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Hos. 1:1–3:5 Biographical: Hosea’s Family. The unfaithfulness of Hosea’s wife, Gomer, and her eventual restoration to him, are a parable for the Lord’s relationship to Israel.
Hos. 1:1 The name Hosea comes from the same verb as “Joshua” and “Jesus,” meaning “to save or deliver.”
Hos. 1:2 take to yourself a wife of whoredom. The word translated “whoredom” throughout the book describes various kinds of sexual misconduct. In Hosea it generally refers to a married woman being unfaithful to her husband, which is why it provides a picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness to the Lord, her husband (compare 2:5). The tragedy of Hosea is the tragedy of a marriage that began well but went bad. And so it was with the Lord and Israel.
Hos. 1:3–9 Hosea’s wife bears children, and God gives them prophetic names. The text suggests that Hosea was in fact the father of Gomer’s first child (bore him, v. 3).
Hos. 1:4 Jeroboam II (v. 1) was the fourth king of the dynasty begun by Jehu in 841 b.c. The house of Jehu is probably parallel to house of Israel. This would mean that the blood of Jezreel refers to the events of 1 Kings 21: Ahab permitted the murder of Naboth, a man loyal to the Lord, in order to take his vineyard in Jezreel. Thus, this verse introduces the ongoing confrontation between Baal and the God of Israel in the rest of the book.
Hos. 1:6 The name of Gomer’s second child, No Mercy, probably means that Hosea denies that he is the father. Hosea does not have the affection that a father would have for his own children.
Hos. 1:8–9 The birth and naming of another child by Gomer reinforces what was seen with No Mercy’s birth. Not My People means he is not Hosea’s son. for you are not my people, and I am not your God. The name symbolizes a breaking of the marital bond that God had made with Israel at Sinai (Ex. 6:7; Lev. 26:12).
Hos. 1:10 God intends to restore his people, based on the promises of the Abrahamic covenant: the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea (Gen. 22:17; 32:12). Israel’s salvation must be gained just as Abraham’s was: salvation by grace through faith and not by works of the law (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:1–3).
Hos. 1:11 the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together. The hostility between Judah (the southern kingdom) and Israel (the northern kingdom) had a long history, beginning in 1 Kings 12:16–24.
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