Hosea 3:2
in Hosea 3So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley;
KJV
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
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This verse in Hosea 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseSo I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver,.... Or, "fifteen shekels", which was about one pound seventeen shillings and six pence of our money, reckoning a shekel at two shillings and six pence; though some make it to be but two shillings and four pence; this was but half the price of a servant, Exo 21:32, and alludes to the dowry which men used to give to women at their marriage; see 1Sa 18:
This site's exposition
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver
The price paid, fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley, is read by the commentators as together equaling roughly thirty shekels, the price of a slave under Exodus 21:32, so that Hosea buys back a woman who has fallen to something like bond-service for her own debts. The half-price in silver made up with barley, a poor man's payment, pictures redemption bought at cost and not without difficulty, the prophet paying to recover what was legally already his by marriage. The commentators read the purchase as the clearest acted picture in the book of grace buying back what unfaithfulness had forfeited.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"And I dug it for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, and a cor of barley, and half a cor of barley, and I said to her." The LXX reads, "And I brought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a gomor of barley, and a vessel of wine, and I said to her." Gomor in Hebrew is written Omer, which all interpreters, except the LXX, have translated as "cor". In Greek, especially in the dialect of Palestine, it represents thirty modii. And for nebel vini, in Hebrew it is written Lethech Seorim, which other interpreters have translated as "half a cor of barley," which constitutes fifteen modii. That which is joined in the Vulgate edition: "Neither will you be the husband of another: (you will be) the other" is not present in Hebrew, but simply, "You will not be the husband." For if "another" is inserted, it implies that she belongs to her own husband. However, when it is said absolutely, "You will not be the husband" we understand that she is not connected to anyone at all, and remains without marital union. We read the measurement of the heart in Ezekiel (Ezek. XLV) and in the Gospel (Luke XXVI). Therefore he, that is the adulterer, dug it himself, or hired it for fifteen pieces of silver. When he says 'dig,' he is showing the vineyard, which is planted by the Lord, and is put in many places in Scripture, signifying the Jewish people. But if we read 'I hired,' it is the price of an adulteress, not that he should sleep with a prophet, but that, content with her wages, she should stop committing adultery and not be joined with others indiscriminately. The heart of barley is also dug or hired, and with half a measure of barley, that is, forty-five bushels, accepted as payment, he heard from the Lord:
And how shall I speak of the whore married by the prophet? She is the figure either of the church as gathered in from the Gentiles, or—an interpretation that better suits the passage—of the synagogue. She, Israel, was first adopted from among the idolaters by Abraham and Moses. She has now denied the Savior and proved unfaithful to him. Therefore she has long been deprived of her altar, priests and prophets and has to abide many days to return to her first husband. For when the faithfulness of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, all Israel shall be saved.
These then are that seven and eight whereof Hosea says that by that number he purchased to himself, and acquired the fulness of faith, for thus it is written, So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley, and a measure of wine. But in the former verses God had commanded him to hire to himself an harlot, and it is manifest that he did so, in that he has mentioned the price of her hiring.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Fifteen pieces of silver - It was half the value of a slave, Exod. xxi, 32. An homer of barley - About fourteen bushels. Of barley - The meanest kind of provision; and suited to a low condition, all this is, to set forth Israel's indigence and ingratitude, and God's bounty to Israel.
Note, Poverty and disgrace sometimes prove a happy means of making great sinners true penitents. (2.) The new terms upon which God is willing to come with them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Fifteen pieces of silver - If they were shekels, the price of this woman was about two pounds five shillings. A homer of barley - As the homer was about eight bushels, or something more, the homer and half was about twelve or thirteen bushels.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Hosea pays this for the redemption of his wife, who has become the slave of her paramour. The price being half grain was because the latter was the allowance of food for the slave, and of the coarsest kind, not wheat, but barley. Israel, as committing sin, was the slave of sin (Joh 8:34;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver - The fifteen shekels were half the price of a common slave Exo 21:32, and so may denote her worthlessness. The homer and half-homer of barley, or forty-five bushels, are nearly the allowance of food for a slave among the Romans, four bushels a month. Barley was the offering of one accused of adultery, and, being the food of animals, betokens that she was “like horse and mule which have no understanding.” The Jews gave dowries for their wives; but she was the prophet’s wife already. It was then perhaps an allowance, whereby he bought her back from her evil freedom, not to live as his wife, but to be honestly maintained, until it should be fit, completely to restore her.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
beloved by her companion Cherished by her husband and beloved to him, who [nonetheless] commits adultery under his domain, [paralleling thereby] the love of the Holy One, Blessed Is He, for the nation of Israel who [nonetheless] stray from under His domain towards other gods.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and I said to her: You shall remain as mine for many days The plural “days” refers to (a minimum) of two, “many” to (a minimum of) three, making a total of five.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶכְּרֶ֣הָ | vaekereha | and I bought her | H3739 → | |
| לִּ֔י | li | for myself | ||
| בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֥ה | bachamishah | for fif- | H2568 → | |
| עָשָׂ֖ר | ʾasar | teen | H6240 → | |
| כָּ֑סֶף | kasef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| וְחֹ֥מֶר | vechomer | and a homer of | H2563 → | |
| שְׂעֹרִ֖ים | seorim | barley<s> | H8184 → | |
| וְלֵ֥תֶךְ | veletekh | and a lethech of | H3963 → | |
| שְׂעֹרִֽים׃ | seorim | barley<s> | H8184 → |
וָאֶכְּרֶ֣הָand I bought her
vaekerehaH3739 →
לִּ֔יfor myself
li
בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֥הfor fif-
bachamishahH2568 →
עָשָׂ֖רteen
ʾasarH6240 →
כָּ֑סֶףsilver
kasefH3701 →403 times
וְחֹ֥מֶרand a homer of
vechomerH2563 →
שְׂעֹרִ֖יםbarley<s>
seorimH8184 →
וְלֵ֥תֶךְand a lethech of
veletekhH3963 →
שְׂעֹרִֽים׃barley<s>
seorimH8184 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezekiel 45:11The ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer, and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer will be the…
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:10
For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 5:10
Through
Exodus 22:17If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, the man still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin.
it leads to
- Genesis 34:12
Demand a high dowry and an expensive gift, and I will give you whatever you ask. Only give me the girl as my wife!”
- 1 Samuel 18:25
Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
- Deuteronomy 22:29
then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as…
- Genesis 34:12
Through
Isaiah 5:10For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:26
When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
- Haggai 2:16
from that time, when one came expecting a heap of twenty ephahs of grain, there were but ten. When one came to the winepress to draw out fifty baths, there were but twenty.
- Haggai 1:6
You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into…
- Leviticus 26:26
Through
Genesis 34:12Demand a high dowry and an expensive gift, and I will give you whatever you ask. Only give me the girl as my wife!”
it leads to
- Exodus 22:16–17
If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife.
- Exodus 22:16–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Hosea
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 44:7; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 3:2; Jerome, LETTER 123:13; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.