaithfulness [HENGSTENBERG]. Compare Eze 16:8, Eze 16:15, &c. Besides the loathsomeness of such a marriage, if an external act, it would require years for the birth of three children, which would weaken the symbol (compare Eze 4:4). HENDERSON objects that there is no hint of the transaction being fictitious: Gomer fell into lewdness after her union with Hosea, not before; for thus only she was a fit symbol of Israel, who lapsed into spiritual whoredom after the marriage contract with God on Sinai, and made even before at the call of the patriarchs of Israel. Gomer is called "a wife of whoredoms," anticipatively.

JFB: Hos 1:2 - children of whoredoms The kingdom collectively is viewed as a mother; the individual subjects of it are spoken of as her children. "Take" being applied to both implies that...

The kingdom collectively is viewed as a mother; the individual subjects of it are spoken of as her children. "Take" being applied to both implies that they refer to the same thing viewed under different aspects. The "children" were not the prophet's own, but born of adultery, and presented to him as his [KITTO, Biblical Cyclopædia]. Rather, "children of whoredoms" means that the children, like their mother, fell into spiritual fornication. Compare "bare him a son" (see Hos 2:4-5). Being children of a spiritual whore, they naturally fell into her whorish ways.

JFB: Hos 1:3 - Gomer . . . daughter of Diblaim Symbolical names; literally, "completion, daughter of grape cakes"; the dual expressing the double layers in which these dainties were baked. So, one ...

Symbolical names; literally, "completion, daughter of grape cakes"; the dual expressing the double layers in which these dainties were baked. So, one completely given up to sensuality. MAURER explains "Gomer" as literally, "a burning coal." Compare Pro 6:27, Pro 6:29, as to an adulteress; Job 31:9, Job 31:12.

JFB: Hos 1:4 - Jezreel That is, "God will scatter" (compare Zec 10:9). It was the royal city of Ahab and his successors, in the tribe of Issachar. Here Jehu exercised his gr...

That is, "God will scatter" (compare Zec 10:9). It was the royal city of Ahab and his successors, in the tribe of Issachar. Here Jehu exercised his greatest cruelties (2Ki 9:16, 2Ki 9:25, 2Ki 9:33; 2Ki 10:11, 2Ki 10:14, 2Ki 10:17). There is in the name an allusion to "Israel" by a play of letters and sounds.

JFB: Hos 1:5 - bow The prowess (Jer 49:35; compare Gen 49:24).

The prowess (Jer 49:35; compare Gen 49:24).

JFB: Hos 1:5 - valley of Jezreel Afterwards called Esdraelon, extending ten miles in breadth, and in length from Jordan to the Mediterranean near Mount Carmel, the great battlefield o...

Afterwards called Esdraelon, extending ten miles in breadth, and in length from Jordan to the Mediterranean near Mount Carmel, the great battlefield of Palestine (Jdg 6:33; 1Sa 29:1).

JFB: Hos 1:6 - Lo-ruhamah That is, "not an object of mercy or gracious favor."

That is, "not an object of mercy or gracious favor."

JFB: Hos 1:6 - take . . . away Israel, as a kingdom, was never restored from Assyria, as Judah was from Babylon after seventy years. MAURER translates according to the primary meani...

Israel, as a kingdom, was never restored from Assyria, as Judah was from Babylon after seventy years. MAURER translates according to the primary meaning, "No more will I have mercy on the house of Israel, so as to pardon them."

JFB: Hos 1:7 - -- Judah is only incidentally mentioned to form a contrast to Israel.

Judah is only incidentally mentioned to form a contrast to Israel.

JFB: Hos 1:7 - by the Lord their God More emphatic than "by Myself"; by that Jehovah (Me) whom they worship as their God, whereas ye despise Him.

More emphatic than "by Myself"; by that Jehovah (Me) whom they worship as their God, whereas ye despise Him.

JFB: Hos 1:7 - not . . . by bow On which ye Israelites rely (Hos 1:5, "the bow of Israel"); Jeroboam II was famous as a warrior (2Ki 14:25). Yet it was not by their warlike power Jeh...

On which ye Israelites rely (Hos 1:5, "the bow of Israel"); Jeroboam II was famous as a warrior (2Ki 14:25). Yet it was not by their warlike power Jehovah would save Judah (1Sa 17:47; Psa 20:7). The deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib (2Ki 19:35), and the restoration from Babylon, are herein predicted.

JFB: Hos 1:8 - weaned Said to complete the symbolical picture, not having any special signification as to Israel [HENDERSON]. Israel was bereft of all the privileges which ...

Said to complete the symbolical picture, not having any special signification as to Israel [HENDERSON]. Israel was bereft of all the privileges which were as needful to them as milk is to infants (compare Psa 131:2; 1Pe 2:2) [VATABLUS]. Israel was not suddenly, but gradually cast off; God bore with them with long-suffering, until they were incurable [CALVIN]. But as it is not God, but Gomer who weans Lo-ruhamah, the weaning may imply the lust of Gomer, who was hardly weaned when she is again pregnant [MANGER].

JFB: Hos 1:9 - Lo-Ammi Once "My people," but henceforth not so (Eze 16:8). The intervals between the marriage and the successive births of the three children, imply that thr...

Once "My people," but henceforth not so (Eze 16:8). The intervals between the marriage and the successive births of the three children, imply that three successive generations are intended. Jezreel, the first child, represents the dynasty of Jeroboam I and his successors, ending with Jehu's shedding the blood of Jeroboam's line in Jezreel; it was there that Jezebel was slain, in vengeance for Naboth's blood shed in the same Jezreel (1Ki 16:1; 2Ki 9:21, 2Ki 9:30). The scenes of Jezreel were to be enacted over again on Jehu's degenerate race. At Jezreel Assyria routed Israel [JEROME]. The child's name associates past sins, intermediate punishments, and final overthrow. Lo-ruhamah ("not pitied"), the second child, is a daughter, representing the effeminate period which followed the overthrow of the first dynasty, when Israel was at once abject and impious. Lo-Ammi ("not my people"), the third child, a son, represents the vigorous dynasty (2Ki 14:25) of Jeroboam II; but, as prosperity did not bring with it revived piety, they were still not God's people.

JFB: Hos 1:10 - -- Literally fulfilled in part at the return from Babylon, in which many Israelites joined with Judah. Spiritually, the believing seed of Jacob or Israel...

Literally fulfilled in part at the return from Babylon, in which many Israelites joined with Judah. Spiritually, the believing seed of Jacob or Israel, Gentiles as well as Jews, numerous "as the sand" (Gen 32:12); the Gentiles, once not God's people, becoming His "sons" (Joh 1:12; Rom 9:25-26; 1Pe 2:10; 1Jo 3:1). To be fulfilled in its literal fulness hereafter in Israel's restoration (Rom 11:26).

JFB: Hos 1:10 - the living God Opposed to their dead idols.

Opposed to their dead idols.

JFB: Hos 1:11 - Judah . . . Israel . . . together (Isa 11:12-13; Jer 3:18; Eze 34:23; Eze 37:16-24).

JFB: Hos 1:11 - one head Zerubbabel typically; Christ antitypically, under whom alone Israel and Judah are joined, the "Head" of the Church (Eph 1:22; Eph 5:23), and of the he...

Zerubbabel typically; Christ antitypically, under whom alone Israel and Judah are joined, the "Head" of the Church (Eph 1:22; Eph 5:23), and of the hereafter united kingdom of Judah and Israel (Jer 34:5-6; Eze 34:23). Though "appointed" by the Father (Psa 2:6), Christ is in another sense "appointed" as their Head by His people, when they accept and embrace Him as such.

JFB: Hos 1:11 - out of the land Of the Gentiles among whom they sojourn.

Of the Gentiles among whom they sojourn.

JFB: Hos 1:11 - the day of Jezreel "The day of one" is the time of God's special visitation of him, either in wrath or in mercy. Here "Jezreel" is in a different sense from that in Hos ...

"The day of one" is the time of God's special visitation of him, either in wrath or in mercy. Here "Jezreel" is in a different sense from that in Hos 1:4, "God will sow," not "God will scatter"; they shall be the seed of God, planted by God again in their own land (Jer 24:6; Jer 31:28; Jer 32:41; Amo 9:15).

Clarke: Hos 1:1 - Hosea, the son of Beeri Hosea, the son of Beeri - See the preceding account of this prophet

Hosea, the son of Beeri - See the preceding account of this prophet

Clarke: Hos 1:1 - In the days of Uzziah, etc. In the days of Uzziah, etc. - If we suppose, says Bp. Newcome, that Hosea prophesied during the course of sixty-six years, and place him from the ye...

In the days of Uzziah, etc. - If we suppose, says Bp. Newcome, that Hosea prophesied during the course of sixty-six years, and place him from the year 790 before Christ to the year 724, he will have exercised his office eight years in the reign of Jeroboam the second, thirty-three years in the reign of Uzziah, the whole reigns of Jotham and Ahaz, and three years in the reign of Hezekiah; but will not have survived the taking of Samaria. But see the preceding account of this prophet

I think the first verse to be a title to this book added by the compiler of his prophecies, and that it relates more to facts which took place in those reigns, and had been predicted by Hosea, who would only be said to have prophesied under an those kings. by his predictions, which were consecutively fulfilled under them. By those, though dead, he continued to speak. The prophet’ s work properly begins at Hos 1:2; hence called, "The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea."

Clarke: Hos 1:2 - A wife of whoredoms A wife of whoredoms - That is, says Newcome, a wife from among the Israelites, who were remarkable for spiritual fornication, or idolatry. God calls...

A wife of whoredoms - That is, says Newcome, a wife from among the Israelites, who were remarkable for spiritual fornication, or idolatry. God calls himself the husband of Israel; and this chosen nation owed him the fidelity of a wife. See Exo 34:15; Deu 31:16; Jdg 2:17; Isa 54:5; Jer 3:14; Jer 31:32, Eze 16:17; Eze 23:5, Eze 23:27; Hosea 2, Hos 5:1-15; Rev 17:1, Rev 17:2. He therefore says, with indignation, 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. And thus show them that they are radically depraved.

Clarke: Hos 1:3 - He went and took Gomer He went and took Gomer - All this appears to be a real transaction, though having a typical meaning. If he took an Israelite, he must necessarily ha...

He went and took Gomer - All this appears to be a real transaction, though having a typical meaning. If he took an Israelite, he must necessarily have taken an idolatress, one who had worshipped the calves of Jeroboam at Dan or at Bethel.

Clarke: Hos 1:4 - Call his name Jezreel Call his name Jezreel - יזרעאל that is, God will disperse. This seems to intimate that a dispersion or sowing of Israel shall take place; wh...

Call his name Jezreel - יזרעאל that is, God will disperse. This seems to intimate that a dispersion or sowing of Israel shall take place; which happened under Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 2Ki 17:5, 2Ki 17:6. But the word refers also to the name of a city, where Jehu slew Jezebel and all the children of Ahab. 2Ki 9:10, 2Ki 9:36; 2Ki 10:6

This was one of those prophetic names which we so often meet with in the Scriptures; e.g. Japheth Abraham, Israel, Judah, Joshua, Zerubbabel, Solomon, Sheer-jashub, etc

Clarke: Hos 1:4 - The blood of Jezreel The blood of Jezreel - Not Jehu’ s vengeance on Ahab’ s family, but his acts of cruelty while he resided at Jezreel, a city in the tribe o...

The blood of Jezreel - Not Jehu’ s vengeance on Ahab’ s family, but his acts of cruelty while he resided at Jezreel, a city in the tribe of Issachar, Jos 19:18, where the kings of Israel had a palace, 1Ki 21:1

Clarke: Hos 1:4 - Will cause to cease the kingdom Will cause to cease the kingdom - Either relating to the cutting off of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, see 1Ki 21:6, or to the ceasing of t...

Will cause to cease the kingdom - Either relating to the cutting off of the kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, see 1Ki 21:6, or to the ceasing of the kingdom of Israel from the house of Jehu, 2Ki 10:30, and which was fulfilled, 2Ki 15:10. - Newcome.

Clarke: Hos 1:5 - In the valley of Jezreel In the valley of Jezreel - This also is supposed to relate either to some signal defeat of the Israelites by the Assyrians, which took place in the ...

In the valley of Jezreel - This also is supposed to relate either to some signal defeat of the Israelites by the Assyrians, which took place in the valley of Jezreel; or to the death of Zechariah, the fourth lineal descendant of Jehu, which may have happened here. See 2Ki 15:10. - Newcome.

Clarke: Hos 1:6 - Call her Lo-ruhamah Call her Lo-ruhamah - לא רהמה, "Not having obtained mercy."This also was a prophetic or typical name; and the reason of its imposition is imm...

Call her Lo-ruhamah - לא רהמה, "Not having obtained mercy."This also was a prophetic or typical name; and the reason of its imposition is immediately given

Clarke: Hos 1:6 - For I will no more have mercy For I will no more have mercy - כי לא אושיף עיד ארחם ki lo osiph od arachem , "For I will no more add to have mercy upon the house ...

For I will no more have mercy - כי לא אושיף עיד ארחם ki lo osiph od arachem , "For I will no more add to have mercy upon the house of Israel."This refers to the total destruction of that kingdom.

Clarke: Hos 1:7 - But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah - I will spare them as a kingdom after Israel has been carried away into captivity by the Assyrians

But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah - I will spare them as a kingdom after Israel has been carried away into captivity by the Assyrians

Clarke: Hos 1:7 - And will save them by the Lord their God And will save them by the Lord their God - Remarkably fulfilled in the supernatural defeat of the army of the Assyrians, see 2Ki 19:35; and so they ...

And will save them by the Lord their God - Remarkably fulfilled in the supernatural defeat of the army of the Assyrians, see 2Ki 19:35; and so they were saved not by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. The former expression may mean, not in war by horses, i.e., yoked to war chariots, nor by horsemen - nor by cavalry, however efficient such troops might have then been deemed.

Clarke: Hos 1:9 - Call his name Lo-ammi Call his name Lo-ammi - לא עמי Lo - ammi , "Not my people;"for which the reason is immediately given

Call his name Lo-ammi - לא עמי Lo - ammi , "Not my people;"for which the reason is immediately given

Clarke: Hos 1:9 - Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God - The word God is not added here by any of the ancient versions or MSS.; and yet the construction a...

Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God - The word God is not added here by any of the ancient versions or MSS.; and yet the construction absolutely requires it, as Houbigant properly observes, who thinks the present reading לא אהיה לכם lo eheyeh lachem , "I will not be to you,"a corruption of the word אלחיכם eloheychem , "your God."It is strange that no various reading occurs on this verse in any MS. yet discovered. In two of the oldest of mine there is a blank of half a line left after the last word; and so it is in the Masoretic Bibles, though the sense is not complete; for it is evidently continued in the following verse. Probably God refers to the words, Exo 3:14 : אהיה אשר אהיה I am that I am. I am, אהיה eheyeh , - I shall be, hath sent me unto you. I will not be your eheyeh , i.e., I will not be your God.

Clarke: Hos 1:10 - Yet the number of the children of Israel Yet the number of the children of Israel - God had promised that the children of Israel should be as the sand of the sea. See Gen 32:12; Rom 9:25, R...

Yet the number of the children of Israel - God had promised that the children of Israel should be as the sand of the sea. See Gen 32:12; Rom 9:25, Rom 9:26. And though for their iniquities he had thinned and scattered them, yet the spirit and design of his promise and covenant shall be fulfilled. An Israel there shall be. In the place of the reprobated people, who were now no longer his people, there shall be found an Israel that shall be the children of the living God. See the above scriptures, and 1Pe 2:10. This must mean either the Israelites after their conversion to Christianity, or even the Gentiles themselves converted to God, and now become the true Israel.

Clarke: Hos 1:11 - The children of Judah and the Children of Israel The children of Judah and the Children of Israel - After the return from Babylon, the distinction between Israel and Judah was entirely destroyed; a...

The children of Judah and the Children of Israel - After the return from Babylon, the distinction between Israel and Judah was entirely destroyed; and those of them that did return were all included under one denomination, Jews; and the one head may refer to Zerubbabel their leader, and afterwards under Ezra and Nehemiah. In the more extensive view of the prophet the one Head may mean Jesus Christ, under whom the true Israel, Jews and Gentiles, shall be finally gathered together; so that there shall be one flock, and one Shepherd over that flock

Clarke: Hos 1:11 - They shall come up out of the land They shall come up out of the land - Assyria and Chaldea in particular; but also from the various places of their dispersions in general

They shall come up out of the land - Assyria and Chaldea in particular; but also from the various places of their dispersions in general

Clarke: Hos 1:11 - Great shall be the day of Jezreel Great shall be the day of Jezreel - He alludes to the meaning of the word, the seed of God. God who has dispersed - sown, them in different lands, s...

Great shall be the day of Jezreel - He alludes to the meaning of the word, the seed of God. God who has dispersed - sown, them in different lands, shall gather them together; and that day of God’ s power shall be great and glorious. It was a wonderful seed time in the Divine justice; it shall then be a wonderful harvest in the Divine mercy. He sowed them among the nations in his wrath; he shall reap them and gather them in his bounty.

Calvin: Hos 1:1 - NO PHRASE This first verse shows the time in which Hosea prophesied. He names four kings of Judah, — Uzziah, Jotham, Ahab, Hezekiah. Uzziah, called also Azar...

This first verse shows the time in which Hosea prophesied. He names four kings of Judah, — Uzziah, Jotham, Ahab, Hezekiah. Uzziah, called also Azariah, reigned fifty-two years; but after having been smitten with leprosy, he did not associate with men, and abdicated his royal dignity. Jotham, his son, succeeded him. The years of Jotham were about sixteen, and about as many were those of king Ahab, the father of Hezekiah; and it was under king Hezekiah that Hosea died. If we now wish to ascertain how long he discharged his office of teaching, we must take notice of what sacred history says, — Uzziah began to reign in the twenty seventh year of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. By supposing that Hosea performed his duties as a teacher, excepting a few years during the reign of Jeroboam, that is, the sixteen years which passed from the beginning of Uzziah’s reign to the death of Jeroboam, he must have prophesied thirty-six years under the reign of Uzziah. There is, however, no doubt but that he began to execute his office some years before the end of Jeroboam’s reign.

Here, then, there appear to be at least forty years. Jotham succeeded his father, and reigned sixteen years; and though it be a probable conjecture, that the beginning of his reign is to be counted from the time he undertook the government, after his father, being smitten with leprosy, was ejected from the society of men, it is yet probable that the remaining time to the death of his father ought to come to our reckoning. When however, we take for granted a few years, it must be that Hosea had prophesied more than forty-five years before Ahab began to reign. Add now the sixteen years in which Ahab reigned and the number will amount to sixty-one. There remain the years in which he prophesied under the reign of Hezekiah. It cannot, then, be otherwise but that he had followed his office more than sixty years, and probably continued beyond the seventieth year.

It hence appears with how great and with how invincible courage and perseverance he was endued by the Holy Spirit. But when God employs our service for twenty or thirty years we think it very wearisome, especially when we have to contend with wicked men, and those who do not willingly undertake the yoke, but pertinaciously resist us; we then instantly desire to be set free, and wish to become like soldiers who have completed their time. When therefore, we see that this Prophet persevered for so long a time, let him be to us an example of patience so that we may not despond, though the Lord may not immediately free us from our burden.

Thus much of the four kings whom he names. He must indeed have prophesied (as I have just shown) for nearly forty years under the king Uzziah or Azariah, and then for some years under the king Ahab, (to omit now the reign of Jotham, which was concurrent with that of his father,) and he continued to the time of Hezekiah: but why has he particularly mentioned Jeroboam the son of Joash, since he could not have prophesied under him except for a short time? His son Zachariah succeeded him; there arose afterward the conspiracy of Shallum, who was soon destroyed; then the kingdom became involved in great confusion; and at length the Assyrian, by means of Shalmanazar, led away captive the ten tribes, which became dispersed among the Medes. As this was the case, why does the Prophet here mention only one king of Israel? This seems strange; for he continued his office of teaching to the end of his reign and to his death. But an answer may be easily given: He wished distinctly to express, that he began to teach while the state was entire; for, had he prophesied after the death of Jeroboam, he might have seemed to conjecture some great calamity from the then present view of things: thus it would not have been prophecy, or, at least, this credit would have been much less. “He now, forsooth! divines what is, evident to the eyes of all.” For Zachariah flourished but a short time; and the conspiracy alluded to before was a certain presage of an approaching destruction, and the kingdom became soon dissolved. Hence the Prophet testifies here in express words, that he had already threatened future vengeance to the people, even when the kingdom of Israel flourished in wealth and power, when Jeroboam was enjoying his triumphs, and when prosperity inebriated the whole land.

This, then, was the reason why the Prophet mentioned only this one king; for under him the kingdom of Israel became strong, and was fortified by many strongholds and a large army, and abounded also in great riches. Indeed, sacred history tells us, that God had by Jeroboam delivered the kingdom of Israel, though he himself was unworthy, and that he had recovered many cities and a very wide extent of country. As, then, he had increased the kingdom, as he had become formidable to all his neighbours, as he had collected great riches, and as the people lived in ease and luxury, what the Prophet declared seemed incredible. “Ye are not,” he said, “the people of the Lord; ye are adulterous children, ye are born of fornication.” Such a reproof certainly seemed not seasonable. Then he said, “The kingdom shall be taken from you, destruction is nigh to you.” “What, to us? and yet our king has now obtained so many victories, and has struck terror into other kings.” The kingdom of Judah, which was a rival, being then nearly broken down, there was no one who could have ventured to suspect such an event.

We now, then, perceive why the Prophet here says expressly that he had prophesied under Jeroboam. He indeed prophesied after his death, and followed his office even after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, but he began to teach at a time when he was a sport to the ungodly, who exalted themselves against God, and boldly despised his threatening as long as he spared and bore with them; which is ever the case, as proved by the constant experience of all ages. We hence see more clearly with what power of the Spirit God had endued the Prophet, who dared to rise up against so powerful a king, and to reprove his wickedness, and also to summon his subjects to the same judgement. When, therefore, the Prophet conducted himself so boldly, at a time when the Israelites were not only sottish on account of their great success, but also wholly insane, it was certainly nothing short of a miracle; and this ought to avail much to establish his authority. We now then, see the design of the inscription contained in the first verse. It follows —

Calvin: Hos 1:2 - Go // That it should not follow Jehovah 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 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 —

Calvin: Hos 1:3 - NO PHRASE We said in yesterday’s Lecture, that God ordered his Prophet to take a wife of whoredoms, but that this was not actually done; for what other effec...

We said in yesterday’s Lecture, that God ordered his Prophet to take a wife of whoredoms, but that this was not actually done; for what other effect could it have had, but to render the Prophet contemptible to all? and thus his authority would have been reduced to nothing. But God only meant to show to the Israelites by such a representation, that they vaunted themselves without reason; for they had nothing worthy of praise, but were in every way ignominious. It is then said, Hosea went and took to himself Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim גמר , Gomer, means in Hebrew, to fail; and sometimes it signifies actively, to consume; and hence Gomer means consumption. But Diblaim are masses of figs, or dry figs reduced to a mass. The Greeks call them παλαθας. The Cabalists say here that the wife of Hosea was called by this name, because they who are much given to wantonness at length fall into death and corruption. So consumption is the daughter of figs, for by figs they understand the sweetness of lusts. But it will be more simple to say, that this representation was exhibited to the people, that the Prophet set before them, instead of a wife, consumption, the daughter of figs; that is, that he laid before them masses of figs or παλαθας, representing Gomer, which means consumption and that he adopted a similar manner with mathematicians, when they describe their figures, — “If this be so much, then that is so much.” We may then thus understand the passage, that the Prophet here named for his wife the corrupt masses of figs; so that she was consumption or putrefaction, born of figs, reduced into such masses. For I still persist in the opinion I expressed yesterday, that the Prophet did not enter a brothel to take a wife to himself: for otherwise he must have begotten bastards, and not legitimate children; for, as it was said yesterday, the case with the wife and the children was the same.

We now then understand the true meaning of this verse to be, that the Prophet did not marry a harlot, but only exhibited her before the eyes of the people as though she were corruption, born of putrified masses of figs.

Calvin: Hos 1:4 - NO PHRASE It now follows, the wife conceived, — the imaginary one, the wife as represented and exhibited. She conceived, he says, and bare a son: then sai...

It now follows, the wife conceived, — the imaginary one, the wife as represented and exhibited. She conceived, he says, and bare a son: then said Jehovah to him, Call his name Jezreel. Many render יזרעאל , Izroal, dispersion, and follow the Chaldean paraphraser. They also think that this ambiguous term contains some allusion; for as זרע , zaro is seed, they suppose that the Prophet indirectly glances at the vain boasting of the people; for they called themselves the chosen seed, because they had been planted by the Lord; hence the name Jezreel. But the Prophet here, according to these interpreters, exposes this folly to contempt; as though he said, “Ye are Israel; but in another respect, ye are dispersion: for as the seed is cast in various directions so the Lord will scatter you, and thus destroy and cast you away. You think yourselves to have been planted in this land, and to have a standing from which you can never be shaken or torn away; but the Lord will, with his own hand, lay hold on you to cast you away to the remotest regions of the world.” This sense is what many interpreters give; nor do I deny but that the Prophet alludes to the words sowing and seed; with this I disagree not: only it seems to me that the Prophet looks farther, and intimates that they were wholly degenerate, not the true nor the genuine offspring of Abraham.

There is, as we see, much affinity between the names Jezreel and Israel. How honourable is the name, Israel, it is evident from its etymology; and we also know that it was given from above to the holy father Jacob. God, then, the bestower of this name, procured by his own authority, that those called Israelites should be superior to others: and then we must remember the reason why Jacob was called Israel; for he had a contest with God, and overcame in the struggle, (Gen 32:28.) Hence the posterity of Abraham gloried that they were Israelites. And the prophet Isaiah also glances at this arrogance, when he says,

‘Come ye who are called by the name of Israel,’
(Isa 48:1;)

as though he said, “Ye are Israelites, but only as to the title, for the reality exists not in you.”

Let us now return to our Hosea. Call, he says his name Jezreel; 5 as though he said, “They call themselves Israelites; but I will show, by a little change in the word, that they are degenerate and spurious, for they are Jezreelites rather than Israelites.” And it appears that Jezreel was the metropolis of the kingdom in the time of Ahab, and where also that great slaughter was made by Jehu, which is related in 2Kg 10:0 We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet to be, that the whole kingdom had degenerated from its first beginning, and could no longer be deemed as including the race of Abraham; for the people had, by their own perfidy, fallen from that honour, and lost their first name. God then, by way of contempt, calls them Jezreelites, and not Israelites.

A reason afterwards follows which confines this view, For yet a little while, and I will visit the slaughters of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. Here interpreters labour not a little, because it seems strange that God should visit the slaughter made by Jehu, which yet he had approved; nay, Jehu did nothing thoughtlessly, but knew that he was commanded to execute that vengeance. He was, therefore, God’s legitimate minister; and why is what God commanded imputed to him now as a crime? This reasoning has driven some interpreters to take “bloods” here for wicked deeds in general: ‘I will avenge the sins of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.’ Some say, “I will avenge the slaughter of Naboth:” but this is wholly absurd, nor can it suit the place, for, “upon the house of Jehu,” is distinctly expressed; and God did not visit the slaughter on the house of Jehu, but on the house of Ahab. But they who are thus embarrassed do not consider what the Prophet has in view. For God, when he wished Jehu with his drawn sword to destroy the whole house of Ahab, had this end as his object, — that Jehu should restore pure worship, and cleanse the land from all defilements. Jehu then was stirred up by the Spirit of God, that he might re-establish God’s pure worship. When a defender of religion, how did he act? He became contented with his prey. After having seized on the kingdom for himself, he confirmed idolatry and every abomination. He did not then spend his labour for God. Hence that slaughter with regard to Jehu was robbery; with regard to God it was a just revenge. this view ought to satisfy us as to the explanation of this passage; and I bring nothing but what the Holy Scripture contains. For after Jehu seemed to burn with zeal for God, he soon proved that there was nothing sincere in his heart; for he embraced all the superstitions which previously prevailed in the kingdom of Israel. In short, the reformation under Jehu was like that under Henry King of England; who, when he saw that he could not otherwise shake off the yoke of the Roman Antichrist than by some disguise, pretended great zeal for a time: he afterwards raged cruelly against all the godly, and doubled ( duplicavit — duplicated) the tyranny of the Roman Pontiff: and such was Jehu.

When we duly consider what was done by Henry, it was indeed an heroic valour to deliver his kingdom from the hardest of tyrannies: but yet, with regard to him, he was certainly worse than all the other vassals of the Roman Antichrist; for they who continue under that bondage, retain at least some kind of religion; but he was restrained by no shame from men, and proved himself wholly void of every fear towards God. He was a monster, ( homo belluinus — a beastly man) and such was Jehu.

Now, when the Prophet says, I will avenge the slaughters of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, it is no matter of wonder. How so? For it was the highest honour to him, that God anointed him king, that he, who was of a low family, was chosen a king by the Lord. He ought then to have stretched every nerve to restore God’s pure worship, and to destroy all superstitions. This he did not; on the contrary, he confirmed them. He was then a robber, and as to himself, no minister of God.

The meaning of the whole then is this: “Ye are not Israelites, (there is here only an ambiguity as to the pronunciation of one letter,) but Jezreelites;” which means, “Ye are not the descendants of Jacob, but Jezreelites;” that is, “Ye are a degenerate people, and differ nothing from king Ahab. He was accursed, and under him the kingdom became accursed. Are ye changed? Is there any reformation? Since then ye are obstinate in your wickedness, though ye proudly claim the name of Jacob, ye are yet unworthy of such an honour. I therefore call you Jezreelites.”

And the reason is added, For yet a little while, and I will visit the slaughters upon the house of Jehu. God now shows that the people were destitute of all glory. But they thought that the memory of all sins had been buried since the time that the house of Ahab had been cut off. “Why? I will avenge these slaughters,” saith the Lord. It is customary, we know, with hypocrites, after having punished one sin, to think that all things are lawful to them, and to wish to be thus discharged before God. A thief will punish a murder, but he himself will commit many murders. He thinks himself redeemed, because he has paid God the price in punishing one man; but he lets go others, who have been his accomplices, and he himself hesitates not to commit many unjust murders. Since, then, hypocrites thus mock God, the Prophet now justly shakes off such senselessness, and says, I will avenge these slaughters. “Do ye think it a deed worthy of praise in Jehu, to destroy and root out the house of Ahab? I indeed commanded it to be done but he turned the vengeance enjoined on him to another end.” How so? Because he became a robber; for he did not punish the sins of Ahab, because he did the same himself to the end of life, and continued to do the same in his posterity, for Jeroboam was the fourth from him in the kingdom. “Since, then, Jehu did not change the condition of the country, and ye have ever been obstinate in your wickedness, I will avenge these slaughters.”

This is a remarkable passage; for it shows that it is not enough, nay, that it is of no moment, that a man should conduct himself honourably before men, except he possesses also an upright and sincere heart. He then who punishes evil deeds in others, ought himself to abstain from them, and to measure the same justice to himself as he does to others; for he who takes to himself a liberty to sin, and yet punishes others, provokes against himself the wrath of God.

We now then perceive the true sense of this sentence, I will avenge the slaughters of Jezreel, to be this, that he would avenge the slaughters made in the valley of Jezreel on the house of Jehu. It is added and I will abolish the kingdom of the house of Israel. The house of Israel he calls that which had separated from the family of David, as though he said, “This is a separated house.” God had indeed joined the whole people together, and they became one body. It was torn asunder under Jeroboam. This was God’s dreadful judgement; for it was the same as if the people, like a torn body, had been cut into two parts. But God, however, had hitherto preserved these two parts, as though they were but one body, and would have become the Redeemer of both people, had not a base defection followed. And the Israelites having become, as it were, putrified, so as now to be no part of his chosen people, our Prophet, by way of contempt and reproach, rightly calls them the house of Israel. It now follows —

Calvin: Hos 1:5 - NO PHRASE This verse was intentionally added; for the Israelites were so inflated with their present good fortune, that they laughed at the judgement denounced...

This verse was intentionally added; for the Israelites were so inflated with their present good fortune, that they laughed at the judgement denounced. They indeed knew that they were well furnished with arms, and men, and money; in short, they thought themselves in every way unassailable. Hence the Prophet declares, that all this could not prevent God from punishing them. “Ye are,” he says, “inflated with pride; ye set up your valour against God, thinking yourselves strong in arms and in power; and because ye are military men, ye think that God can do nothing; and yet your bows cannot restrain his hand from destroying you. But when he says, I will break the bow, he mentions a part for the whole; for under one sort he comprehends every kind of arms. But as to what the Prophet had in view, we see that his only object was to break down their false confidence; for the Israelites thought that they should not be exposed to the destruction which Hosea had predicted; for they were dazzled with their own power, and thought themselves beyond the reach of any danger, while they were so well fortified on every side. Hence the Prophet says, that all their fortresses would be nothing against God; for in that day, when the ripe time for vengeance shall come, the Lord will break all their bows, he will tear in pieces all their arms, and reduce to nothing their power.

We are here warned ever to take heed, lest any thing should lead us to a torpid state when God threatens us. Though we may have strength, though fortune (so to speak) may smile on us, though, in a word, the whole world should combine to secure our safety, yet there is no reason why we should felicitate ourselves, when God declares himself opposed to and angry with us. Why so? Because, as he can preserve us when unarmed whenever he pleases, so he can spoil us of all our arms, and reduce our power to nothing. Let this verse then come to our minds whenever God terrifies us by his threatening; and what it teaches us is, that he can take away all the defences in which we vainly trust.

Now, as Jezreel was the metropolis of the kingdom, the Prophet distinctly mentions the place, I will break in pieces the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel; that is, the Lord sees what sort of fortress there is in Samaria, in Jezreel; but he will make an end of you there, in the very midst of the land. Ye think that you have there a place of safety and a firm position; but the Lord will bring you to nothing even in the valley of Jezreel. It follows —

Calvin: Hos 1:6 - I will no more add to pursue with mercy the house of Israel // I will no more add, The Prophet shows in this verse that things were become worse and worse in the kingdom of Israel, that they sinned, keeping within no limits, that th...

The Prophet shows in this verse that things were become worse and worse in the kingdom of Israel, that they sinned, keeping within no limits, that they rushed headlong into the extremes of impiety. He has already told us, by calling them Jezreelites, that they were from the beginning rejected and degenerate; as though he said, “Your origin has nothing commendable in it; ye think yourselves to be very eminent, because ye derive your descent from holy Jacob; but ye are spurious children, born of a harlot: a brothel is not the house of Abraham, nor is the house of Abraham a brothel. Ye are then the offspring of debauchery.” But he now goes farther and says, that as time advanced, they had ever been falling into a worse state; for this word, Loruchamah, is a more disgraceful name than Jezreel: and the Lord also denounces here his vengeance more openly, when he says,

I will no more add to pursue with mercy the house of Israel רחם , rechem, means to pity, and also to love: but this second meaning is derived from the other; for רחם , rechem, is not simply to love, but to show gratuitous favour. By calling the daughter, then, Lo-ruchamah, God intimates that his favour was now taken away from the people. We know, indeed, that the people had been freely chosen; for if the cause of adoption be inquired for, it must be said to have been the mere mercy and goodness of God. Now then God, in repudiating the people, says, “Ye are like a daughter whom her father casts away and disowns, because he deems her unworthy of his favour.” We now, then, comprehend the design of the Prophet; for, after having shown the Israelites to have been from the beginning spurious, and not the true children of Abraham, he now adds, that, in course of time, they had become so corrupt, that God would now utterly disown them, and would no longer deem them as his house. He, therefore, charges them with something more grievous than before, by saying, ‘Call this daughter Lo-ruchamah;’ for she was born after Jezreel. Here he describes by degrees the state of the people, that it continually degenerated. Though they were at the beginning depraved; but they were now, after the lapse of some time, utterly unworthy of God’s favour.

I will no more add, he says, to pursue with favour the house of Israel. God here shows what constant forbearance he had exercised towards this people. I will no more add, he says; as though the Lord had said, “I do not now sally forth at the first heat of wrath to take vengeance on you, as passionate men are wont to do, who seize the sword as soon as any affront is given; I become not so suddenly hot with anger. I have, therefore, hitherto borne with you; but now your obstinacy is intolerable; I will not then bear with you any more.” The Prophet, as we see, evidently intimates that the Israelites had very long abused the Lord’s mercy, while he spared them, so that now the ripe time of vengeance had come; for the Lord had, for many years showed his favour to them, though they never ceased at any time to seek destruction to themselves. Hence we learn, as stated yesterday, that the Prophet’s vehemence was not hasty: for God had before given warnings, more than sufficient, to the Israelites; he had also forgiven them many sins; he had borne with them until the state of things proved that they were altogether incurable. Since, then, the forbearance of God produced no effect on them, it was necessary to come to this last remedy, that the Lord should, as it were, with a drawn sword, appear as a judge to take vengeance.

He afterwards says, כי נשוא אשא להם , ki neshua asha lem. This sentence is variously explained. Some think that the verb is derived from the root נשה , nesche, with a final ה , he; which means “to forget”, as though it was said “By forgetting, I will forget them;” and the sense is not unsuitable. The Chaldean paraphraser wholly departs from this meaning, for he renders the clause, “By sparing, I will spare them.” There is no reason for this; for God, as the context clearly shows, does not yet promise pardon to them; this meaning, then, cannot stand. They come nearer to the design of the Prophet who thus translate, “I will bring to them,” that is, the enemy; for נשא , nesha, signifies to take, and also to bring into the middle. But I prefer embracing their opinion who consider that להם , lem, is placed here for אותם , autem; for the servile letter ל , lamed, has often the same meaning with the particle את , at, which is prefixed to an objective case. Then the rendering is, literally given, “For, by taking away, I will take them away:” and the Hebrews often use this mode of speaking, and the sense is plainer, “By taking away, I will take them away.” Some render the passage, “I will burn them;” but this explanation is rather harsh. I am satisfied with the meaning, to take, but I understand it in the sense of taking away. Then it is, “By taking away, I will take them away.” 6

And this is what the following verse confirms; for when the Prophet speaks of the house of Judah, the Lord says, “With mercy will I follow the house of Judah, and will save them.” The Prophet sets “to save” and “to take away” in opposition the one to the other.

We may then learn by the context what he meant by these words, and that is, that Israel had hitherto stood through the Lord’s mercy; as though he said, “How has it happened that ye continue as yet alive? Do you think yourselves to be safe through your own valour? Nay, my mercy has hitherto preserved you. Now, then, when I shall withdraw my favour from you, your ruin will be inevitable; you must necessarily perish, and be brought to nothing: for as I have hitherto preserved you, so I will utterly tear you away and destroy you.” A profitable lesson may be farther gathered from this passage, and that is, that hypocrites deceive themselves when they boast of the present favour of God, and, at the same time, exult without any fear against him; for as God for a time spares and tolerates them, so he can justly destroy and reduce them to nothing. But the next verse must be also joined.

Calvin: Hos 1:7 - NO PHRASE This verse sufficiently proves what I said yesterday, that the Prophet was specifically appointed to the kingdom of Israel; for he seems here to spea...

This verse sufficiently proves what I said yesterday, that the Prophet was specifically appointed to the kingdom of Israel; for he seems here to speak favourably of the Jews, who yet, we know, had been severely and deservedly reproved by their own teachers. For what does Isaiah say, after having spoken of the dreadful corruptions which then prevailed in the kingdom of Israel? ‘Come,’ he says, ‘into the house of Judah, they at least continue as yet pure: there,’ he says, ‘all the tables are full of vomiting; they are drunken; there reigns also the contempt of God and all impiety,’ (Isa 28:8.) We see then that the Jews were not a virtuous people, of whom the Prophet has spoken so honourably. For though the exterior worship of God continued at Jerusalem, and the temple, at least under Uzziah and Jotham, was free from every superstition, and also under king Hezekiah; yet the morals of the people, we know, were very corrupt. Avarice, and cruelty, and every kind of fraud, reigned there, and also filthy lusts. The conduct, then, of that people was nothing better than that of the Israelites. Why, then, does the Prophet dignify them with so great an honour as to exempt them from God’s vengeance? Because he had an eye to the people to whom he was appointed a Prophet. He therefore institutes a comparison. He interferes not with the Jews, for he knew that they had faithful pastors who reproved their sins; but he continued among his own hearers. But this comparison served, in an especial manner, to touch the hearts of the people of Israel; for the Prophet, we know, made this reference particularly for this end, to condemn fictitious worship. He now sets the worship at Jerusalem in opposition to all those superstitions which Jeroboam first introduced, which Ahab increased, and all their posterity followed. Hence he says, “I will show favour” to the house of Judah.

That we may better understand the mind of the Prophet, it may be well to repeat what we said yesterday: — The kingdom of Judah was then miserably wasted. The kingdom of Israel had ten tribes, the kingdom of Judah only one and a half, and it was also diminished by many slaughters; yea, the Israelites had spoiled the temple of the Lord, and had taken all the gold and silver they found there. The Jews, then, had been reduced to a very low state, they hardly dared to mutter; but the Israelites, as our Prophet will hereafter tell us, were like beasts well fed. Since, then, they despised the Jews, who seemed despicable in the eyes of the world, the Prophet beats down this vain confidence, and says, With mercy will I follow the house of Judah “The house of Judah seems now to be almost nothing, for they are few in number, nor are they very strong, and wealth abounds not among them as among you; but with them shall dwell my favour, and I will take it away from you.”

It afterwards follows, And I will save them by Jehovah their God. Salvation is here set in opposition to the destruction which the Prophet mentioned in the last verse. But Hosea shows that salvation depends not in the least either on arms or on any of the intervenients 7, as they say, of this world; but has its foundation only on God’s favour. I will save them, he says — why? because my favour will I show them This connection ought to be carefully noticed. Where the Lord’s favour is, there is life. ‘Thou art our God, then we shall never perish,’ as it is written in Hab 1:12 Habakkuk. Hence the Prophet here connects salvation with God’s gratuitous favour; for we cannot continue safe, but as long as God is propitious to us. He has, on the other hand, declared that it would be all over with the Israelites as soon as God would take away from them his favour.

But he says, By Jehovah their God. An antithesis is to be understood here between the false gods and Jehovah, who was the God of the house of Judah. It is the same as though the Prophet said, “Ye indeed profess the name of God, but ye worship the devil and not God: for ye have nothing to do with Jehovah, with the God who is the creator and maker of heaven and earth; for he dwells in his own temple; he pledged his faith to David, when he commanded him to build a temple for him on mount Zion; he dwells there between the cherubim, as the Prophets invariably declare: but the true God is become exiled from you.” We hence see how he condemns here all the worship which the Israelites then so highly valued. Why did he do so? Because it was not acceptable to God.

And this passage deserves to be noticed, for we see how stupid men are in this respect. When once they are persuaded that they worship God, they are seized by some fascination of Satan so as to become delighted with all their own dotages, as we see to be the case at this day with the Papists, who are not only insane, but doubly frantic. If any one reproves them and says, that they worship not the true God, they are instantly on fire — “What! does not God accept our worship?” But the Prophet here shows by one word that Jehovah is not in any place, except where he is rightly worshipped according to the rule of his word. I will save them, he says — How? By Jehovah their God; and God himself speaks: He might have said, “I will save them by myself;” but it was not without reason that he used this circuitous mode of speaking; it was to show the Israelites that they had no reason to think that God would be propitious to them. How so? Because God had chosen an habitation for himself on mount Zion and in Jerusalem. A fuller declaration afterwards follows, I will save them neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen But this clause, by God’s favour, I will explain tomorrow.

Calvin: Hos 1:8 - NO PHRASE The weaning the Prophet mentions here is by some understood allegorically; as though he said, that the people would for a time be deprived of proph...

The weaning the Prophet mentions here is by some understood allegorically; as though he said, that the people would for a time be deprived of prophecies, and of the priesthood, and of other spiritual gifts: but this is frigid. The Prophet here, I have no doubt, sets forth the patience of God towards that people. The Lord then, before he had utterly cast away the Israelites, waited patiently for their repentance, if, indeed, there was any hope for it; but when he found them to be ever like themselves, he then at length proceeded to the last punishment. Hence Hosea says, that the daughter, who was the second child, was weaned; as though he said, that the people of Israel had not been suddenly cast away, for God had with long patience borne with them, and thus suspended heavier judgement, until, having found their wickedness to be unhealable, he at length commenced what follows, Call the third child Lo-ammi.

Calvin: Hos 1:9 - NO PHRASE The reason is added For ye are not my people, and I will not hereafter be your God. This, as I have said, is the final disowning of them. They had ...

The reason is added For ye are not my people, and I will not hereafter be your God. This, as I have said, is the final disowning of them. They had been before called Jezreelites, and then by the name of the daughter God testified that he was alienated from them; but now the third name is still more grievous, Ye are not my people; for God here abolishes, in a manner, the covenant he made with the holy fathers, so that the people would cease to have any preeminence over other nations. So then the Israelites were reduced to a condition in which they differed nothing from the profane Gentiles; and thus God wholly disinherited them. The Prophet, doubtless, was not well received, when he denied them to be God’s people, who had yet descended from Abraham according to the flesh, who had ever been so accounted, and who continued proudly to boast of their election.

But let us hence learn, that those awfully mistake who are blind to their own vices, because God spares and indulges them. For we must ever remember what I have said before, that the kingdom of Israel was then opulent; and yet the Prophet denies them, who flourished in strength, and power, and riches, to be God’s people. There is then no reason for hypocrites to felicitate themselves in prosperity; but they ought, on the contrary, to have regard to God’s judgement. But though these, as we see to be the case, heedlessly despise God, yet this passage reminds us carefully to beware lest we abuse the present favours of God. It follows —

Calvin: Hos 1:10 - And it shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are not my people; there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God Now follows consolation, yet not unmixed. God seems here to meet the objections which we know hypocrites had in readiness, whenever the Prophets deno...

Now follows consolation, yet not unmixed. God seems here to meet the objections which we know hypocrites had in readiness, whenever the Prophets denounced destruction on them; for they accused God of being unfaithful if he did not save them. Arrogating to themselves the title of Church, they concluded that it would be impossible for them to perish for God would not be untrue in his promises. “Why! God has promised that his Church shall be for ever: we are his Church; then we are safe, for God cannot deny himself.” In what they took as granted they were deceived; for though they usurped the title of Church, they were yet alienated from God. We see that the Papists swell with this pride at this day. To excuse all their errors they set up against us this shield, “Christ promised to be with his own to the end of the world. Can the spouse desert his Church? Can the Son of God, who is the eternal Truth of the Father, fail in his faithfulness?” The Papists magnificently extol the faithfulness of Christ, that they may bind him to themselves: but at the same time, they consider not that they are covenant breakers; they consider not that they are manifestly the enemies of God; they consider not that they have divorced themselves from him.

The Prophet, therefore seeing that he had to do with proud men, who were wont to arraign the justice of God, says, The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea; that is, “When the Lord shall cut you off, still safe will remain this promise which was given to Abraham;

‘Look at the stars of heaven, number, if thou canst, the sand of the sea; so shall thy seed be,’” (Gen 15:5.)

We indeed know, that whenever the Prophets severely reproved the people and denounced destruction, this was ever opposed to them, “What! can it be that the Lord will destroy us? What would then become of this promise, Thy seed shall be as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the sea?” Hence the Prophet here checks this vain-confidence, by which hypocrites supported themselves against all threatening, “Though God may cut you off, he will yet continue true and faithful to the promise, that Abraham’s seed shall be innumerable as the sand of the sea.”

I indeed admit that the Prophet here gave hope of salvation to the faithful; for it is certain that there were some remaining in the kingdom of Israel. Though the whole body had revolted, yet God, as it was said to Elijah, had preserved to himself some seed. The Prophet then was unwilling to leave the faithful, who remained among that lost people, without hope of salvation; but, at the same time, he had regard to hypocrites, as we have already stated. We now see the design of the Prophet, for he teaches that there would be such a vengeance as he had spoken of, though God would not yet be forgetful of his word; he teaches that there would be such a casting away of the people, though God’s election would yet remain firm and unchangeable; in short, he teaches that the adoption by which God had chosen the offspring of Abraham as his people would not be void. This is the import of the whole. Then the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which is not to be measured nor numbered.

He afterwards adds, And it shall be in the place where it had been said to them, ( shall be said, literally,) Ye are not my people; there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God It has been asked, whether this prophecy belongs to the posterity of those who had been dispersed. This, indeed, would be strange; for so long a time has passed away since their exile, and dejected and broken, they dwell at this day in mountains and in other desert places; at least many of them are in the mountains of Armenia, some are in Media and Chaldea; in short, throughout the whole of the East. And since there has been no restoration of this people, it is certain that this prophecy ought not to be restricted to seed according to the flesh. For there was a prescribed time for the Jews, when the Lord purposed to restore them to their country; and, at the end of seventy years, a free return was granted them by Cyrus. Then Hosea speaks not here of the kingdom of Israel, but of the Church, which was to be restored by a return, composed both of Jews and of Gentiles. So Paul, a fit interpreter of this passage, reminds us,

‘Whom he has called, not only of the Jews,
but also of the Gentiles; as he says by Hosea,
I will call a people, who were not mine, my people;
and her beloved, who was not beloved: and it shall be,
where it had been said to them, Ye are not my people;
there shall they be called the sons of the living God,’
(Rom 9:24, etc.)

Paul applies this passage, and that rightly, to the whole body of the faithful, collected without any difference, from the Jews as well as from the Gentiles: for otherwise, as we have said, the correctness and truth of prophecy would not be evident: and this view also agrees best with the design of the Prophet which I have just explained. For, since hypocrites in a manner tie to themselves the power of God, the Prophet says, that God can, if he chooses, raise up in an instant a new Church, which would exceed in number the sand of the sea. How so? God will create a Church for himself. From what? From stones, from nothing: for, as Paul says elsewhere,

‘he calls those things which are not,
as though they were,’
(Rom 4:17.)

At the same time, God, as it has been said, by his goodness contended with the wickedness of that people; for though they rejected his favour, yea, and obstinately thrust it away from themselves, yet such perverseness did not hinder the Lord from preserving a remnant for himself.

Now, this passage teaches, that they are very perverted in their notions, who, by their own feelings, form a judgement of the state of the Church, and accuse God of being unfaithful, when its external appearance does not correspond with their opinion. So the Papists think; for except they see the splendour of great pomp, they conclude that no Church remains in the world. But God at one time so diminishes the Church, that it seems to be almost reduced to nothing; at another time, he increases and multiplies it beyond all hope, after having raised it, as it were, from death. Isaiah says in Isa 10:22,

Were the number of the children of Israel as the sand of the sea, a remnant only shall be saved.

The Prophet there designedly exposes to scorn the hypocrites, who falsely pleaded that prophecy, ‘Look on the stars of heaven, and on the sand of the sea, if thou can’t number them; so shall thy seed be.’ Since, then, Isaiah saw that hypocrites, relying on that prophecy, were rising so perversely against him, he said, “Be it so, be it so, that ye are as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea; yet a remnant only shall be saved;” which means, “The Lord will at last cut you down, and reduce you to so small a number, that ye shall be extremely few.” Now, on the other hand, Hosea says, That after the Israelites shall be reduced to a very small number, that nothing but waste and solitude will appear, then the Lord will restore the Church beyond all human thoughts and will prove that he had not in vain promised to Abraham that his seed would be as the sand of the sea. Since, then, the Lord wonderfully defends his Church, and preserves it in this world, so that at one time he seems to bury it, and then he raises it from death; at one time he cuts it down as to its outward appearance, and then afterwards he renews it; we ought to take heed, lest we measure according to our own judgement and carnal reason, what the Lord declares respecting the preservation of his Church. For its safety is often hid from the eyes of men. However the case may be, God does not bind himself here to human means, nor to the order of nature, but his purpose is to surpass by his incredible power whatever the minds of men can conceive.

Thus then ought this passage, The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, to be expounded: God will gather his Church from all quarters, from the Gentiles as well as from the Jews when the whole world will think it to be extinct.

And it shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are not my people; there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God The Prophet, in these words, amplifies by a comparison the grace of God; as though he said, “When God shall restore anew his Church, its state shall be more excellent than before.” How so? “They shall not only,” he says, “be the people of God, but also the sons of the living God;” which means, that God will more familiarly show himself a Father to those, whom he will thus suddenly gather into one body. I indeed allow that the ancients under the law were honoured with this title; but we ought to attend to the present passage; for the Prophet contrasts the two clauses, the one with the other: And it shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are not my people; it shall be said there, Ye are the sons of the living God He might have said, “And it shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are not my people; there it shall be said, Ye are not my people:” but he ascends higher; God will confer more honour on his new people, for he will more clearly manifest his favour to them by this title of adoption: and it belongs in common to all, to the Gentiles as well as to the Israelites. We ought not to apply this, as it is commonly done, exclusively to the Gentiles: for Hosea speaks not here only of the Church which God attained for himself from the Gentiles, but of the whole Israel of God, a part of whom is the seed of Abraham. Let us then know that God here offers his grace generally, to the Israelites as well as to the Gentiles, and testifies, that after having justly cast away this people, he would make all to know that he had not been unmindful of his covenant, for he would attain to himself a much larger Church — from whom? From the children of Abraham, as it has been said, as well as from strangers.

And there is an important meaning in the verb, ‘It shall be said:’ It shall be where it had been said, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said, — The Prophet means, that our salvation appears not, before the Lord has begun to testify to us of his good-will. Hence the beginning of our salvation is God’s call, when he declares himself to be propitious to us: without his word, no hope shines on us. Hosea might have said, ‘It shall be in the place where it had been said, Ye are not my people, there they shall begin to be the sons of God:’ but he expresses more, ‘It shall be where it had been said, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God.’

As to the first clause, it must be referred to the threatenings which have been already explained; and in this way was also checked the contumacy of the people, who heedlessly despised all the Prophets. “What! God has bound himself to us: we are the race of Abraham; then we are a holy and elect nation.” But the Prophet here claims authority to himself as a teacher: “I am a herald of God’s vengeance, and seriously proclaim to you your rejection: there is then no reason why ye should now harden your hearts and close your ears; for now at length will follow the execution of that vengeance which I now declare to you.” The Prophet then declares here that he had not rashly pronounced what we before noticed, that it was not an empty bug bear, but that he had spoken in the Lord’s name; as Paul also says,

‘Vengeance is prepared by us against all them
who extol themselves against Christ,’ (2Co 10:6.)

And we see also what was said to Ezekiel, ‘Go and besiege Jerusalem; turn thy face, and stand there until thou stormest it, until thou overthrowest it.’ The prophet was not certainly furnished with an army, so that he could make an attack upon Jerusalem: but God means there that there is power enough in his word to destroy all the ungodly. So also Hosea signifies the same here: “When by the word alone the Israelites shall be cast away it shall be said, Ye are the sons of the living God.” Let us then know, that God rises upon us with certain salvation, when we hear him speaking to us. It follows —

Calvin: Hos 1:11 - NO PHRASE The Prophet speaks here peculiarly of the children of Abraham; for though God would make no more account of them than of other nations, he yet wished...

The Prophet speaks here peculiarly of the children of Abraham; for though God would make no more account of them than of other nations, he yet wished it to be ascribed to his covenant, that they in honor excelled others; and the right of primogeniture, we know, is everywhere given to them. Then as Abraham’s children were first-begotten in the Church, even after the coming of Christ, God here especially addresses them, Ascend together from the land shall the children of Israel and the children of Judah, and they shall assemble together, and appoint for themselves one head In the last verse, Hosea spoke of the universal gathering of the Church; but now he confines his address to the natural race of Abraham. Why? Because God commenced a restoration with that people, when he extended his hand to the miserable exiles to bring them back from the Babylonian captivity to their own country. As then this was the beginning of the gathering, the Prophet, not without reason, turns his address here to them, and thus sets them in higher honor, not that they were worthy, not that they could by any merit claim this dignity; but because God would not make void his covenant, and because he had chosen them that they might be the first-begotten, as it has been already stated, and as they are also elsewhere called, ‘My first-begotten is Ephraim,’ (Jer 31:9) We now then understand the order and arrangement of the Prophet, which is to be carefully noticed, and the more so, because interpreters confound all these things, and make no distinctions, when yet the Prophet has not here mingled together the children of Israel and the children of Judah with the Gentiles, except for a certain purpose.

Let us now consider the words of the Prophet. Assembled together, he says, shall be the children of Israel and the children of Judah No doubt, the Prophet has in view the scattering, which had now lasted more than two hundred years, when Jeroboam had led away the ten tribes. Inasmuch as the body became then torn asunder, the Prophet says, Together shall be gathered the children of Judah and the children of Israel And designedly does he thus speak, lest the Israelites should felicitate themselves on their own power; since they were a mutilated body without a head; for the king of Israel, properly speaking, was not legitimate. The Lord had indeed anointed Jeroboam; and afterwards Jehu, I admit, had been anointed; but it was done for the sake of executing judgment. For when the Lord intended really to bless the people, he chose David to rule over them; and then he committed the government over all the children of Abraham to the posterity of David. There was therefore no legitimate head over the people of Israel. And the Prophet intended distinctly to express this by saying, Gathered together shall be the children of Judah and the children of Israel; which means this, “Ye are now secure, because fortune smiles on you; because ye are overflowing with money and all good things; because ye are terrible to your neighbors; because ye have cities well fortified; but your safety depends on another thing, even on this, that ye be one body under one head. For ye must be miserable except God rules over you; and the only way in which this can be is, that ye be under the government of David. Your separation, then, proves your state to be accursed; your earthly happiness, in which you felicitate yourselves, is unhappiness before God.” The Prophet then reminded the people of Israel, that God would at last deal kindly with them by restoring them to their first unity. The import of the whole then is, that the children of Abraham shall then at length be blessed, when they shall unite again in one body, and when one head shall rule over them. They shall then be gathered together, and appoint one head. The Prophet shows here also what kind of assembling this will be which he mentions, which was to be this, they shall be gathered under the government of one king. For whenever God speaks of the restoration of the people, he ever calls the attention of the faithful to David: ‘David shall rule, there shall be one shepherd.’ Then one king and one head shall be among them. We now perceive the design of the Prophet.

But this passage clearly teaches, that the unity of men is of no account before God, except it originates from one head. Besides, it is well known that God set David over his ancient people until the coming of Christ. Now, then, the Church of the Lord is only rightly formed, when the true David rules over it; that is, when all with one consent obey Christ, and submit to his bidding, ( pendebunt ab ejus nutu hang on his nod:) and how Christ designs to rule in his Church, we know; for the scepter of his kingdom is the gospel. Hence, when Christ is honored with the obedience of faith, all things are safe; and this is the happy state of the Church, of which the Prophet now speaks. It seems, indeed, strange, that what is peculiar to God should be transferred to men that is, to appoint a king. But the Prophet has, by this expression, characterized the obedience of faith; for it is not enough that Christ should be given as a king, and set over men, unless they also embrace him as their king, and with reverence receive him. We now learn, that when we believe the gospel we choose Christ for our king, as it were, by a voluntary consent.

He afterwards subjoins, They shall ascend from the land. He expresses more than at the beginning of the verse; for he says, that God would restore them from exile to their own country. He then promises what was very necessary, that exile would be no hindrance to God to renew his Church; for it was the people’s ruin to be removed far from their country, and consequently to be deprived of their promised inheritance during their dispersion among heathen nations. The Lord then takes away this difficulty, and distinctly declares, that though for a time they should be as wholly destroyed, they shall yet come again to their own land. They shall, therefore, ascend (this is said with regard to Judea, for it is higher than Chaldea) they shall, therefore, ascend from Chaldea and other places in which they had been dispersed. We now understand what the Prophet means by saying, Gathered together shall be the children of Israel and the children of Judah that is, into one body; and further, they shall appoint for themselves one head. This is the manner of the gathering; and it must be also added, that the Church then obeys God, when all, from the first to the last, consent to one head: for it is not enough to be constrained, unless all willingly offer themselves to Christ; as it is said Psa 110:3, “There shall be a willing people in the day in which the King will call his own.’ Then the Prophet intended to express the obedience of faith, which the faithful will render to Christ, when the Lord shall restore them.

And they shall ascend, he says, from the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel. It may be asked, why does he here call the day of Jezreel great; for it seems contrary to prophecy? This passage may be explained in two ways. Great shall be the day of Jezreel, some say, because God will sow the people whom he had before scattered. So they think that the Prophet, as in a former instance, alludes to the word, Jezreel. But the sense seems to me to be another. I do not restrict this clause to the last, nor to the promise, but apply it to the slaughter which has been before mentioned; for they correspond with one another. They shall ascend from the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel. The Israelites were as yet resting in their nests, and thought that they could not by any means be torn away; besides, the kingdom of Judah did not then fear a near destruction. The Prophet, therefore, intimates here, that there would be a need of some signal and extraordinary remedy; for it shall be the severe and dreadful slaughter in the day of Jezreel. We now perceive the real meaning of the Prophet, They shall ascend from the land; for 8 great shall be the day of Jezreel

They might, indeed, have otherwise objected, and said, “Why dost thou thus prophesy to us about ascending? What is this ascending? Do we not rest quietly in the inheritance which God formerly promised to our fathers? What meanest thou, then, by this ascending?” The Prophet here rouses them, and reminds them that they had no reason to trust in their now quiet state, as wine settled on its lees; and this very similitude is even used in another place, (Jer 48:11.) The Prophet here declares, that there would be a most dreadful slaughter, which would call for the signal mercy of God; for he would in a wonderful manner restore the people, and draw them out like the dead from their graves: for great then shall be the day of Jezreel; that is, “As the calamity which the Lord shall bring on you will be grievous and dreadful, I do not in vain promise to you this return and ascending.” This seems to be really the meaning of the Prophet.

Defender: Hos 1:2 - Hosea Hosea (meaning "salvation," essentially the same name as that of Joshua, or Jesus) is, in his prophetic actions, to be made essentially a living type ...

Hosea (meaning "salvation," essentially the same name as that of Joshua, or Jesus) is, in his prophetic actions, to be made essentially a living type of Christ, especially in His nature as Jehovah, the spiritual "husband" of Israel. Hosea's prophecy was directed especially toward unfaithful Israel, the ten-tribe northern kingdom, but it continued even after Israel was carried into captivity, warning Judah as well.

Defender: Hos 1:2 - wife of whoredoms In his real-life portrayal of the relation of Jehovah to Israel, Hosea was led by God to love and marry Gomer, who was a harlot both before and after ...

In his real-life portrayal of the relation of Jehovah to Israel, Hosea was led by God to love and marry Gomer, who was a harlot both before and after the marriage. Gomer thus typifies the spiritual harlotry of Israel, serving other gods instead of the true God. As always, spiritual adultery first countenances, then promotes, physical immorality. God's chosen people had descended into the same moral morass as the pagan nations whose gods they had begun to follow."

Defender: Hos 1:5 - valley of Jezreel Jezreel (meaning "God scatters") was of the tribe of Judah (1Ch 4:3). However, there was more than one region called Jezreel in Israel. This particula...

Jezreel (meaning "God scatters") was of the tribe of Judah (1Ch 4:3). However, there was more than one region called Jezreel in Israel. This particular prophecy was fulfilled first when Jehu slew the sons of Ahab in Jezreel (2Ki 10:1-14), and then when Shallum slew Zachariah, the descendant of Jehu, eliminating the dynasty of Jehu after four generations (2Ki 10:30; 2Ki 15:10-12), thus finally "aveng[ing] the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu" (Hos 1:4)."

Defender: Hos 1:6 - Lo-ruhamah Hosea's first son by his "wife of whoredoms" was Jezreel, named after the bloody slaughter at Jezreel which had initiated the dynasty of Jehu, soon to...

Hosea's first son by his "wife of whoredoms" was Jezreel, named after the bloody slaughter at Jezreel which had initiated the dynasty of Jehu, soon to be ended. His daughter then was named Lo-ruhamah, meaning "Not to be pitied," symbolizing God's imminent judgment on unfaithful Israel."

Defender: Hos 1:9 - Lo-ammi Gomer's second son was Lo-ammi, meaning "Not my people," indicating the coming exile of Israel to Assyria and ultimately all over the world."

Gomer's second son was Lo-ammi, meaning "Not my people," indicating the coming exile of Israel to Assyria and ultimately all over the world."

Defender: Hos 1:10 - numbered God's original promise to Abraham (Gen 22:17) must still be fulfilled, and both the "children of Judah and the children of Israel" will be gathered to...

God's original promise to Abraham (Gen 22:17) must still be fulfilled, and both the "children of Judah and the children of Israel" will be gathered together in the last days (Hos 1:1)."

TSK: Hos 1:1 - word // Hosea // in // Uzziah word : Jer 1:2, Jer 1:4; Eze 1:3; Joe 1:1; Jon 1:1; Zec 1:1; Joh 10:35; 2Pe 1:21 Hosea : Rom 9:25, Osee in : Isa 1:1; Mic 1:1 Uzziah : 2Ki 14:16-29, 2...

word : Jer 1:2, Jer 1:4; Eze 1:3; Joe 1:1; Jon 1:1; Zec 1:1; Joh 10:35; 2Pe 1:21

Hosea : Rom 9:25, Osee

in : Isa 1:1; Mic 1:1

Uzziah : 2Ki 14:16-29, 2Ki 15:1, 2Ki 15:2, 2Ki 15:32, 16:1-20, 18:1-37; 2Chr. 26:1-32:33

TSK: Hos 1:2 - beginning // Go // a wife // children // for beginning : Mar 1:1 Go : Hos 3:1; Isa 20:2, Isa 20:3; Jer 13:1-11; Ezek. 4:1-5:17 a wife : That is, says Apb. Newcome, a wife from among the Israelite...

beginning : Mar 1:1

Go : Hos 3:1; Isa 20:2, Isa 20:3; Jer 13:1-11; Ezek. 4:1-5:17

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, 16:1-63, 23:1-49; Rev 17:1, Rev 17:2, Rev 17:5

TSK: Hos 1:3 - -- Isa 8:1-3

TSK: Hos 1:4 - Call // Jezreel // and I // avenge // will cause Call : Hos 1:6, Hos 1:9; Isa 7:14, Isa 9:6; Mat 1:21; Luk 1:13, Luk 1:31, Luk 1:63; Joh 1:42 Jezreel : יזרעאל [Strong’ s H3157], God will...

Call : Hos 1:6, Hos 1:9; Isa 7:14, Isa 9:6; Mat 1:21; Luk 1:13, Luk 1:31, Luk 1:63; Joh 1:42

Jezreel : יזרעאל [Strong’ s H3157], God will disperse, as seed is when sown; probably intimating also the speedy dispersion of Israel by Shalmaneser.

and I : 2Ki 9:24, 2Ki 9:25, 2Ki 10:7, 2Ki 10:8, 2Ki 10:10,2Ki 10:11, 2Ki 10:17, 2Ki 10:29-31, 2Ki 15:10-12

avenge : Heb. visit, Hos 2:13, Hos 9:17; Jer 23:2

will cause : 2Ki 15:29, 17:6-23, 2Ki 18:9-12; 1Ch 5:25, 1Ch 5:26; Jer 3:8; Eze 23:10,Eze 23:31

TSK: Hos 1:5 - I will // in I will : Hos 2:18; Psa 37:15, Psa 46:9; Jer 49:34, Jer 49:35, Jer 51:56 in : Jos 17:16; Jdg 6:33

TSK: Hos 1:6 - Loruhamah // for // no more have Loruhamah : that is, Not having obtained mercy, Hos 2:23; 1Pe 2:10 for : 2Ki 17:6, 23-41; Isa 27:11 no more have : Heb. not add any more to have. but...

Loruhamah : that is, Not having obtained mercy, Hos 2:23; 1Pe 2:10

for : 2Ki 17:6, 23-41; Isa 27:11

no more have : Heb. not add any more to have. but I will utterly take them away. or, that I should altogether pardon them. Hos 9:15-17

TSK: Hos 1:7 - I will // will save // by bow I will : Hos 11:12; 2Ki 19:35; Isa. 36:1-37:38 will save : Isa 7:14, Isa 12:2, Isa 49:6; Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6; Zec 2:6-11, Zec 4:6, Zec 9:9, Zec 9:10; M...

TSK: Hos 1:9 - Loammi Loammi : that is, Not my people, Jer 15:1

Loammi : that is, Not my people, Jer 15:1

TSK: Hos 1:10 - the number // and it // in the // it was said // Ye are the sons the number : Gen 13:16, Gen 32:12; Isa 48:19; Rom 9:27, Rom 9:28; Heb 11:12 and it : Rom 9:25, Rom 9:26 in the : or, instead of that it was said : Hos...

the number : Gen 13:16, Gen 32:12; Isa 48:19; Rom 9:27, Rom 9:28; Heb 11:12

and it : Rom 9:25, Rom 9:26

in the : or, instead of that

it was said : Hos 2:23; Isa 43:6, Isa 49:17-22, Isa 54:1-3, 60:4-22, Isa 66:20; 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 2:10

Ye are the sons : Joh 1:12; Rom 8:14-17, Rom 9:26; 2Co 6:18; Gal 4:6, Gal 4:7; 1Jo 3:1, 1Jo 3:2

TSK: Hos 1:11 - Then shall // the children of Judah // for Then shall : This seems to refer to the future conversion and restoration of the Jews and Israelites, under on head, Jesus Christ; so that there shall...

Then shall : This seems to refer to the future conversion and restoration of the Jews and Israelites, under on head, Jesus Christ; so that there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

the children of Judah : Hos 3:5, Isa 11:12, Isa 11:13; Jer 3:18, Jer 3:19, Jer 23:5-8, Jer 30:3, Jer 31:1-9, Jer 33:15-26; Jer 50:4, Jer 50:5, Jer 50:19; Eze 16:60-63, Eze 34:23, Eze 34:24, Eze 37:16-25; Mic 2:12, Mic 2:13; Zec 10:6-9; Rom 11:25, Rom 11:26

for : An allusion to the word Jezreel. God who sowed them among the nations in His wrath, shall reap and gather them in His mercy. See Hos 2:22, Hos 2:23; Psa 22:27-30, Psa 110:3; Rom 11:15

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Poole: Hos 1:1 - The word // The Lord // Came to Hosea // Hosea // The son of Beeri // In the days // Of Uzziah // Ozias // Joash // Israel The word or the command, and the thing commanded; or the prediction expressed in the very words God suggested by his Spirit to the prophet, and the ...

The word or the command, and the thing commanded; or the prediction expressed in the very words God suggested by his Spirit to the prophet, and the things too which are now foretold; for holy men of God spake as they were moved, &c., 2Pe 1:21 , and the things that were shortly to come to pass were revealed also, in the words of Rev 1:1 . Hosea shows the things, and speaks them in words which God hath suggested to him.

The Lord ; the Eternal , as the French, Jehovah, Heb., which expresseth the eternity and infinite being of our God, together with his sovereignty and absolute authority over all. This is expressly added, to give warning to the prophet, to command audience, attention, reverence, and submission in the hearers, and to intimate to them the certainty of execution if they repent not, and the certainty of performance of promise if they believe; for it is Jehovah who changeth not that speakest both.

Came to Hosea or was with him; as it came to him, so it did abide with him, made a deep impression upon his mind. Prophets were too backward, rather than overforward, to publish sad tidings to sinning people. Moses was unwilling to go to Pharaoh; Jeremiah pent up the word till it grew like fire in his bowels, too hot, and he could have no ease till he gave it vent. It is not unlikely the prophet Hosea intimates by this expression some such effect the word of God had on him; he was full of the prophetic Spirit, its motions were ever with him, and stirring within him.

Hosea a name that carrieth most comfortable news in the letter and signification of it, being the same with Joshua or Jesus; and his word or message from God to the good was comfortable, it was assurance both of preservation and salvation, as will appear in process of his prophecy.

The son of Beeri: though some would have this Beeri to be the same with Beerah, 1Ch 5:6 , it hath no probability, the names being different; beside that Beerah was carried captive by Tilgath-pilneser, and it is probable his family was carried away with him; or if Hosea had escaped his father’ s mishap, he would have given us at least some ground to believe by his words that he resented the unhappiness of his family in that respect; but we know the name of the prophet’ s father, we know not his tribe or country, or of what quality he was, where he lived, or when be died.

In the days i.e. during the reign, in the times; it is a Scripture expression of times.

Of Uzziah called Azariah, 2Ki 14:21 , and

Ozias Mat 1:8 ; the beginning of whose reign is very variously guessed at, and after all is left uncertain; but this is clear, that Jeroboam was contemporary with Uzziah, who began to reign in the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam: reckoning thence to the forty-first year of his reign, which was the last of Jeroboam, there will be fourteen years of Uzziah’ s reign in which Hosea prophesied; but if there was (as for aught I find there might be) some years of viceroyship in which Amaziah reigned with his father Joash, and the like between Jeroboam and his father, then a longer synchronism ariseth between Uzziah and Jeroboam, and a larger space of time for Hosea to prophesy in their days, which I search not into. Jotham; who succeeded Uzziah as governor, and judged the people while Uzziah, being a leper, was, according to the law, retired from conversing with men, and dwelt in a separate house, but retained the royal title and authority; but it is uncertain how many years this was. Some say fifteen years, others say four years (for we read, 2Ki 15:33 , that he reigned sixteen years; and in 2Ki 15:30 we have his twentieth year. Now the four here mentioned seem to be those years of his viceroyship, or government for Uzziah); yet others say his governor’ s power was of shorter date, and that Uzziah was struck with the plague of leprosy in the last year of his age and reign. This seems scarce consistent with the report of Jotham’ s being over the house of the king, judging the people; and the leper king dwelling in a separate house till the day of his death, 2Ki 15:5 2Ch 26:21 . They mistake, I think, who place this stroke of leprosy so late; and they do as much mistake who place it at the twenty-fifth of Uzziah, and make him a leper and seclude him twenty-seven years. Jotham hath the character of a good king, 1Ch 27:2,6 ; but he could not make his subjects good, 2Ch 27:2 . Ahaz; the worst son of a good father, yet the father of one of the best of kings. He sinned more in his distress, 2Ch 28:22 , and hastened God’ s judgments on him and his. Hezekiah; who reformed Judah, and walked so with God, that above any of the kings of Judah he was protected and rescued by the immediate hand of Heaven. How long Hosea prophesied in this king’ s reign appears not; but that he did prophesy a great while is most apparent, whether fifty, or sixty-five, or seventy, or seventy-five, or ninety years, which different computations have some to assert them, I determine not. Jeroboam; the great-grandson of Jehu, of whose greatness and sins you read 2Ki 14:24,25 ; he was of the religion of Jeroboam son of Nebat.

Joash whose story you meet with 2Ki 13:10 : though a great idolater, and reproved for it no doubt by Elisha, yet he gave a visit to the dying prophet, and with tears bewailed the public loss by Elisha’ s death, and by the prophet had a legacy given him, three victories over the Syrians; and more they should have been, had not Joash been sparing too much to his own great loss. I remember not any single visit so nobly and magnificently repaid.

Israel kingdom of the ten tribes, contradistinguished to Judah. By this then it appears Hosea was sent to prophesy against the sins of Israel, or the ten tribes, as well as against the sins of Judah; against Israel he prophesied during Jeroboam’ s times, (and afterward left them to their obstinacy,) but he continued to prophesy to Judah until his death.

Poole: Hos 1:2 - The beginning of the word of the Lord // beginning // The Lord // By Hosea // The Lord said // take unto thee // A wife of whoredoms // wife of whoredoms // Children of whoredoms // The land // Hath committed great whoredom // Departing from the Lord The beginning of the word of the Lord: this, say some, gives Hosea the precedence of all the prophets, which perhaps may be allowed to him among all ...

The beginning of the word of the Lord: this, say some, gives Hosea the precedence of all the prophets, which perhaps may be allowed to him among all the prophets that have written distinct books of their prophecies, but simply first of all the prophets he was not; in David’ s and Solomon’ s times we meet with Nathan and Ahijah the Shilonite. Or this

beginning may be, as our ordinary phrase, so soon as God spake, or at the very first of God’ s speaking, to Hosea, he commanded him to take such a wife, &c.

The Lord: see Hos 2:1 .

By Hosea in Hosea; denoting the impulse of the Spirit of prophecy, the internal motions and influence of the Spirit in the prophet: see Hos 1:1 .

The Lord said directed and commanded him: this was warrant to him, doing which otherwise was unseemly for a prophet to have done. Go,

take unto thee: this was, say some, done in vision, and was to be told to the people as other visions were: it was parabolically proposed to them, and this might be sufficient to convince the Jews, would they have considered it well, as David considered Nathan’ s parable. Others say it was really acted, and that the prophet did, as commanded, marry one who had been a strumpet, or that proved to be so after she was married. And though this would have been unseemly in the prophet, had he done it without this particular direction, now the scandal ceaseth, and it is very fit God be obeyed, and the prophet may with credit enough do what God had by his command made a necessary duty to him, and marry one known to be a lewd whore.

A wife of whoredoms an openly noted whore, a notorious one, so the Hebrew phrase,

wife of whoredoms as, a man of bloods, or man of sorrows; a woman of many whoredoms, and very lively emblem of idolatrous Israel.

Children of whoredoms either that, born of such a mother, are. as she, addicted to lewdness; or else, with the mother made his wife, he is to receive and maintain the children she had by her adulterers. And thus understood, it may lead our thoughts to God’ s rich mercy towards their ancestors, who were (Abraham himself not excepted) idolaters, when they dwelt on the other side the river, Jos 24:2,3 : yet God took them, and married them to himself, and did show wonderful kindness to them and theirs; all which is slighted and forgotten by their posterity, by you, O idolatrous Israelites! Or it may refer more expressly to what God did for Israel, when he brought them out of Egypt, and made covenant with them in Horeb, which was as a solemn espousing them to God. The Lord found them tainted with Egyptian idolatries, yet, as the prophet here, married them to himself, and covenanted with them to be faithful to him, but they broke the covenant.

The land i.e. the people of the land, intimating the universal spreading of this sin, all, or most of all, so infected.

Hath committed great whoredom: the phrase, Heb. playing the harlot hath played the harlot , speaks the continuance of this idolatry among them, as well as the greatness of the whoredom. From their forefathers they had been idolaters; while God was giving them his law (from the nuptial day to Hosea’ s time) they committed spiritual whoredom, and first made, next worshipped, the golden calf.

Departing from the Lord so they left their first Husband, and doted on adulterers, on idols, as Hos 2:5 .

Poole: Hos 1:3 - Gomer // The daughter of Diblaim // Bare him a son So he went and took Gomer; as commanded, so he did, whether you take it parabolically or literally. If you take it literally, this Gomer will be som...

So he went and took Gomer; as commanded, so he did, whether you take it parabolically or literally. If you take it literally, this Gomer will be some known harlot, and perhaps she was famous for her beauty, and skill in the courtesan’ s art, as her name may import. If you take it as a parable, we must take this name for a made name, assumed for its signification; both in the best sense Israel was perfect with the perfection which God did put upon her, Eze 16:14 , he made her

Gomer and in the worst sense she made herself Gomer , one who was drawing to her end, who had undone and consumed herself; thus the word, Psa 12:1 ; and so, in one word, God’ s bounty and mercy, and Israel’ s ingratitude and sin, is set forth, together with her punishment hastening upon her.

The daughter of Diblaim: literally understood, this Diblaim must be either father or mother of this Gomer, or else the name of the place where she was born. Parabolically understood, Diblaim, bunches of dried figs , may imply the deliciousness of her provision made of God, such as was made for great feasts, 1Sa 25:18 ; so 1Ch 12:40 : thus it will suit Hos 2:5,9 , and the places where the fig is mentioned as fruit with which God had blessed Israel. All which abused to luxury and sin, will now make her a daughter of Diblaim, of wilderness, desolate.

Bare him a son: this seems to favour the literal acceptation of all this as really done, and not only as represented in vision, parable, or hieroglyphic. But while either way it will be well applied to the purpose in hand, I shall leave it to the choice of every judicious reader to interpret and apply as best likes him.

Poole: Hos 1:4 - And the Lord said unto him // Jezreel // For // Yet a little while // Will avenge // The blood // Of Jezreel // Upon the house of Jehu And the Lord said unto him Hosea the prophet, who as in taking to wife an adulteress, so in giving name’ to his son by her, was to presignify I...

And the Lord said unto him Hosea the prophet, who as in taking to wife an adulteress, so in giving name’ to his son by her, was to presignify Israel’ s future calamities. Call his name, thy son now born,

Jezreel: the word is, The seed of the Lord , or, The arm of the Lord , or, The Lord will scatter ; so it may insinuate that God by his own arm will scatter among the people, i.e. the Assyrians, those who were his people or seed. But we have a surer guide to lead us through this, i.e. the history of what was by Jehu done in Jezreel; of which more presently.

For this is the reason why the prophet’ s son is so called.

Yet a little while: it was four generations of Jehu God promised the throne to, and now the third that is now running, how near to an end we know not, but are sure it was within twenty-eight years; for Jeroboam began his reign in the fifteenth of Amaziah, and so thirteen years of his forty-one are spent ere Uzziah comes to the throne, 2Ki 14:23 ; this according to one account: but 2Ki 15:1 accounteth Jeroboam’ s twenty-seventh to be the first of Uzziah, and then there are not above fourteen years to come; so little a while was this here spoken of, for in six months after Jeroboam’ s death Shallum conspired against Zachariah, and slew him, and reigned a month; so Jehu’ s seed was cast out of the throne.

Will avenge inquire after and punish these crimes, which were committed in Jezreel. Heb. I will visit , i.e. as a just and impartial judge I will require an account, and execute punishments.

The blood: murders committed are in Scripture expressed thus by blood: here are particularly meant the slaughters made by Jehu’ s hand or by his order, 2Ki 9:10,11 10:1-7 , in Jezreel, where he did with a treacherous mind, and aiming at his own greatness, destroy Ahab’ s house, and slew Ahaziah king of Judah also. This was the just judgment of God upon that wicked house by Jehu executed, but he did it not with that mind God required.

Of Jezreel the town which Ahab chose above others to dwell in, where the dogs licked up Ahab’ s blood, when his chariot was washed and cleansed of the blood of that slain king, and where dogs did eat Jezebel, as the prophet threatened, 1Ki 21:23 .

Upon the house of Jehu which had now possessed the throne (Jehu usurped) through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoash, and Jeroboam; but the usurper and his successors adhering to the idolatry of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and adding other sins to it, had now provoked God to declare a sudden extirpation of the family, which God will in his just revenge make as like to Jeroboam’ s family as Ahab’ s, and they had made themselves like them in sin; all which came to pass when Shallum, conspiring against Zachariah, slew him, 2Ki 15:10 . And will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel ; not immediately, but soon after the death of Zachariah, the kingdom of Israel did cease first to be free, for Menahem made it tributary to strengthen himself; so it is likely it continued for ten years during his life, and two years during his son Pekahiah’ s reign; after him Pekah the conspirator and murderer usurped the throne for twenty years, and probably was feudatory to Tiglath-pileser; to be sure Hoses was so, and in his ninth year this word was fulfilled in the letter of it, the kingdom of Israel, after one and forty years’ tottering, fell to utter ruin, and hath so continued to this day. Israel, or the ten tribes divided from the house of David.

Poole: Hos 1:5 - It shall come to pass // At that day // The bow // Of Israel // In the valley of Jezreel It shall come to pass most certainly this shall be effected. At that day when my vengeance hath overtaken the house of Jehu, when his great-great-g...

It shall come to pass most certainly this shall be effected.

At that day when my vengeance hath overtaken the house of Jehu, when his great-great-grandson shall be slain. I will break; weaken, and by degrees quite break, i.e. by the conspiracies, seditions, and civil wars which will arise among themselves.

The bow: this was a warlike weapon they much used and were skilful in; this one weapon put for all their warlike provision, power, and skill; possibly it may allude to the bow of Jehu, who slew Joram with an arrow, and usurped his throne, but now the bow of the house of Jehu and of Israel shall be broken.

Of Israel: see Hos 1:4 .

In the valley of Jezreel: next to Samaria, Jezreel was chief city of the ten tribes, a very strong and fortified town, and both situated in the large and pleasant valley that hath from Joshua’ s time been known by this name, valley of Jezreel, Jos 17:16 . In this valley it is probable the bloodiest battles in the civil wars were fought, between Zachariah and Shallum, 2Ki 15:10 , and between Shallum and Menahem, 2Ki 15:14 ; between Pekahiah and Pekah, 2Ki 15:25 , and Pekah and Hoshea; the reason whereof probably might be this, because whoever carried the victory in this place were soon masters of Samaria and Jezreel, and consequently carried the kingdom too.

Poole: Hos 1:6 - And she // conceived again // Lo-ruhamah // I will no more have mercy // Upon the house of Israel // I will utterly take them away And she Gomer, the hieroglyphic wife, who was to be a sign to Israel, conceived again whether visionary or really it comes to one, and bare a daugh...

And she Gomer, the hieroglyphic wife, who was to be a sign to Israel,

conceived again whether visionary or really it comes to one, and bare a daughter; which is to be a sign too, as was her mother. It is too nice which Ribera observes, that the state grew weaker, as appeared by the bringing forth of one of the weaker sex. This daughter was fit to be an emblem, and therefore it is a daughter rather than a son, though it will be next a son and no daughter. But

Lo-ruhamah is feminine, and in congruity of speech it must be a female who bears this name. God said unto him: as before God imposed, so now again he imposeth a name, signifying what he would do with Israel. Though God direct what it shall be, the prophet is to give the name. Lo-ruhamah, Not pitied . Israel’ s name had been through many ages Ruhamah, i.e. Pitied . God had with marvellous patience forborne them, and with tender bowels pitied them, and saved them from enemies, but now Israel should be no more pitied as formerly, God would throw them up to the rage of usurpers, and to the merciless hands of prosperous conspirators; so Menahem mercilessly ripped up women with child in Tiphsah, 2Ki 15:16 , and God gave up this bloody tyrant into the hand of Tiglath-pileser.

I will no more have mercy I was wont to add mercy unto mercy for Israel, I was never weary of showing them mercy, but I will do no more so for them; my pity saved them in Jeroboam’ s time, and raised them to a great height and glory, but now they shall, unpitied by me, sink lower and lower. Restraints of Divine pity are sure forerunners of destruction, Jer 13:14 .

Upon the house of Israel: this to me seems a qualifying of the former threat; though the house of Israel as a body politic, as a kingdom, under this character, shall no more be as it hath been, pitied, yet many among them may obtain mercy in the days of gospel grace, and many of them had mercy showed to them by the Lord, when they joined with Judah in the return from Babylon’ s captivity; but the whole house, the families of the ten tribes, united in a kingdom, shall no more be to God Ruhamah , but ever Lo-ruhamah . Thus it hath been through the long series of two thousand four hundred years and more.

I will utterly take them away taking away I will take away, till the whole kingdom is utterly overthrown, and removed out of the land wherein. it once had flourished. Thus some were taken away by the sword of civil wars, some ruined by oppression of the prevailing faction in those divided times, whole cities and all the land of Naphtali was taken away by Tiglath-pileser, 2Ki 15:29 , and at last all swept away by Shalmaneser, 2Ki 17:3-5 .

Poole: Hos 1:7 - But // Will have mercy on the house of Judah // And will save them // By the Lord their God // Will not save them by bow But , or And , or Yet . I ; the Lord, who threateneth Israel, proud, flourishing, secure, and sinful Israel: he promiseth mercy to poor, oppressed,...

But , or And , or Yet .

I ; the Lord, who threateneth Israel, proud, flourishing, secure, and sinful Israel: he promiseth mercy to poor, oppressed, and impoverished Judah.

Will have mercy on the house of Judah prolonging that kingdom one hundred and thirty-two years after Israel ceased to be a kingdom; preserving them from the combined powers of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who combine to destroy them; raising them up to greatness and glory in the reign of Hezekiah, in whose days the house of Judah was saved by a miracle: beside all these, Judah’ s captivity was for seventy years, Israel’ s for ever; Judah returned to their own land, Israel never did. By this, as the prophet would abate the pride of Israel, so possibly he would secretly direct the best among Israel whither to go to find mercy. Judah; including Benjamin, and such of the Levites as adhered constant to God’ s law and worship, and as many of the other tribes as renounced the calves, Baal, and all idolatrous worship, and worship God alone as he required, all these, in this case, are included in Judah, and so we find many such returning with Judah.

And will save them preserve, that violence do not swallow them up, nor length of captivity wear them out; and this preserved remnant shall return and be planted in their own land, and there kept in safety. This promise does seem to point out such temporal salvation, but as a type of a far better and more glorious salvation.

By the Lord their God either by Messiah, who is the Lord and their God, or by God himself, as their God, whom they did not, as Israel, forsake utterly. This passage bids us look to that extraordinary miraculous deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem: see Isa 37:36 2Ki 18:13 2Ch 32:1 .

Will not save them by bow & c.: here God removeth all force and might, whether their own or their allies’ , all that might eclipse the glory of God in this salvation. Now this was very fully performed in Hezekiah’ s time, when Sennacherib’ s army was cut off in one night by an angel, Isa 37:35,36 : and in Cyrus’ s time and Darius’ s the captive Jews saw it was not by power nor by might, but the Lord saved them; so should it be here, as Psa 44:5,6 Isa 43:7,15 Zec 4:6 .

Poole: Hos 1:8 - Bare a son Though some wrest the words to an allegorical sense, I think the prophet keeps the decorum in the similitude, and therefore, as women ordinarily con...

Though some wrest the words to an allegorical sense, I think the prophet keeps the decorum in the similitude, and therefore, as women ordinarily conceive not whilst they give suck, so this Gomer weaned her daughter ere she conceived the son which is to be an emblem of the final rejection of the ten tribes.

Bare a son to be a third sign to this incorrigible and self-undoing kingdom.

Poole: Hos 1:9 - Then said God to the prophet // Call his name // Lo-ammi, Not my people // For ye // Are not my people // I will not be your God Then said God to the prophet as before, Hos 1:4,6 . Call his name the name of his new-born son, the sign or type of the ten tribes, who had rejecte...

Then said God to the prophet as before, Hos 1:4,6 .

Call his name the name of his new-born son, the sign or type of the ten tribes, who had rejected God, and would not be reclaimed.

Lo-ammi, Not my people though once you were a peculiar people, you are so no more in my account, you are cast off as you deserved.

For ye the whole house of apostate Israel, who first cast off the house of David and my temple, and at last rejected me, that I should not be your God.

Are not my people though circumcised, . yet have you cast off my covenant, you neither worship me, nor come up to my temple, nor keep my law; Baal, the calves, and the idols of your neighbours are your gods; ye are their people: ye are neither mine as to the civil constitution, you made you kings, and I knew it not, Hos 8:4 , without my leave or liking; nor as to church constitution are ye mine, for your whole worship is the politic contrivance of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. You have forgotten your Maker, and build temples, Hos 8:14 : ye count the great things of my law strange things to you; I must count you strangers to me.

I will not be your God to protect you against dangers and enemies, or to replenish you with blessings, the fruits of my wonted goodness, or to pity you when you do either want or smart, or to counsel you in difficulties, or to hear your cries, or pardon your sins, or accept an offering at your hand; as you have long and lang refused me, and I have tried all ways to prevent your final self-undoing obstinacy, so now I do for ever reject you, O house of Israel, and will be a God to you no more than to any of the heathen nations. This God executed when he gave them up into the hands of Shalmaneser, who sent them where none now can find them; they are lost to men, they know not where they are; they are lost to God, he loves not nor careth for them.

Poole: Hos 1:10 - Yet // The number of the children of Israel // Shall be as the sand of the sea // It shall come to pass // Ye are not my people // There it shall be said // Ye are the sons // Of the living God Yet: this may anticipate the carnal Israel’ s objection, that thus God would fail of his word to Abraham, or he would lose his people. Nothing s...

Yet: this may anticipate the carnal Israel’ s objection, that thus God would fail of his word to Abraham, or he would lose his people. Nothing so, yet, though ten tribes be for ever captivated, God will have his Israel.

The number of the children of Israel not Israel after the flesh, not those very persons, families that are carried captive, (though for aught I know, or any can tell to the contrary, these may be so increased for Abraham’ s sake,) but the Israel of God according to the faith, the spiritual seed of Abraham, consisting both of Jews and Gentiles.

Shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured nor numbered; innumerable, expressed by an elegant proverbial speech, alluding to the immenseness of the sands, Isa 10:22,23 Ro 9:27 .

It shall come to pass the time is fixed, and the thing shall certainly be, God will bring it about in his time. In the place: as we read it, it is plain that in those places or countries where a people dwelt who knew not God, were not his people, there should be a people that should both be called and be his people; the heathen should be called into the church, and in every place God should have his people. Or else thus: Instead of being called the people of God, you shall be called the children; so blessed a change, that who were once far off, and not a people, shall now be more than people, they shall be children. Where it was said unto them , the Gentiles and Jews unconverted.

Ye are not my people in the state of unconverted ones, are far from God, without his covenant, and no people.

There it shall be said known, declared, men shall confess it, God will own it himself, and make it known to others.

Ye are the sons grace shall be enlarged, your relation nearer and sweeter, you shall be sons, not servants, have communion with God as with your father; and this shall be the common or equal privilege of this whole Israel of God. This is fulfilled in the kingdom of the Messiah under the gospel, as the apostle argueth it, Rom 9:25,26 .

Of the living God who is the fountain of life to all his children, and who giveth them lively affections to serve him, to offer living sacrifices to the living God. So are we called, Rom 12:1,2 1Th 1:9 .

Poole: Hos 1:11 - Then // The children of Judah // The children of Israel // Be gathered together // Appoint themselves one head // Out of the land // For great This verse without doubt hath in it both an historical sense and a mystical or spiritual sense; it looketh somewhat to the return out of the Babylon...

This verse without doubt hath in it both an historical sense and a mystical or spiritual sense; it looketh somewhat to the return out of the Babylonish captivity, and to their settling in Canaan; but it looketh further to a more glorious deliverance from a more miserable captivity.

Then in the type and history, when the Babylonish captivity is dissolved, and the captives are loosed.

The children of Judah the children of the two tribes, who adhered to the house of David, who were carried captives, but under promise of a redemption from it.

The children of Israel some of the ten tribes who either went over to and did incorporate with the kingdom of Judah, and so were carried captives with them; or some of the ten tribes which the children of Judah found in the kingdom of Babylon, which having swallowed up the Assyrian monarchy, now the ten tribes were captives to their conquering sword. Thus in type, but it is spiritually and mystically to be understood of the whole Israel of God, Jew and Gentile, redeemed by and converted to Christ, in the day of his power.

Be gathered together by the power of God, by the decree Of Cyrus, by each other, heartening one another to return; so the type: in the antitype, shall be gathered together by the Spirit of God, the preaching of the gospel, and mutual instruction, exhortation, and encouragements of each other

Appoint themselves one head Zerubbabel in type, who was appointed by Cyrus, yet with full approbation of the people, putting themselves under his conduct, to carry them up to Jerusalem. But in the antitype Christ, appointed by the Father Head of his church, whom believers, heartily accepting, may in large sense be said to appoint to themselves.

Out of the land literally, out of Babylon; spiritually, out of captivity of sill and Satan.

For great good, joyous, and comfortable,

shall be the day of Jezreel of the seed or people of God, the sons of God once dispersed, but now gathered by the gospel.

PBC: Hos 1:2 - Now // Go, take thee a wife of whoredoms, for, if thou shouldest go to seek for an honest modest woman, thou wouldst not find any such, for the whole land, and all the people of it, are given to whoredom, the usual concomitant of idolatry. In the book of Hosea we see the heart of God, but we see the heart of God broken and crushed by the sin and the rebellion, the infidelity and the adul...

In the book of Hosea we see the heart of God, but we see the heart of God broken and crushed by the sin and the rebellion, the infidelity and the adultery of His wife. " Hosea, you’re my man, you’ve got the message but you can’t deliver the message with the passion and the conviction that I feel until you have experienced a parallel in the finite of what I have experienced in the infinite." That’s what God is saying.

The biography, the life of this man is to live out in literal experience a mirror image of what God is doing with His people and how God feels with His people. We don’t always follow a consistent pattern -here’s the life of Hosea and here’s the heartbreak of God. It’s mixed back and forth. Sometimes Hosea speaks as God concerning Israel -even in the first three chapters and sometimes he speaks as Hosea, heartbroken over Gomer.

I think in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia recording it’s comments on this book says that the words of Hosea drip from his pen as the sobs of a heartbroken man and in fact of a heartbroken God over the sin of His people. That’s the setting of the book.

E. K. Bailey made a powerful comment, " Hosea, you have the right message but you don’t have the right heart. Until you have suffered heartbreak by one you love dearly you will not be equipped to deliver My message unto My people. So, Hosea here’s what I need you to do -marry a prostitute." But, there’s a message here- it’s a powerful message. The man of God must understand the broken heart of God before he can preach to people who have broken the heart of God. That’s the point of the message. In the message Bailey makes a powerful comment, " Hosea must learn to trust the heart of God even when he cannot trace the hand of God." That’s what Hosea had to learn. That’s what faith is about. That’s what this lesson -this whole chapter in Heb 11:1-40 is about. You may think today that everything in your whole world is coming up roses. Everything is just right. Sooner or later there will be a cloud in your life and your parade will be rained on. Can you then in the middle of the rainstorm trust the heart of God? That’s what this is about- evidence that will stand up under cross examination. ***********************************************************************

The prophet must, as it were in a looking-glass, show them their sin, and show it to be exceedingly sinful, exceedingly hateful. The prophet is ordered to take unto him a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, Ho 1:2. And he did so, Ho 1:3. He married a woman of ill fame, Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, not one that had been married and had committed adultery, for then she must have been put to death, but one that had lived scandalously in the single state. To marry such a one was not malum in se-evil in itself, but only malum per accidens-incidentally an evil, not prudent, decent, or expedient, and therefore forbidden to the priests, and which, if it were really done, would be an affliction to the prophet (it is threatened as a curse on Amaziah that his wife should be a harlot, Am 7:17), but not a sin when God commanded it for a holy end; nay, if commanded, it was his duty, and he must trust God with his reputation. But most commentators think that it was done in vision, or that it is no more than a parable; and that was a way of teaching commonly used among the ancients, particularly prophets; what they meant of others they transferred to themselves in a figure, as St. Paul speaks, 1Co 4:6. He must take a wife of whoredoms, and have such children by her as every one would suspect, though born in wedlock, to be children of whoredoms, begotten in adultery, because it is too common for those who have lived lewdly in the single state to live no better in the married state.

" Now" (saith God) " Hosea, this people is to me such a dishonour, and such a grief and vexation, as a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms would be to thee. For the land has committed great whoredoms."

In all instances of wickedness they had departed from the Lord; but their idolatry especially is the whoredom they are here charged with. Giving that glory to any creature which is due to God alone is such an injury and affront to God as for a wife to embrace the bosom of a stranger is to her husband. It is especially so in those that have made a profession of religion, and have been taken into covenant with God; it is breaking the marriage-bond; it is a heinous odious sin, and, as much as any thing, besots the mind and takes away the heart. Idolatry is great whoredom, worse than any other; it is departing from the Lord, to whom we lie under greater obligations than any wife does or can do to her husband. The land has committed whoredom; it is not here and there a particular person that is guilty of idolatry, but the whole land is polluted with it; the sin has become national, the disease epidemical. What an odious thing would it be for the prophet, a holy man, to have a whorish wife, and children whorish like her! What an exercise would it be of his patience, and, if she persisted in it, what could be expected but that he should give her a bill of divorce! And is it not then much more offensive to the holy God to have such a people as this to be called by his name and have a place in his house? How great is his patience with them! And how justly may he cast them off! It was as if he should have married Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, who probably was at that time a noted harlot. The land of Israel was like Gomer the daughter of Diblaim. Gomer signifies corruption; Diblaim signifies two cakes, or lumps of figs; this denotes that Israel was near to ruin, and that their luxury and sensuality were the cause of it. They were as the evil figs {Jer 24:8} that could not be eaten, they were so evil. It intimates sin to be the daughter of plenty and destruction the daughter of the abuse of plenty. Some give this sense of the command here given to the prophet:

" Go, take thee a wife of whoredoms, for, if thou shouldest go to seek for an honest modest woman, thou wouldst not find any such, for the whole land, and all the people of it, are given to whoredom, the usual concomitant of idolatry." from Matthew Henry commentary

PBC: Hos 1:10 - -- The apostle Paul quotes this verse or this passage in Ro 9:1-33. Make a note and study in the book of Romans. You’ll find the reality of what Hosea ...

The apostle Paul quotes this verse or this passage in Ro 9:1-33. Make a note and study in the book of Romans. You’ll find the reality of what Hosea clearly predicts- Israel (the Northern kingdom) will cease to exist, never again to be raised up. But God’s promise of a perpetual seed in His name and from His people will be honored in another people, through another nation. When you go to Ro 9:1-33 and context you’ll discover that no longer is the fulfillment of God’s promise for a Davidic king and a people of worship and faithfulness will be Jews but it will be Gentiles. This is all pure, and it stands out.

Haydock: Hos 1:1 - Israel Israel. He reigned forty-one years, till the year of the world 3220. (Usher) --- The prophets usually give the date, that the prediction may be ve...

Israel. He reigned forty-one years, till the year of the world 3220. (Usher) ---

The prophets usually give the date, that the prediction may be verified. Some Latin manuscripts intimate, that "the Jews attribute these titles to Esdras, (who is Malachias) or to the respective prophets, which is more probable." (St. Jerome, t. i.) ---

Jeroboam II died twenty-six years before Ozias, towards the end of whose reign Isaias commenced; so that Osee was more ancient. (Worthington)

Haydock: Hos 1:2 - Fornications // Of fornications // Shall Fornications. That is, a wife that hath been given to fornication. This was to represent the Lord's proceedings with his people Israel, who, by spi...

Fornications. That is, a wife that hath been given to fornication. This was to represent the Lord's proceedings with his people Israel, who, by spiritual fornication, were continually offending him. (Challoner) ---

The prophet reclaimed her. (St. Jerome) ---

She denoted Samaria, abandoned to idolatry, Ezechiel xvi. 15. Several such actions were prophetical. Many have supposed that this was only a parable; but the sequel proves the contrary. (Calmet) ---

Of fornications. So called from the character of the mother, if not also from their own wicked dispositions. (Challoner) ---

He is ordered to marry a woman who had been of a loose character, and to have children who would resemble her; (Worthington) or he takes her children to his house; (Grotius) unless the children of the prophet were so styled because the mother had been given to fornication. So the rod of Aaron retains its name when it was become a serpent, Exodus vii. 12. ---

Shall, or rather, "has departed;" and therefore he denounces future chastisements.

Haydock: Hos 1:4 - Jezrahel Jezrahel. Jehu slew Joram in this place. He was the instrument of God's justice, yet acted himself through malice and ambition, and was therefore d...

Jezrahel. Jehu slew Joram in this place. He was the instrument of God's justice, yet acted himself through malice and ambition, and was therefore deservedly punished. Zacharias, the fourth of his family, lost the crown, and was slain by Sellum, at Jezrahel, 4 Kings ix., &c. (Calmet) ---

The offspring of Jehu, now on the throne, solicited Jezrahel or the ten tribes to idolatry, which God will revenge. (Worthington)

Haydock: Hos 1:6 - Without mercy. Lo Ruchamah Without mercy. Lo Ruchamah. (Challoner) --- Some copies of Septuagint and St. Paul read, "not beloved," Romans ix. 25. Samaria shall surely peris...

Without mercy. Lo Ruchamah. (Challoner) ---

Some copies of Septuagint and St. Paul read, "not beloved," Romans ix. 25. Samaria shall surely perish. After the death of Jeroboam II, the kingdom was all in confusion, and in sixty-two years time became extinct. It was afterwards blended with Juda.

Haydock: Hos 1:7 - Horsemen Horsemen. Sennacherib was miraculously disconcerted. Juda returned form captivity and became more flourishing, giving birth to the Messias. (Calme...

Horsemen. Sennacherib was miraculously disconcerted. Juda returned form captivity and became more flourishing, giving birth to the Messias. (Calmet)

Haydock: Hos 1:9 - Not my people. Lohammi Not my people. Lohammi. (Challoner) --- The kingdom of Israel seemed to be quite cast off; and in captivity it was hardly distinguished from other...

Not my people. Lohammi. (Challoner) ---

The kingdom of Israel seemed to be quite cast off; and in captivity it was hardly distinguished from other nations. Juda was preserved longer, and at all times was under the divine protection. Ezechiel, Daniel, &c., comforted the people in the worst of their afflictions. (Calmet)

Haydock: Hos 1:10 - The number // God The number, &c., viz., of the true Israelites, the children of the Church of Christ. (Challoner) --- This is the primary sense, Romans ix. 25. Yet...

The number, &c., viz., of the true Israelites, the children of the Church of Christ. (Challoner) ---

This is the primary sense, Romans ix. 25. Yet the Israelites are here also assured of their return from captivity. (Calmet) ---

God. Among many sinners, some are chosen. (Worthington)

Haydock: Hos 1:11 - Head // Jezrahel // For Head; Christ, (Challoner) the head of all the faithful, (Worthington) consisting both of Jews and Gentiles. Israel and Juda returned under Zorobabel...

Head; Christ, (Challoner) the head of all the faithful, (Worthington) consisting both of Jews and Gentiles. Israel and Juda returned under Zorobabel, &c. (Calmet) ---

The prophets blend present and future transactions together. (St. Jerome in chap. iii.) ---

Jezrahel. That is, of the seed of God; for Jezrahel signifies the seed of God. (Challoner) ---

For may also be rendered, "when or though." The seed of Jehu shall be exterminated. The kingdom, signified by Jezrahel, a great city, shall fall. (Calmet)

Gill: Hos 1:1 - The word of the Lord that came unto 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 The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea,.... Whose name is the same with Joshua and Jesus, and signifies a saviour; he was in some things a type of ...

The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea,.... Whose name is the same with Joshua and Jesus, and signifies a saviour; he was in some things a type of Christ the Saviour, and prophesied of him, and salvation by him; and was the instrument and means of saving men, as all true prophets were, and faithful ministers of the word are: to him the word of the Lord, revealing his mind and will, was brought by the Spirit of God, and impressed upon his mind; and it was committed to him to be delivered unto others. This is the general title of the whole book, showing the divine original and authority of it:

the son of Beeri; which is added to distinguish him from another of the same name; and perhaps his father's name was famous in Israel, and therefore mentioned. The Jews have a rule, that where a prophet's father's name is mentioned, it shows that he was the son of a prophet; but this is not to be depended upon; and some of them say that this is the same with Beerah, a prince of the Reubenites, who was carried captive by Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, 1Ch 5:6, but the name is different; nor does the chronology seem so well to agree with him; and especially he cannot be the father of Hosea, if he was of the tribe of Issachar, as some have affirmed:

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; from whence it appears that Hosea prophesied long, and lived to a great age; for from the last year of Jeroboam, which was the fifteenth of Uzziah, to the first of Hezekiah, must be sixty nine years; for Jeroboam reigned forty one years, and in the twenty seventh of his reign began Uzziah or Azariah to reign over Judah, and he reigned fifty two years, 2Ki 14:23, so that Uzziah reigned thirty seven years after the death of Jeroboam, through which time Hosea prophesied; Jotham after him reigned sixteen years, and so many reigned Ahaz, 2Ki 15:23, so that without reckoning any part, either of Jeroboam's reign, or Hezekiah's, he must prophesy sixty nine years, and, no doubt, did upwards of seventy, very probably eighty, the Jews say ninety; and allowing him to be twenty four or five years of age when he begun to prophesy, or only twenty (for it is certain he was at an age fit to marry, as appears by the prophecy), he: must live to be upwards of a hundred years; and in all probability he lived to see not only part of Israel carried captive by Tiglathpileser, which is certain; but the entire destruction of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser, which he prophesied of. Jeroboam king of Israel is mentioned last, though prior to these kings of Judah; because Hosea's prophecy is chiefly against Israel, and began in his reign, when they were in a flourishing condition. It appears from hence that Isaiah, Amos, and Micah, were contemporary with him; see Isa 1:1, within this compass of time Hosea prophesied lived Lycurgus the famous lawgiver of the Lacedemonians, and Hesiod the Greek poet; and Rome began to be built.

Gill: Hos 1:2 - The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea // and the Lord said to Hosea, go, take thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms // for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea,.... Or "in Hosea" i; which was internally revealed to him, and was inspired into him, by the Holy Ghos...

The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea,.... Or "in Hosea" i; which was internally revealed to him, and was inspired into him, by the Holy Ghost, who first spoke in him, and then by him; not that Hosea was the first of the prophets to whom the word of the Lord came; for there were Moses, Samuel, David, and others, before him; nor the first of the minor prophets, for Jonah, Joel, and Amos; are by some thought to be before him; nor the first of those contemporary with him, as the Jewish writers interpret it, which is not certain, at least not all of them; but the meaning is, that what follows is the first part of his prophecy, or what it began with; by which it appears he was put upon hard service at first, to prophesy against Israel, an idolatrous people, and to do it in such a manner as must be disagreeable to a young man:

and the Lord said to Hosea, go, take thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms; a woman given to whoredom, a notorious strumpet, one taken out of the stews, and children that were spurious and illegitimate, not born in lawful wedlock. Some think this was really done; that the prophet took a whore, and cohabited with her, or married her which, though forbidden a high priest, was not forbid to a prophet; and had it been against a law, yet the Lord commanding it made it lawful, as in the cases of Abraham's slaying his son, and the Israelites borrowing jewels of the Egyptians; but this seems not likely, since it would not only look like countenancing whoredom, which is contrary to the holy law of God; but must be very dishonourable to the prophet, and render him contemptible to the people; and, besides, would not answer the end proposed, to reprove the spiritual adultery or idolatry of Israel, but rather serve to confirm in it; for how should that appear criminal and abominable to them, which was commanded the prophet by the Lord? others think that the woman he is bid to marry, though before marriage a harlot, was afterwards reformed; but this is directly contrary to Hos 3:1 and besides, the children born of her, whether reformed or not, yet in lawful wedlock could not be called children of whoredom; nor would the above end be answered by it, since such a person would be no fit representative of Israel committing spiritual adultery or idolatry, and continuing in it; and moreover, whether this or the former was the case, the prophecy must be many years delivering; it must be near a year before the first child was born, and the same space must be between the birth of each; so that here must be a long and frequent interruption of the prophecy, which does not seem likely: nor is it probable that he took his own wife, which is the opinion of others, and gave her the character of a whore, and his children with her, and called them children of whoredom, in order to represent and reprove the idolatry of Israel: what Maimonides k, and the Jewish writers in general, give into, is more agreeable, that this was all done in the vision of prophecy; that it so seemed to the prophet in vision to be really done, and so he related it to the people; but this is liable to objection, that such an impure scene of things should be represented to the mind of the prophet by the Holy Spirit of God; nor can the relation of it be thought to have any good effect upon the people, who would be ready to mock at him, and reproach him for it. It seems best therefore to understand the whole as a parable, and that the prophet, in a parabolical way, is bid to represent the treachery, unfaithfulness, and spiritual adultery of the people of Israel, under the feigned name of an unchaste woman, and of children begotten in fornication; and to show unto them that their case was as if he had taken a woman out of the stews, and her bastards with her; or as if a wife married by him had defiled his bed, and brought him a spurious brood of children. So the Targum interprets it,

"go, prophesy a prophecy against the inhabitants of the idolatrous city, who add to sin:''

for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord; or

"for the inhabitants of the land erring, erred from the worship of the Lord,''

as the Targum; that is, the inhabitants of the land of Israel have committed idolatry, which is often in Scripture signified by adultery and whoredom; as an adulterous woman deals treacherously with her husband, so these people had dealt with God, who stood in such a relation to them; see Jer 3:1, this interprets the parable, and shows the reason of using the following symbols and emblems.

Gill: Hos 1:3 - So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim // which conceived and bare him a son So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim,.... In the course of prophesying he made mention of this person, who was a notorious common strumpe...

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim,.... In the course of prophesying he made mention of this person, who was a notorious common strumpet; and suggested hereby that they were just like her; or these were fictitious names he used to represent their case by Gomer signifies both "consummation" and "consumption" l; and this harlot is so called, because of her consummate beauty, and her being completely mistress of all the tricks of one; or, being consummately wicked, a perfect whore, common to all; and because her ruin and destruction, persisting in such practices, were inevitable, and so a fit emblem of the present and future condition of Israel. Diblaim may be considered either as the name of a man, a word of the same form with Ephraim; or of a woman, the mother of Gomer; or else of a place, the wilderness of Diblath, Eze 6:14 and signifies "a cake of dried figs" m; which, in that country, was reckoned delicious eating; and so denotes, either that both the sin and ruin of this people were owing to their luxury, or indulging themselves in carnal pleasures, through the great affluence they were possessed of; or that their original was from a wilderness, and for their sins should be reduced to a desolate state again:

which conceived and bare him a son; whose name, and what he was an emblem of, are declared in the following verse. The Targum is,

"and he went and prophesied over them, that if they returned, it should be forgiven them: but, if not, as fig tree leaves drop off, so should they; but they added, and did evil works.''

Gill: 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 And the Lord said unto him call his name Jezreel,.... Which some interpret the "seed of God", as Jerom; or "arm of God", as others; and Kimchi applies...

And the Lord said unto him call his name Jezreel,.... Which some interpret the "seed of God", as Jerom; or "arm of God", as others; and Kimchi applies it to Jeroboam the son of Joash, who was strong, and prospered in his kingdom; but it rather signifies "God will sow", or "scatter" n; denoting either their dissension among themselves; or their dispersion among the nations, which afterwards came to pass; and so the Targum, "call their name scattered"; and alluding also to the city of Jezreel, where some of the idolatrous kings of Israel lived, and where much blood had been shed, which should be avenged, as follows:

for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu; not the blood of Naboth the Jezreelite, that was shed by Ahab; but the blood of Joram the son of Ahab, and seventy other sons of his, and all his great men, kinsfolks and priests, shed by Jehu in this place; and though this was done according to the will of God, and for which he received the kingdom, and it was continued in his family to the fourth generation; yet, inasmuch as this was not done by him from a pure and hearty zeal for the Lord and his worship, and with a sincere view to his glory, but in order to gain the kingdom, increase his power, and satiate his tyranny and lust; and because, though he destroyed one species of idolatry, the worship of Baal, yet he continued another, the worshipping of the calves at Dan and Bethel, and regarded not the law of the Lord, and so his successors after him; and were the means of causing many to sin, and so consequently of the ruin of many souls, whose blood would be required of them, which some take to be the meaning here; this is threatened; see 2Ki 9:24. It may be observed, that God sometimes punishes the instruments he makes use of in doing his work; they either over doing it, exercising too much cruelty; and not doing it upon right principles, and with right views, as the kings of Assyria and Babylon, Isa 10:5. It is here said to be but a little while ere this vengeance would be taken, it being at the latter end of Jeroboam's reign when this prophecy was delivered out; and his son Zachariah, in whom the kingdom as in his family ceased, reigned but six months, being conspired against and slain by Shallum, who reigned in his stead, 2Ki 15:8. The Targum is,

"for yet a little while I will avenge the blood of those that worship idols which Jehu shed in Jezreel, whom he slew because they served Baal; but they turned to err after the calves which were in Bethel; therefore I will reckon that innocent blood upon the house of Jehu:''

and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel; that is, in the family of Jehu; Zachariah the son of the then reigning prince being the last, and his reign only the short reign of six months; unless this has reference to the utter cessation of this kingdom as such in the times of Hoshea by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, 2Ki 17:6.

Gill: 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 And it shall come to pass at that day,.... When the Lord shall take vengeance on the family of Jehu, and deprive them of the kingdom of Israel, and sh...

And it shall come to pass at that day,.... When the Lord shall take vengeance on the family of Jehu, and deprive them of the kingdom of Israel, and shall punish the idolatrous kings that succeed:

that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel; of which valley see Jos 17:16. It is now called the plain of Esdraelon; as it is in the Apocrypha:

"And to those among the nations that were of Carmel, and Galaad, and the higher Galilee, and the great plain of Esdrelom,'' (Judith 1:8)

the great plain of Esdraelon; according to Adrichomius, o it is two miles broad, and ten miles long; its soil exceeding rich and fruitful, and abounding with grain, wine, and oil; all travellers agree they never saw the like: one says p of this plain or valley, formerly the lot of the tribe of Issachar, this is the most fertile portion of the land of Canaan, where that tribe might well be supposed to have "rejoiced in their tents", Deu 33:18, at present, indeed, it is not manured, as another traveller q observes, and yet very fruitful; who says, it is of a vast extent, and very fertile, but uncultivated, only serving the Arabs for pasturage; and, according to the same writer, the ancient river Kishon runs through the middle of it: from the largeness of it, it is frequently called by writers the great plain or valley; and sometimes, from the places near it, or on it, the great plain of Legio, the great plain of Samaria, the great plain or valley of Megiddo, 2Ch 35:22, and the great plain of Esdraelon, and here the valley of Jezreel; Jezreel or Esdraela being situated in this great plain or valley between Scythopolis and Legio, a very large village, as Jerom says r it was in his days; and also on this passage observes, that Jezreel, from whence this valley had its name, is now near Maximianopolis, and was the metropolis of the kingdom of Samaria, near which were very large plains, and a valley of a very great length, extending more than ten miles: here Ahab had a palace in his days, near to which was Naboth's vineyard, and where God revenged his blood: this city is called by Josephus s Azare and Azarus, or Izarus; and in the times of Gulielmus Tyrius t it went by the name of Little Gerinum. The "bow" is put for all instruments of war, and everything in which confidence was put, which was weakened or removed from them: this refers either to Menhchem's slaughter of Shallum, and wasting some parts of the land of Israel, 2Ki 15:14, or rather it may be to a battle fought between Hoshea king of Israel and Shalmaneser king of Assyria in this valley, which was not far from Samaria; in which the former was defeated, and the latter, having the victory, proceeded to Samaria, besieged and took it, 2Ki 17:6 though of the action the Scripture is silent; but it is not improbable. The Targum is,

"I will break the strength of the warriors of Israel in the valley of Jezreel;''

which seems to confirm the same conjecture. Some render it, "because of the valley of Jezreel" u; that is, because of the idolatry, bloodshed, and other sins, committed there.

Gill: 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 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter,.... One of the weaker sex; denoting the weaker state of the kingdom of Israel after Jeroboam, as Kimchi ...

And she conceived again, and bare a daughter,.... One of the weaker sex; denoting the weaker state of the kingdom of Israel after Jeroboam, as Kimchi thinks; Zachariah his son reigning but six months, and Shallum the son of Jabesh, his successor, reigned but one month, 2Ki 15:8,

and God said unto him, call her name Loruhamah; which signifies, "she hath not obtained mercy": and what follows explains it to the same sense. The Targum is,

"and they added and did evil works; and he said unto him call their name, who obtained not mercy by their works:''

for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; as he had heretofore, sparing them time after time, though they continued to sin against him; but now he would spare them no longer, but deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, as he did a part of them, first into the hands of Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and then to Shalmaneser, 2Ki 15:29, otherwise, in the latter day, mercy will be shown them again, especially in a spiritual way, when they shall be converted, and believe in Christ, and all Israel shall be saved, as well as possess their own land again; see Hos 1:10,

but I will utterly take them away; out of their land, from being a kingdom and nation, which was done by Shalmaneser, another king of Assyria, 2Ki 17:6, or, "bringing I will bring into them", or "against them" w; that is, an enemy, the same king of Assyria: or, "but forgetting I will forget them" x, as some render it, and remember them no more, till the fulness of time comes: or, "through pardoning I have pardoned", or "spared them" y; that is, in times past. The Targum is,

"but if they return, pardoning I will pardon them;''

which will be done in the latter day.

Gill: Hos 1:7 - But I will have mercy on 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 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah,.... The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which retained the true worship of God among them; see Hos 11:1...

But I will have mercy on the house of Judah,.... The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which retained the true worship of God among them; see Hos 11:12 and though they often sinned against the Lord, he showed them mercy, and spared them longer than the ten tribes; and though he suffered them to be carried captive into Babylon, he returned them again after seventy years: this is mentioned as an aggravation of the punishment of Israel, that Judah was spared, when they were not; and to show that God will have a people to seek and serve him, and, when he rejects some, he will make a reserve of others:

and will save them by the Lord their God; by his own arm and power, and not theirs, or any creature's; nor by any warlike means or instruments whatever, as follows:

and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen: which may respect either the deliverance of the Jews from the invasion and siege of Sennacherib's army; which was done without shooting an arrow, or drawing the sword, or engaging in a pitched battle, or by a cavalry rushing into his camp, discomfiting his army, and pursuing them; but by an angel sent from heaven, which in one night destroyed a hundred and fourscore and five thousand, 2Ki 19:35 or else refers to Cyrus being stirred up by the Lord to issue forth a proclamation, giving liberty to the Jewish captives to go free, without price or reward; and so was brought about, not by the might and power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord; see Ezr 1:1 though a greater salvation is pointed at, or at least shadowed forth, by this, even the spiritual and eternal salvation of God's elect by Christ; which is the fruit of mercy, and not the effect of the merits of men; is obtained not by human power, or by man's righteousness; but by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah our righteousness, the Lord God of his people; who stands in a relation to them prior to his being the Saviour of them; to which work and office he is equal, being the eternal Jehovah, and the true and living God. So the Targum,

"and I will save them by the Word of the Lord their God;''

the eternal Word, that was with God, is God, and became incarnate, God in our nature.

Gill: Hos 1:8 - Now when she had weaned Loruhamah // she conceived and bare a son Now when she had weaned Loruhamah,.... That is, when Gomer had weaned her daughter of this name, Hos 1:6. This some interpret of the people of Israel ...

Now when she had weaned Loruhamah,.... That is, when Gomer had weaned her daughter of this name, Hos 1:6. This some interpret of the people of Israel being deprived of the word and ordinances, compared to milk and breasts, having a famine of them; and so were like children weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts; though others think this is expressive of the patience of God in bearing with this people, after he had before threatened them with the subversion of their kingdom and state; and even after the prophecy had took place in part, in causing the kingdom to cease in the house of Jehu, he bore with them about forty years before they were entirely carried captive; suckling and weaning, before the conception and birth of another child, denoting some stop and stay; but rather this intends the taking away some part of the land of Israel, as a child when weaning is taken away from its mother; and may respect the carrying captive many of the Israelites in divers parts, particularly out of Gilead, Galilee, and Naphtali, by Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, 2Ki 15:29. This cannot be understood of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, as Cocceius; for this is a resumption and continuation of the prophecy concerning the ten tribes, after inserting a promise of the salvation of Judah, in the preceding verse:

she conceived and bare a son: according to Kimchi, as the weaning of Loruhamah points at the times of weakness, from Zachariah the son of Jeroboam to the times of Pekahiah, when the reigns were short and troublesome; so this son conceived and born represents the state of the nation in the times of Pekah; who reigned twenty years, and was too powerful for the kingdom of Judah, slew multitudes of them, and carried others captive, and assisted Rezin king of Syria against Ahaz king of Judah: but, according to the series of the prophecy, it seems best to agree with the times of Hoshea king of Israel, who was not so bad as some of his predecessors; was a man of spirit and courage; cast off the Assyrian yoke, and neglected to give presents to the king of Assyria; and Samaria in his time held out a three years' siege against that king, 2Ki 17:1. The Targum is,

"and the generation of them who are carried captive among the nations are found not to have obtained mercy by their works, but they added and did evil works.''

Gill: Hos 1:9 - Then said God, call his name Loammi // for ye are not my people // and I will not be your Then said God, call his name Loammi,.... Which Aben Ezra interprets of the children of the ten tribes horn in captivity, who never returned; but it ra...

Then said God, call his name Loammi,.... Which Aben Ezra interprets of the children of the ten tribes horn in captivity, who never returned; but it rather signifies the ten tribes themselves, who were carried captive and had this name given them for the reason following:

for ye are not my people; though he had chosen them to be his people above all people, and had distinguished them from others by various blessings and privileges; yet they did not behave as such to him; they did not serve, obey, and worship him, but the calves at Dan and Bethel; and therefore did not deserve the name of his people: hence he says,

and I will not be your or "yours" a; that is, as we supply it, and so Aben Ezra, "your God"; will not behave toward you as such; will not take you under my care and protection, or continue you in your land, and in the enjoyment of the blessings of it; will not be your King, patron, and defender, but give you up into the hands of your enemies. This respects the captivity of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser, 2Ki 17:6. The Targum is,

"for ye are not my people; because ye do not confirm the words of my law, my word shall not be your help.''

Gill: 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 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered,.... Though called Loammi, and rejecte...

Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered,.... Though called Loammi, and rejected from being the people of God; yet there is a time when their number, according to the promise made to Abraham, shall be as the sand of the sea, and the stars of heaven; which, as the one cannot be measured, the other cannot be numbered; which was to be not at the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, when some of the ten tribes of Israel returned with them, as Theodoret and others think; for they were but few that then returned: but rather at the first times of the Gospel, when multitudes that came from various parts of the world were converted at the day of Pentecost, and greater numbers; who were met with in the ministry of the word, in the various parts of the world, where they were dispersed, and the Gospel came, to whom Peter and James wrote their epistles; and not these only are meant, but the vast numbers of Gentiles, who were effectually called by grace everywhere, and were true Israelites, the spiritual seed of Abraham; and to whom the Apostle Paul applies these words, producing them as a testimony of the election and calling, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also, Rom 9:24, and which will have a further accomplishment in the latter day, when the fulness of the Gentiles will be brought in, the Jews will be converted, and all Israel saved, Rom 11:25, then the numbers of the Israel of God, both of Jews and Gentiles, will be as the sand of the sea indeed!

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; that is, in such places where it used to be said, here live Pagans, Turks, or Jews, who worship not the true God, or at lease not aright, nor believe in Christ, and profess his name; "there it shall be said to them", by the Lord himself, by his Spirit witnessing their relation to them, and by all good men, and even by the world in general; not only that they are "the people of God", but have a superior privilege, a greater character, and a higher relation, the sons of the living God; the sons of God, not by nature, as Christ; nor by creation, as angels; nor by office, as civil magistrates; or by profession merely, as nominal Christians; but by adopting grace; which exceeds all other blessings, even of sanctification and justification; makes men honourable; is attended with various privileges, and always continues. The epithet "of the living God" is not without cause put; it stands in opposition to dead idols before worshipped by some who will now be the children of God; and who, as he has life in himself, gives it to others; to all natural life and breath, and to his children spiritual and eternal life; and, as he lives forever, so shall they his sons likewise. The Targum is,

"and it shall be in the place where they have been carried captive, when they transgressed the law; and it was said to them, ye are not my people; there they shall be converted and increased (or made great); and it shall be said to them, O ye people of the living God.''

Gill: 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 // and out of the earth // for great shall be the day of Jezreel Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together,.... Not at the return from the Babylonish captivity; for, though som...

Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together,.... Not at the return from the Babylonish captivity; for, though some of the ten tribes might be mixed with the Jews when they went into captivity, and came out with them, and others might join them from the various nations where they had been dispersed; yet they did not gather together with them in a body, only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, those were the chief; of the children of Israel, but few, Ezr 1:5. Some refer this to the first times of the Gospel, when the Galileans were gathered to Christ by his ministry, who inhabited the countries where some of the tribes of Israel dwelt; and who might, at least some of them, descend from them: and when those in Jerusalem and in Judea, who also believed in Christ, united with them in their profession of him, and in affection to one another; or to the time of Christ's death, by which the whole Israel of God, who were scattered abroad, were gathered together in one; and even Jews and Gentiles were made one body, and one new man in Christ, the partition wall being broken down: or to the times of the apostles, who were successful in the conversion and gathering of many of the Jewish nation, and also of the Samaritans; and of forming churches in Judea and Samaria under one head, in whom they agreed; and likewise of many others, both Jews and Israelites, in the various parts of the world, where they carried the Gospel; and who coalesced with the believing Gentiles in one church state, under Christ their head: though it seems best to interpret this of the latter day, when the children of Israel and Judah shall join together in seeking the Lord their God, and the true Messiah, and shall be turned, and gathered to him; when they shall be no more two kingdoms or two nations, but be one under the Messiah, who shall he their King and Prince; when all their animosities shall be laid aside, and they shall no more envy or vex one another; but shall meet together in the same church state, and worship the Lord with one shoulder and consent, being of one mind and sentiment in religious things, and when all Israel shall be saved, Jer 1:4 Isa 11:13

and appoint themselves one head; not Sennacherib, as Aben Ezra, very absurdly; nor Hezekiah, nor Josiah, as others; nor Elijah the prophet, as some in Kimchi; nor Zerubbabel, to which the Targum seems to incline, paraphrasing it,

"one head of the house of David;''

but better, as Jarchi, David their King; that is, the Messiah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech expressly interpret it; and so Abarbinel b, though he understands it of the Messiah the son of Joseph; and undoubtedly the same is meant by the one head, as David their King and Prince, Hos 3:5 even Christ, who is the Head of angels, yea, the Head of every man, but in a special and peculiar sense the head of the body, the church; he is the federal and representative Head of his people, both in eternity and in time; and in such sense a Head to them, as a king is head of his subjects, a husband of his wife, a father of his family, and a master of his servants; and also as a natural head is to its body, of the same nature with it; in union to it; lives the same life; is above it, and more excellent than it: a perfect Head Christ is, there being nothing wanting in him as such; he has his eyes set upon his people; his ears are open to their cries; he smells a sweet saviour of rest in their persons and services; he tastes and eats their pleasant fruits, and feels all their infirmities, troubles and afflictions; and has a tongue to speak a word in season for them: there are no vicious humours in this Head to affect the body; no deformity in it, and all fulness therein to supply its wants; he is an everliving and everlasting Head, and the one, and only one; there is no other, neither the pope of Rome, nor any other; nor will true Israelites acknowledge any other: and though this Head is of God the Father's appointing, who has given him to be the Head; set him as King over Sion; raised him up to be a Prince and a Saviour; yet he is also of the saints' choosing and appointing; they approve of him as such, embrace him, own him, and submit to him, as the Jews will at the last day, though their forefathers have rejected him:

and they shall come up out of the land; not of Israel, as Schmidt, who interprets this of the apostles going out from thence, and spreading the Gospel in the world; but out of each of the lands and countries where Israel and Judah have been dispersed, and return to their own land; see Jer 3:18. So the Targum,

"and they shall come up out of the land of their captivity:''

or it may be understood, figuratively and spiritually, of their coming up out of their captivity to sin, Satan, the law, and the world, as well as out of their present temporal captivity:

and out of the earth c, as it were, as it may be rendered; out of their earthly state, from the graves of sin, leaving their earthly affections, and becoming spiritual and heavenly minded; willing to quit all that is dear unto them, even the country in which they were born and long lived, to follow Christ their Head and King:

for great shall be the day of Jezreel; or, though great has been or is the day of Jezreel d; though it has been a great and long day of trouble and affliction to them, signified by Jezreel; see Hos 1:4, yet all these good things promised shall surely be accomplished: indeed the day of Jezreel may be taken in a good sense, not for a time of dispersion and distress, but of great comfort, joy, and happiness; the word signifying, according to some, the seed of God, or the arm of God: and Jerom applies it to Christ, the seed of God; and the whole Gospel dispensation may be called his day, the day of salvation, the joyful day the Lord has made: or rather by Jezreel, the seed of God, are meant his spiritual offspring, the children of Judah and Israel; who shall now be gathered, by the arm of God, his powerful and efficacious grace, and that in large numbers, so that great will be their day; so the Targum paraphrases it,

"for great will be the day of their gathering.''

It respects the latter day glory, when will be the conversion of the Jews, and the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles; when there will be great peace and prosperity; great love and unity; great holiness and purity; great light and knowledge; great enjoyment of God, and of the presence of the Redeemer great glory upon the churches, and upon that a defence: in short, all the great and glorious things spoken of will now be completed; perfect deliverance from all afflictions and troubles; an entire destruction of all enemies; and a full enjoyment of the word and ordinances, in the purity of them, and large conversions everywhere.

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Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Ayat / Catatan Kaki

NET Notes: Hos 1:1 Heb “Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel.”

NET Notes: Hos 1:2 Heb “from after.”

NET Notes: Hos 1:3 Heb “so he went and took” (וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּק’...

NET Notes: Hos 1:4 The proper name יִזְרְעֶאל (yizré’e’l, “Jezreel”) sounds like...

NET Notes: Hos 1:5 Heb “I will break the bow” (so NAB, NRSV). The phrase “break the bow” (וְשַׁבָר...

NET Notes: Hos 1:6 The phrase “their guilt” does not appear in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The ellipsis of the accusative d...

NET Notes: Hos 1:7 These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).

NET Notes: Hos 1:8 The preterite וַתִּגְמֹל (vatigmol, literally, “and she weaned”) functions in ...

NET Notes: Hos 1:9 This is an allusion to Yahweh’s promise to Moses אֶהְיֶה עִמָּך...

NET Notes: Hos 1:10 Heb “sons” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

NET Notes: Hos 1:11 Or “For” (so NASB); NCV “because”; TEV “Yes.”

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:1 The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days ( a ) of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, ( b ) kings of Judah, and in t...

Geneva Bible: 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 ( c ) of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: fo...

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:3 So he went and took ( d ) Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. ( d ) Gomer signifies a consumption or corruption, and ...

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:4 And the LORD said unto him, Call his name ( e ) Jezreel; for yet a little [while], and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of ( f ) Jehu...

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:5 And it shall come to pass at that ( g ) day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. ( g ) When the measure of their iniquity i...

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:6 And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And [God] said unto him, Call her name ( h ) Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of ...

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will ( k ) save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by bat...

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:9 Then said [God], Call his name ( l ) Loammi: for ye [are] not my people, and I will not be your [God]. ( l ) That is, not my people.

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:10 Yet the number of the ( m ) children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [tha...

Geneva Bible: Hos 1:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be ( n ) gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of...

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Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Rentang Ayat

MHCC: Hos 1:1-7 - --Israel was prosperous, yet then Hosea boldly tells them of their sins, and foretells their destruction. Men are not to be flattered in sinful ways bec...

MHCC: Hos 1:8-11 - --The rejection of Israel for a time, is signified by the name of another child: call him Lo-ammi, " not my people." The Lord disowns all relation to t...

Matthew Henry: Hos 1:1 - -- 1. Here is the prophet's name and surname; which he himself, as other prophets, prefixes to his prophecy, for the satisfaction of all that he is rea...

Matthew Henry: Hos 1:2-7 - -- These words, The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea, may refer either, 1. To that glorious set of prophets which was raised up about this ...

Matthew Henry: Hos 1:8-11 - -- We have here a prediction, I. Of the rejection of Israel for a time, which is signified by the name of another child that Hosea had by his adulterou...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:1 - -- Hos 1:1 contains the heading to the whole of the book of Hosea, the contents of which have already been discussed in the Introduction, and defended...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:2 - -- For the purpose of depicting before the eyes of the sinful people the judgment to which Israel has exposed itself through its apostasy from the Lord...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:3 - -- "And he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare him a son."Gomer does indeed occur in Gen 10:2-3, as the name of ...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:4 - -- "And Jehovah said to him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little, and I visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and put an end to the k...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:5-6 - -- "And it cometh to pass in that day, that I break in pieces the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel." The indication of time, "in that day,"refer...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:7 - -- "And I will favour the house of Judah, and save them through Jehovah their God; and I will not save them through bow, and sword, and war, through h...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:8-9 - -- "And she weaned Unfavoured, and conceived, and bare a son. And He said, Call his name Not-my-people; for ye are not my people, and I will not be yo...

Keil-Delitzsch: Hos 1:10-11 - -- (Heb. Bib. Hos 2:1-3). To the symbolical action, which depicts the judgment that falls blow after blow upon the ten tribes, issuing in the destructi...

Constable: Hos 1:1 - --I. introduction 1:1 This verse introduces the whole book. The word of Yahweh came to Hosea, the son (possibly de...

Constable: Hos 1:2--2:2 - --II. The first series of messages of judgment and restoration: Hosea's family 1:2--2:1 Though we know nothing of ...

Constable: Hos 1:2-9 - --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. 1:2 At the be...

Constable: Hos 1:10--2:2 - --B. A promise of restoration 1:10-2:1 A promise of future restoration immediately follows this gloomy revelation of judgment. It provided encouragement...

Guzik: Hos 1:1-11 - The Prophet and the Prostitute Hosea 1 - The Prophet and the Prostitute A. The life and times of the Prophet Hosea. 1. (1a) Hosea the man. The word of the LORD that came to Hose...

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Pendahuluan / Garis Besar

JFB: Hosea (Pendahuluan Kitab) THE first of the twelve minor prophets in the order of the canon (called "minor," not as less in point of inspired authority, but simply in point of s...

JFB: Hosea (Garis Besar) INSCRIPTION. (Hos 1:1-11) Spiritual whoredom of Israel set forth by symbolical acts; Gomer taken to wife at God's command: Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and ...

TSK: Hosea 1 (Pendahuluan Pasal) Overview Hos 1:1, Hosea, to shew God’s judgment for spiritual whoredom, takes Gomer, Hos 1:4, and has by her Jezreel; Hos 1:6, Loruhamah; Hos 1:...

Poole: Hosea (Pendahuluan Kitab) THE ARGUMENT Without dispute our prophet is one of the obscurest and most difficult to unfold clearly and fully. Though he come not, as Isaiah and ...

Poole: Hosea 1 (Pendahuluan Pasal) HOSEA CHAPTER 1 The times in which Hosea prophesied, Hos 1:1 . To show the idolatrous whoredoms of the land, he marrieth a wife of whoredom, and ha...

MHCC: Hosea (Pendahuluan Kitab) Hosea is supposed to have been of the kingdom of Israel. He lived and prophesied during a long period. The scope of his predictions appears to be, to ...

MHCC: Hosea 1 (Pendahuluan Pasal) (Hos 1:1-7) Under a figure, is represented the shameful idolatry of the ten tribes. (Hos 1:8-11) The calling of the Gentiles, and the uniting Israel ...

Matthew Henry: Hosea (Pendahuluan Kitab) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of the Prophet Hosea I. We have now before us the twelve minor prophets, which some of the anc...

Matthew Henry: Hosea 1 (Pendahuluan Pasal) The mind of God is revealed to this prophet, and by him to the people, in the first three chapters, by signs and types, but afterwards only by disc...

Constable: Hosea (Pendahuluan Kitab) Introduction Title and Writer The prophet's name is the title of the book. The book cl...

Constable: Hosea (Garis Besar) Outline I. Introduction 1:1 II. The first series of messages of judgment and restoration: Ho...

Constable: Hosea Hosea Bibliography Andersen, Francis I., and David Noel Freedman. Hosea: A New Translation, Introduction and Co...

Haydock: Hosea (Pendahuluan Kitab) THE PROPHECY OF OSEE. INTRODUCTION. Osee , or Hosea, whose name signifies a saviour, was the first in the order of time among those who are ...

Gill: Hosea (Pendahuluan Kitab) INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA This book, in the Hebrew Bibles, at least in some copies, is called "Sopher Hosea", the Book of Hoses; and, in the Vulgate La...

Gill: Hosea 1 (Pendahuluan Pasal) INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 1 After the general inscription of the book, in which the author, penman, and time of this prophecy, are expressed, Hos 1:1, ...

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