Hosea 2

General context

The chapter opens with a command to address brothers as Ammi and sisters as Ru-hamah, then: "Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband." The speaker threatens to strip her naked, make her "as a wilderness" and slay her with thirst, and refuses mercy to her children. The mother is quoted: "I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink." The speaker will hedge her way with thorns; failing to overtake her lovers, she will say, "I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now." She did not know that "I gave her corn, and wine, and oil," which "they prepared for Baal." The corn, wine, wool and flax will be taken back, her feasts will cease, her vines and fig trees will become a forest, and the days of Baalim will be visited on her, "saith the Lord." Then the speaker will "allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her," give her vineyards and "the valley of Achor for a door of hope," and she will sing as when "she came up out of the land of Egypt." She will call him Ishi and no more Baali; the names of Baalim will be removed. A covenant with beasts, fowls and creeping things follows, with bow, sword and battle broken. "I will betroth thee unto me for ever" in righteousness, judgment, lovingkindness, mercies and faithfulness. The heavens will hear the earth, the earth the corn, wine and oil, and they will hear Jezreel. The chapter ends: "Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God."

Cited passages: Hosea 2:1, Hosea 2:2, Hosea 2:3, Hosea 2:4, Hosea 2:5, Hosea 2:6, Hosea 2:7, Hosea 2:8, Hosea 2:9, Hosea 2:11, Hosea 2:12, Hosea 2:13, Hosea 2:14, Hosea 2:15, Hosea 2:16, Hosea 2:17, Hosea 2:18, Hosea 2:19, Hosea 2:20, Hosea 2:21, Hosea 2:22, Hosea 2:23

Hosea 2 (KJV)

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Historical context

The speaker is marked as the Lord three times: "forgat me, saith the Lord," "at that day, saith the Lord" and "I will hear, saith the Lord." The woman is called "your mother" and "not my wife"; she is never named here, and Gomer from chapter 1 is not mentioned. The chapter itself ties the wife to the land and people: her lovers are linked to Baal, her feast days and sabbaths are named, and the closing lines address "them which were not my people," which is the wording of the name Lo-ammi. Ammi and Ru-hamah in verse 1 are the chapter 1 names without their negation. The only named lover is Baal, in the plural form "Baalim"; no nation is named as a lover in this chapter. The Egypt reference is to "the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt," a past event the text assumes. The valley of Achor is named but not located. "Ishi" and "Baali" are given as two ways of calling the husband, with no gloss in the verse. The text does not say whether Hosea's own marriage is the subject of this speech or whether the woman of chapter 1 acted as the mother here is said to act. No king and no date appear.

Cited passages: Hosea 2:13, Hosea 2:16, Hosea 2:21, Hosea 2:2, Hosea 2:23, Hosea 2:1, Hosea 2:8, Hosea 2:15

Literary context

Three sentences beginning "Therefore" carry the chapter's movement. The first hedges her path with thorns; the second takes back the corn, wine, wool and flax; the third, "Therefore, behold, I will allure her," turns from stripping to courtship with the same word that had introduced judgment. The wilderness appears on both sides of that turn: a threat, "make her as a wilderness," and then the place where the speaker will "speak comfortably unto her." Provisions are listed twice with different givers: the mother credits her lovers with "my bread and my water, my wool and my flax," and the speaker answers that "I gave her corn, and wine, and oil." The phrase "that day" recurs three times in the promise section ("at that day," then "in that day" twice), and "betroth" is said three times. The chapter closes with a chain in which heavens, earth, corn, wine and oil each "hear," ending at Jezreel, and with the reversal of both negative names from chapter 1: mercy for "her that had not obtained mercy" and "my people" for those who were not. The wife's own words are quoted three times: going after her lovers, wanting to return, and calling the vines and fig trees "my rewards that my lovers have given me."

Cited passages: Hosea 2:6, Hosea 2:9, Hosea 2:14, Hosea 2:3, Hosea 2:5, Hosea 2:8, Hosea 2:18, Hosea 2:19, Hosea 2:22, Hosea 2:23, Hosea 2:7, Hosea 2:12

Key moments

1. Plead with your mother (Hosea 2:2). The children are told to plead with a mother who is declared not the speaker's wife.
2. The lovers' provisions (Hosea 2:5). The mother is quoted crediting her lovers with her bread, water, wool, flax, oil and drink.
3. She did not know (Hosea 2:8). The speaker says she did not know he gave the corn, wine and oil that were prepared for Baal.
4. Feasts and vines removed (Hosea 2:11). Her mirth, feast days, new moons and sabbaths are to cease.
5. Allured into the wilderness (Hosea 2:14). The speaker will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her.
6. Ishi, not Baali (Hosea 2:16). She will call him Ishi and no longer Baali, and the names of Baalim will be removed.
7. Betrothed for ever (Hosea 2:19). The speaker promises betrothal in righteousness, judgment, lovingkindness and mercies.
8. Thou art my people (Hosea 2:23). Those who were not my people are told they are, and they answer, Thou art my God.

For reflection

The wife says she will return to her first husband only after she cannot find her lovers, "for then was it better with me than now." The chapter still ends with betrothal and "Thou art my God." How does a return that begins from failure sit next to a promise that speaks of faithfulness and mercies?