The original text was written inHebrew.This chapter is divided into 11 verses in English Bibles, but in Hebrew Bibles verses 10 and 11 appear in chapter 2.[6][7] This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.
There is also a translation intoKoine Greek known as theSeptuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version includeCodex Vaticanus (B;B; 4th century),Codex Alexandrinus (A;A; 5th century) andCodex Marchalianus (Q;Q; 6th century).[15][a] Chapter 1 has 11 verses in the Septuagint.[17]
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.[18]
"Hosea": means "salvation" or "deliverance"; also "savior" or "deliverer".[19] Adding the prefix "Yah" ("Jah"), implying the name of "Yahweh", the name becomes "Joshua".[19] The original form of the name is closely related to "Hosanna" (hoshia na) or "save now" (cf.Psalm 118:25).[19]
"In the days of Uzziah": Hosea marks his prophecy by the reigns of the kings of Judah, not of the northern Israel where he lived, because he apparently only regarded the kingdom of Judah as legitimate, bearing the promises of God to the line of David.[20] as Elisha, who was active before Hosea, turned away from Jehoram (2 Kings 3:13–14), and acknowledged only Jehoshaphat king of Judah. The name of Jeroboam may be mentioned as the last king of Israel whom God helped, due to His promise to Jehu, as well as to indicate that God never left the kingdom of Israel without ample warning, since the time ofJeroboam I, who was warned by an unnamed prophet, who supported his prophecy by his own untimely death (1 Kings 13), also byAhijah (1 Kings 14), thenBaasha was warned byJehu son ofHanani (1 Kings 16),Ahab byElijah andMicaiah son ofImlah,Ahaziah byElijah (2 Kings 1);Jehoram byElisha who was active until the reign ofJoash (2 Kings 13:14).[20]
"Jeroboam": this isJeroboam II, who died in the fifteenth year of Uzziah's forty-one years' reign. After his reign, all the remaining Israel's kings worshipped false gods: Zachariah (2 Kings 15:9), Menahem (2 Kings 15:18), Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:24), Pekah (2 Kings 15:28), and finally, Hoshea (2 Kings 17:2). Israel was externally most flourishing under this Jeroboam II, who recovered Israel's possessions from the Syrians, as prophesied by the prophetJonah—by God's mercy to Israel, not for the king's own merit—so that "the coast of Israel was restored from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain" (2 Kings 14:23-27).[3]
The activities of Hosea was mainly in the second half of the 8th century BCE, from the reign of Jeroboam (c. 787-747 BCE;[21] the last year of Jeroboam coincides with the 15th of Uzziah) to the reign of Hoshea (c. 731-722 BCE) in thenorthern kingdom of Israel,[21] which may coincide with the first year of Hezekiah (of theKingdom of Judah), for about 69 years,[b] Despite reigning earlier than most king's of Judah listed here, Jeroboam king of Israel is mentioned last, because Hosea's prophecy starts in Jeroboam's reign and mainly against the kingdom of Israel.[22] Apparently Hosea was contemporary with the prophets Isaiah (cf.Isaiah 1:1), Amos, and Micah, as well as Lycurgus the lawgiver of the Lacedemonians, and Hesiod the Greek poet.[22] During Hosea's lifetime, the city of Rome began to be built.[22]
The children of Hosea's marriage with Gomer (1:2–9)
Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms:
for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.[24]
"Whoredom": or "harlotry", "spritual adultery".[25] This description of Hosea's family members, especially his wife, is considered proleptic, describing her future behavior.[23]
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.[26]
"Gomer the daughter ofDiblaim": The fact that both names don't have apparent symbolic significance gives a support that the people mentioned in the book may really exist in history and the account of Hosea's marriage is not just allegorical or visionary.[23]
And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel;
for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon thehouse of Jehu,
and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.[27]
"Jezreel": the name of Hosea's first child, the only one explicitly stated to be his child (cf.verses 3,6,8), is based on thecity of Jezreel, whereJehu killed all living members ofOmri's dynasty (2 Kings 9:1–37;10:1–11) in c. 842 BCE, which is located in the modern city Zer'in.[23]
Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.[31]
"Had weaned": in Eastern tradition, mothers commonly nursed their children two or three years (2 Maccabees 7:27). The period until weaning of the child (stopping the breastfeeding) symbolizes a certain interval of time, a temporary reprieve, between the earlier chastisement ("no mercy",Lo-Ruhamah), and the next one ("not my people",Lo-Ammi), which was the irreversible final judgment.[20]
The three verses, consisting of Hosea 1:10, 11 and continued to2:1, reverse the negative meanings of the children's names and apply them to the nation of Israel.[23] TheMasoretic Text numbers the verses as 2:1-3.[33]
"Cannot be measured nor numbered": The promise of numerous progeny recalls the promises to the patriarchs (Genesis 22:17;32:12).[23]
"You are not My people": translated from the Hebrew:lo-ammi, is to be reversed as "you are the children of the living God" (Hebrew:בני אל חיbə-nê’êl-ḥāy, "sons of Elohim";[35] cf.Hosea 2:23).[33]
^The calculation of the time comprises Jeroboam's reign of 41 years, and in the 27th of his reign began Uzziah or Azariah to reign over destruction of the ten tribes byShalmaneser, which he prophesied.
^abcExell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors).On "Hosea 1". In:ThePulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
