The original text was written in Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 11 verses in English Bibles, but in Hebrew Bibles verses 10 and 11 appear in chapter 2.[6][7] This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[15][a] Chapter 1 has 11 verses in the Septuagint.[17]
The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri,
in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah,
and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.[18]
"Hosea": means "salvation" or "deliverance"; also "savior" or "deliverer".[19] Adding the prefix "Yah" ("Jah"), implying the name of "Yahweh", the name becomes "Joshua".[19] The original form of the name is closely related to "Hosanna" (hoshia na) or "save now" (cf. Psalm 118:25).[19]
"In the days of Uzziah": Hosea marks his prophecy by the reigns of the kings of Judah, not of the northern Israel where he lived, because he apparently only regarded the kingdom of Judah as legitimate, bearing the promises of God to the line of David.[20] as Elisha, who was active before Hosea, turned away from Jehoram (2 Kings 3:13–14), and acknowledged only Jehoshaphat king of Judah. The name of Jeroboam may be mentioned as the last king of Israel whom God helped, due to His promise to Jehu, as well as to indicate that God never left the kingdom of Israel without ample warning, since the time of Jeroboam I, who was warned by an unnamed prophet, who supported his prophecy by his own untimely death (1 Kings 13), also by Ahijah (1 Kings 14), then Baasha was warned by Jehu son of Hanani (1 Kings 16), AhabbyElijah and Micaiah son of Imlah, AhaziahbyElijah (2 Kings 1); JehorambyElisha who was active until the reign of Joash (2 Kings 13:14).[20]
"Jeroboam": this is Jeroboam II, who died in the fifteenth year of Uzziah's forty-one years' reign. After his reign, all the remaining Israel's kings worshipped false gods: Zachariah (2 Kings 15:9), Menahem (2 Kings 15:18), Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:24), Pekah (2 Kings 15:28), and finally, Hoshea (2 Kings 17:2). Israel was externally most flourishing under this Jeroboam II, who recovered Israel's possessions from the Syrians, as prophesied by the prophet Jonah—by God's mercy to Israel, not for the king's own merit—so that "the coast of Israel was restored from the entering of Hamath to the sea of the plain" (2 Kings 14:23-27).[3]
The activities of Hosea was mainly in the second half of 8th century BCE, from the reign of Jeroboam (c. 787-747 BCE;[21] the last year of Jeroboam coincides with the 15th of Uzziah) to the reign of Hoshea (c. 731-722 BCE) in the northern kingdom of Israel,[21] which may coincide with the first year of Hezekiah (of the Kingdom of Judah), for about 69 years,[b] Despite reigning earlier than most king's of Judah listed here, Jeroboam king of Israel is mentioned last, because Hosea's prophecy starts in Jeroboam's reign and mainly against the kingdom of Israel.[22] Apparently Hosea was contemporary with the prophets Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 1:1), Amos, and Micah, as well as Lycurgus the lawgiver of the Lacedemonians, and Hesiod the Greek poet.[22] During Hosea's lifetime, the city of Rome began to be built.[22]
The children of Hosea's marriage with Gomer (1:2–9)
Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms:
for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.[24]
"Whoredom": or "harlotry", "spritual adultery".[25] This description of Hosea's family members, especially his wife, is considered proleptic, describing her future behavior.[23]
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.[26]
"Gomer the daughter of Diblaim": The fact that both names don't have apparent symbolic significance gives a support that the people mentioned in the book may really exist in history and the account of Hosea's marriage is not just allegorical or visionary.[23]
And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel;
for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu,
and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.[27]
"Jezreel": the name of Hosea's first child, the only one explicitly stated to be his child (cf. verses 3, 6, 8), is based on the city of Jezreel, where Jehu killed all living members of Omri's dynasty (2 Kings 9:1–37; 10:1–11) in c. 842 BCE, which is located in the modern city Zer'in.[23]
Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.[31]
"Had weaned": in Eastern tradition, mothers commonly nursed their children two or three years (2 Maccabees 7:27). The period until weaning of the child (stopping the breastfeeding) symbolizes a certain interval of time, a temporary reprive, between the earlier chastisement ("no mercy", Lo-Ruhamah), and the next one ("not my people", Lo-Ammi), which was the irreversible final judgment.[20]
The three verses, consisting of Hosea 1:10, 11 and continued to 2:1, reverse the negative meanings of the children's names and apply them to the nation of Israel.[23] The Masoretic Text numbers the verses as 2:1-3.[33]
"Cannot be measured nor numbered": The promise of numerous progeny recalls the promises to the patriarchs (Genesis 22:17; 32:12).[23]
"You are not My people": translated from the Hebrew: lo-ammi, is to be reversed as "you are the children of the living God" (Hebrew: בני אל חיbə-nê’êl-ḥāy, "sons of Elohim";[35] cf. Hosea 2:23).[33]
AsYahweh is one, then His chosen people must also be one (cf. Hosea 3:3–4, 8:4, 13:10–11), so the schism of north (Kingdom of Israel-Samaria) and south (Kingdom of Judah) will be healed (cf. Isaiah 11:13, Ezekiel 37:22).[33]
^The calculation of the time comprises Jeroboam's reign of 41 years, and in the 27th of his reign began Uzziah or Azariah to reign over destruction of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser, which he prophesied.
^ abcExell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Hosea 1". In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
