Hosea
1 1 The time wherein Hosea prophesied. 2 The idolatry of the people. 10 The calling of the Gentiles. 11 Christ is the head of all people.
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 the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel.
2 At the beginning the Lord spake by Hosea, and the Lord said unto Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife [c]of fornications, and children of fornications: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.
3 So he went, and took [d]Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, which conceived and bare him a son.
4 And the Lord said unto him, Call his name [e]Jezreel: for yet a little, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of [f]Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 And at that [g]day will I also break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
6 She conceived yet again, and bare a daughter, and God said unto him, Call her name [h]Lo-Ruhamah: for I will no more have pity upon the house of Israel: but I will utterly [i]take them away.
7 Yet I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will [j]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.
8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son.
9 Then said God, Call his name [k]Lo-Ammi: for ye are not my people: therefore will I not be yours.
10 Yet the number of the [l]children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor told: and in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
11 Then shall the children of Judah, and the children of Israel be [m]gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great is the [n]day of Jezreel.
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:1 Called also Azariah, who being a leper was disposed from his kingdom.
- Hosea 1:1 So that it may be gathered by the reign of these four kings, that he preached above threescore years.
- Hosea 1:2 That is, one that of long time hath accustomed to play the harlot: not that the Prophet did this thing in effect, but he saw this in a vision, or else was commanded by God to set forth under this parable or figure the idolatry of the Synagogue, and of the people her children.
- Hosea 1:3 Gomer signifieth a consumption or corruption, and Diblaim clusters of figs, declaring that they were all corrupt like rotten figs.
- Hosea 1:4 Meaning, that they should be no more called Israelites of the which name they boasted because Israel, did prevail with God: but that they were as bastard, and therefore should be called Jezreelites, that is scattered people, alluding to Jezreel, which was the chief city of the ten tribes under Ahab where Jehu shed so much blood, 2 Kings 10:8.
- Hosea 1:4 I will be revenged upon Jehu for the blood that he shed in Jezreel: for albeit God stirred him up to execute his judgments, yet he did them for his own ambition, and not for the glory of God as the end declared: for he built up that idolatry which he had destroyed.
- Hosea 1:5 When the measure of their iniquity is full, and I shall take vengeance and destroy all their policy and force.
- Hosea 1:6 That is, not obtaining mercy: whereby he signifieth, that God’s favor was departed from them.
- Hosea 1:6 For the Israelites never returned after that they were taken captives by the Assyrians.
- Hosea 1:7 For after their captivity he restored him miraculously by the means of Cyrus, Ezra 1:1.
- Hosea 1:9 That is, not my people.
- Hosea 1:10 Because they thought that God could not have been true in his promise except he had preserved them, he declareth though they were destroyed, yet the true Israelites, which are the sons of the promise, should be without number, which stand both of the Jews and the Gentiles, Rom. 9:26.
- Hosea 1:11 To wit, after the captivity of Babylon when the Jews were restored, but chiefly this is referred to the time of Christ, who should be the head both of the Jews and Gentiles.
- Hosea 1:11 The calamity and destruction of Israel shall be so great, that to restore them shall be as a miracle.