Old Testament Commentary - Hosea 2

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 2 Worshipping false gods brings severe judgments upon Israel—In the last days they shall be reconciled to God and become his people.
1 SAY ye unto your brethren, ^aAmmi; and to your sisters, ^bRuhamah. 2 Plead with your ^amother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest I ^astrip her ^bnaked, and set her as in the day that she was ^cborn, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with ^dthirst.
4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. 5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done ^ashamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my ^bbread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
6 ¶ Therefore, behold, I will ^ahedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. 7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find^a them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first ^ahusband; for then was it better with me than now. 8 For she did not know that I gave her ^acorn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.	7^a she shall seek them, but shall not find Like an unfaithful woman, Israel would seek unto others gods to worship and take care of them. But as is the case as the woman who seeks after her lovers, Israel would never find any lasting and fulfilling relationships with any of them. Israel would seek after them, but at length Israel would never find any real or lasting relationship with such false gods and at last, having been turned out and scattered, Israel would only find that one day she needs seek bacy to the Lord, her first husband, for it was better for her with him than with any others whom she had sought after.
9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. 10 And now will I discover her ^alewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. 11 I will also cause all her ^amirth to ^bcease, her feast days, her new ^cmoons, and her ^dsabbaths, and all her ^esolemn feasts.
12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 And I will visit upon her the days of ^aBaalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her ^bearrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
14 ¶ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the ^awilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of ^aAchor for a door of hope: and she shall ^bsing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be at that ^aday, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me ^bIshi; and shalt call me no more ^cBaali.
17 For I will take away the names of ^aBaalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. 18 And in that day will I make a ^acovenant for them with the ^bbeasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down ^csafely. 19 And I will ^abetroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt ^aknow the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. 23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon ^aher that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to ^bthem which were not my ^cpeople, Thou art my ^dpeople; and they shall say, Thou art my God.