Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

This is the word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam son…

“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).”

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, He told him, “Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by…

“Gomer is called "a wife of whoredoms," anticipatively. children of whoredoms--The kingdom collectively is viewed as a mother; the individual subjects of it are spoken of as her children.”

Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel…

“Lo-ruhamah--that is, "not an object of mercy or gracious favor." take . . . away--Israel, as a kingdom, was never restored from Assyria, as Judah was from Babylon after seventy years.”

Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will save them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD…

“Judah is only incidentally mentioned to form a contrast to Israel. by the Lord their God--more emphatic than "by Myself"; by that Jehovah (Me) whom they worship as their God, whereas ye despise Him. not . . .”

“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’

“Say . . . unto . . . brethren, Ammi, &c.--that is, When the prediction (Ho 1:11) shall be accomplished, then ye will call one another, as brothers and sisters in the family of God, Ammi and Ruhamah.”

Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so she cannot find her way.

“The way of duty is hedged about with thorns; it is the way of sin that is hedged up with thorns. Crosses in an evil course are God's hedges to turn us from it.”

Therefore I will take back My grain in its time and My new wine in its season; I will take away My wool and linen, which were given to cover…

“"Return, and take away," is equivalent to, "I will take back again," namely, by sending storms, locusts, Assyrian enemies, &c. "Therefore," that is, because she did not acknowledge Me as the Giver. in the time thereof--in the harvest-time.”

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

“So obstinate is she that God has to "allure her," that is, so to temper judgment with unlooked-for grace as to win her to His ways.”

There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope.

“The valley of Achor, near Jericho, was specially fruitful (Isa 65:10); so "trouble" and "hope" are rightly blended in connection with it. sing . . . as . . . when she came . . . out of . . .”

Then the LORD said to me, “Go show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress.

“Hosea is told, not as in Ho 1:2, "take a wife," but "love" her, that is, renew thy conjugal kindness to her.”

Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

“He would not immediately receive her to marriage privileges, but would test her repentance and discipline her by the long probation; still the marriage covenant would hold good, she was to be kept separated for but a time, not divorced (Isa 50:1); in God's good…”

For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.

“The latter was one of the five things which the second temple lacked, and which the first had. It, as representing the divinely constituted priesthood, is opposed to the idolatrous "teraphim," as "sacrifice" (to Jehovah) is to "an (idolatrous) image."”

Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.

“A moral truth applicable to all times. The special reference here is to the licentious orgies connected with the Syrian worship, which lured Israel away from the pure worship of God (Isa 28:1, 7; Am 4:1).”

When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.

“Or, unbridled licentiousness; not mere ordinary sin, but as abandoned as drunkards who vomit and smell sour with wine potations [CALVIN]. MAURER not so well translates, "When their drinking is over, they commit whoredoms," namely, in honor of Astarte (Ho 4:13, 14).”

The whirlwind has wrapped them in its wings, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

“Israel shall be swept away from her land (Ho 4:16) suddenly and violently as if by "the wings of the wind" (Ps 18:10; Jer 4:11, 12). ashamed . . .”

The rebels are deep in slaughter; but I will chastise them all.

“From the antithesis (Ho 5:3), "not hid from me," I prefer explaining, profoundly cunning in their idolatry.”

I know all about Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, O Ephraim, you have turned to prostitution; Israel is defiled.

“It was always foremost of the tribes of the northern kingdom. For four hundred years in early history, it, with Manasseh and Benjamin, its two dependent tribes, held the pre-eminence in the whole nation. Ephraim is here addressed as foremost in idolatry.”

Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.

“Or, "in his face," as in Isa 3:9. Judah . . . shall fall with them--This prophecy is later than Ho 4:15, when Judah had not gone so far in idolatry; now her imitation of Israel's bad example provokes the threat of her being doomed…”

So I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like decay to the house of Judah.

“As in Ho 5:13, 14, the violence of the calamity is prefigured by the "wound" which "a lion" inflicts, so here its long protracted duration, and the certainty and completeness of the destruction from small unforeseen beginnings, by the images of a slowly but surely…”

Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.

“They are at the same time persuaded of the mercy of God, which persuasion is the starting-point of true repentance, and without which men would not seek, but hate and flee from God.”

After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

“1Co 15:4; compare Isa 53:10). "He shall prolong His days." Compare the similar use of Israel's political resurrection as the type of the general resurrection of which "Christ is the first-fruits" (Isa 26:19;”

So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the…

“"Then" implies the consequence of the revival in Ho 6:2. The "if" is not so much conditional, as expressive of the means which God's grace will sanctify to the full enlightenment of Israel in the knowledge of Him.”

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes.

“See opening remarks on this chapter. goodness--godliness. morning cloud--soon dispersed by the sun (Ho 13:3). There is a tacit contrast here to the promise of God's grace to Israel hereafter, in Ho 6:3.”

But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.

“Not as Margin, "like Adam," Job 31:33. For the expression "covenant" is not found elsewhere applied to Adam's relation to God; though the thing seems implied (Ro 5:12-19). Israel "transgressed the covenant" of God as lightly as men break everyday compacts with their fellow men.”

Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with footprints of blood.

“Gilead . . . city--probably Ramoth-gilead, metropolis of the hilly region beyond Jordan, south of the Jabbok, known as "Gilead" (1Ki 4:13; compare Ge 31:21-25). work iniquity-- (Ho 12:11). polluted with blood--"marked with blood-traces" [MAURER].”