1.
Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ru-hamah.
Ammi = My People.
Ruhamah = Pitied One.
2.
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
your mother. Gomer (Hosea 1:3 ). The ten tribes personified by their royal capital.
her husband. Compare Jeremiah 31:32 .
whoredoms . . . adulteries = idolatries. See note on Hosea 1:2 .
between her breasts = her embraces.
3.
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
Lest, &c. Hosea 2:3 refers to Israel's earliest history.
her: i.e. her land, as shown by the words following. Compare Ezekiel 16:23-43 .
in the day. See App-18 .
4.
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
children = sons: i.e. the individual members of the nation collectively.
5.
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
played the harlot: i.e. practiced idolatries. The silence as to details here is eloquent.
my lovers = my Baals, or lords. Compare Jeremiah 44:17 , Jeremiah 44:18 .
my, &c. Note the three pairs, including food, clothing, and luxuries. All are claimed as hers.
6.
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths.
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos ( App-6 ) for emphasis.
hedge up, &c. Compare Job 8:23 ; Job 19:8 . Lamentations 3:7 , Lamentations 3:9 .
thy way. Jehovah had spoken of Israel. Now He speaks to her.
make a wall = Hebrew wall a (stone) wall. Figure of speech Polyptoton ( App-6 ) for emphasis = rear a stone wall.
7.
And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now.
follow after = eagerly follow after.
I will go, &c. Compare Hos 6:15 .Luke 15:18 .
first husband. Compare Ezekiel 16:8 .
than. Supply the Ellipsis : "than [it is] now".
8.
For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal.
did not know. Compare Isaiah 1:3 .
that I = that [it was] I Who. Compare Ezekiel 16:17-19 .
wine = new wine. Hebrew. tirosh. App-27 .
which they, &c. = they made offerings to Baal. Compare Hosea 8:4 .
9.
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness.
will I return. In judgment.
take away = take back. Compare Hosea 2:3 .
My wine, &c. They were all His, and from Him.
recover = rescue (Genesis 31:16 ).
10.
And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand.
will I discover. Compare Ezekiel 16:37 ; Ezekiel 23:29 .
11.
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
her feast days. All these are in the sing, here = her feast, her new moon, her sabbath, her every appointed season.
12.
And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them.
destroy = lay waste. Compare Psalms 105:33 .
whereof. In Hosea 2:5 .
rewards = my hire, or fee. A technical term. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 23:18 ). App-92 .
13.
And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
I will visit, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 32:34 ). App-92 .
the days: i.e. the feast days.
Baalim. (Plural) including Baal-gad, Baal-Hermon, Baal-zephon, Baalberith, &c.
decked herself. Compare Ezekiel 23:40 , Ezekiel 23:42 .
saith the LORD = [is] Jehovah's oracle.
14.
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
Therefore = Nevertheless. Note that the whole of this present dispensation comes between Hosea 2:13 and Hosea 2:14 . See App-72 .
I = I myself (emphatic).
bring her, &c. Compare Ezekiel 20:35 .
comfortably = to the heart. Compare Isaiah 40:2 .
15.
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
from thence: i.e. [when she cometh] from thence. Reference to Pentateuch (Numbers 16:13 , Numbers 16:14 ). App-92 .
the valley of Achor. Ref to Joshua 7:26 . App-92 . The events must have been written down at the time and preserved. See App-47 .
Achor = trouble. Compare Joshua 7:24-26 .
door = entrance.
hope = expectation; no longer of trouble.
shall sing there. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 15:1 ). App-92 .
there. Where Jehovah allureth, and bringeth, and speaketh.
as in the days, &c. Compare Jeremiah 2:2 .Ezekiel 16:8 , Ezekiel 16:22 , Ezekiel 16:60 .
when she came up. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 1:10 ; Exodus 12:38 ; Exodus 13:18 , &c); and when Jehovah said "My son" (Exodus 4:22 ). App-92 .
16.
And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
Ishi = My husband.
Baali = My lord.
17.
For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
I will take away, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 23:13 ). Compare Joshua 23:7 . Psalms 16:4 .Isaiah 2:18 . Ezekiel 6:6 ; Ezekiel 36:25 , Ezekiel 36:26 ; Ezekiel 37:23 .Zechariah 13:2 .
18.
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
in that day. That yet future day of Israel's restoration.
make a covenant, &c. Compare Job 5:23 .Isaiah 11:6-9 . Ezekiel 34:25 .
and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6 ) to emphasize each item.
and I will break. Compare Psalms 46:9 . Isaiah 2:4 .Zechariah 9:10 .
make them to lie down safely. Reference to Pentateuch (Leviticus 25:18 , Leviticus 25:19 ; Leviticus 26:5 , Leviticus 26:6 . Deuteronomy 12:10 ; Deuteronomy 33:12 , Deuteronomy 33:28 ). App-92 .
19.
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
I will betroth, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 22:16 . Deuteronomy 20:7 ; Deuteronomy 22:23 , Deuteronomy 22:25 , Deuteronomy 22:27 , Deuteronomy 22:28 ; Deuteronomy 28:30 ). App-92 . Elsewhere only in 2 Samuel 3:14 ("espouse"). Notice the thrice-repeated word here, and in verses: Hosea 2:19 , Hosea 2:20 .
20.
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
thou shalt know, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 6:7 , &c). This is the sign of Israel's blessing (Isaiah 11:9 ; Isaiah 54:13 .Jeremiah 31:33 , Jeremiah 31:34 .John 6:45; John 6:45 ). Their evils came from not knowing (Isaiah 1:3 .Luke 19:42 , Luke 19:44 ).
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. (with ' eth) = Jehovah Himself. App-4 .
21.
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
I will hear. The restoration comes from, and begins with, Jehovah.
hear = answer, or respond to (Zechariah 8:12 ).
22.
And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.
the earth. Note the Figure of speech Anadiplosis ( App-6 ), by which the word at the end of Hosea 2:21 is repeated at the beginning of Hosea 2:22 .
Jezreel = the seed of GOD [which He will sow], as stated in Hosea 2:23 .
23.
And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
I will sow her: i. e. the new Israel.
will have mercy, &c. = have pity; i. e. will [call her] Ruhamah.
her that had not obtained mercy = Lo-Ruhamah (Not pitied).
not My People = Lo-ammi.
Thou art My People = Ammi [art] thou.
they shall say = and he, he shall say, &c: i. e. the whole nation as one man. Compare Hosea 1:11 .Zechariah 13:9 . Romans 9:26 . 1 Peter 2:10 .
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .