Hosea chapter 3
Hosea takes Gomer back.
HOSEA TAKES GOMER BACK
VERSE 1. The LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.”
love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress. This can be interpreted many ways. Here is a how the NASB translation puts it:
Love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet [IS] an adulteress.
Gomer had not been sexually exclusive with Hosea. That unfaithfulness symbolized Israel’s spiritual unfaithfulness to the LORD God.
cakes of raisins. These were offered to the fertility goddess Ashera.
VERSE 2. So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley.
I bought her. Hosea bought his wife back.
Apparently a slave-trade existed.
for fifteen pieces of silver. The price was substantial.
VERSE 3. I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you.”
You shall stay with me. Hosea imprisoned a woman against her will.
you shall not be with any other man. Hosea requires Gomer to be sexually exclusive with him.
I will also be so toward you. Hosea will be sexually exclusive with Gomer.
VERSE 4. For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.
sacred stone. That is, “sacred pillar.”
This comes up again in Hosea chapter 10.
VERSE 5. Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.
in the last days. Biblical authors use the phrase “in the latter days.” In some cases it means “the present day.” But in other cases, it means “the future” or “The End of Days.” Read more »
HOSEA
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize
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