ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Hosea 2

Hos. 2:1–13 Hosea uses the legal process of an offended husband against his wife as a picture of God’s plans for dealing with Israel’s rebellion.

Hos. 2:1 Hosea hopes the Israelites will respond to the promise contained in this verse. The verse begins with a command (Say to your brothers), as does the following verse. Both serve as a motivation for Israel to return to her God. Israel can look forward to receiving a new name: no longer will they be “No Mercy” and “Not My People.”

Hos. 2:2 Perhaps the declaration that she is not my wife, and I am not her husband should be read as a threat, rather than an actual divorce. Otherwise, Hosea would have no right to issue the warnings and threats that follow. The marriage between God and Israel has not ended. The covenant made with Israel contains a way for Israel to be restored. She only needs to put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts.

Hos. 2:4–5 they are children of whoredom. Here is a clear rejection of fatherhood. The Lord, like Hosea, is as a husband wronged and injured by infidelity.

Hos. 2:6 Therefore. This is the first of three “therefores” in this chapter (see vv. 9, 14). It is spoken in response to the mother’s uncontained lust. The eighth-century prophets (including Hosea) truly believed that Israel’s sins could be forgiven and the nation could be restored.

Hos. 2:8 she did not know. Israel’s failure to “know” the Lord is a key idea in the book (vv. 8; 4:1; 6; 5:4; 6:3; 8:2; 13:4; 5). that it was I who gave. Israel’s prosperity was a gift from the Lord, not from Baal.

Hos. 2:14–23 Hosea describes God’s plan to restore his “marriage” with Israel.

Hos. 2:14 With this third therefore (compare vv. 6, 9), it becomes clear that the reason Israel is punished is to bring her to repentance. allure . . . speak tenderly. The Lord will woo his estranged wife away from her adulterous lovers with the language of courtship (Ruth 2:13; Isa. 40:2).

Hos. 2:15 The Valley of Achor, where Achan was cursed (Josh. 7:25–26), will become a place for hope.

Hos. 2:16–17 you will call me “My Husband,” and no longer will you call me “My Baal.” The Hebrew word for “Baal” and one of the words for “husband” are virtually the same. Israel treated Baal (their false god) as if he were God (their covenant husband). In the future, they will know their true God.

Hos. 2:19 I will betroth you to me. The marriage agreement is established by paying a bride-price to the bride’s father (2 Sam. 3:14). The bride-price that the Lord will pay for Israel is righteousness, justice, steadfast love, and mercy. Only the Lord can offer such things (Ex. 34:6–7).

Hos. 2:21–23 And in that day, that is, when the marriage is again consummated, Israel’s former difficulties will be reversed: grain, wine, and oil will be replenished (compare vv. 5, 8–9). No Mercy will receive mercy (compare 1:6; 2:4), and Not My People will again be God’s people (compare 1:9).