Hoshea 1:2

2 The beginning of the Devar Hashem by Hoshea: And Hashem said to Hoshea, Go, take unto thee an eshet zenunim (wife of whoredoms) and yeladim of zenunim; for ha’aretz hath committed great whoredom, by departing from Hashem.

Hoshea 1:2 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 1:2

For I have kept the ways of the Lord
Not those which the Lord himself walks in, his ways of providence, or of grace; though these are and should be taken notice of and observed by good men, as the word ^F25 used will bear to be rendered; but the ways which he has prescribed and directed men to walk in, the ways of his commandments, in which they should go; these were, in some measure, kept by David, who often, in the hundred nineteenth psalm speaks of his keeping the testimonies and statutes, and commandments of the Lord; as they are by good men, with some degree of pleasure, they take delight to walk in them; and with some degree of constancy, they keep walking in them, without turning to the right hand or the left, though solicited to it; but yet not perfectly, for they have many a slip and fall in them; wherefore this cannot be a reason of their being rewarded according to their righteousness: in strict justice, the words better agree with Christ, who kept the law of God perfectly, did his will completely; he came from heaven to do it; it was his meat and drink to accomplish it; and he always did the things which pleased his father, wherefore he rewarded him;

and have not wickedly departed from my God;
which was, in some sense, true of David; not as by disbelieving the power and providence, the promises, truth, and faithfulness of God, and his covenant interest in him; which to do would have been a wicked departure from God; see ( Hebrews 3:12 ) ; nor by forsaking the house and worship of God; though he was driven from thence by wicked men, yet sore against his will, and which during his exile he frequently laments and complains of; nor by sinning wilfully and presumptuously, only through error, inadvertency, infirmity, and temptation: but when it is observed, how much unbelief, which is a partial departing from the living God, and how many there are that neglect private and public worship, and what a proneness there is to sin and wickedness, and how much there is of the will in sinful actions, in the best of men; it is right and best to understand this of Christ, who never was guilty of sin, nor committed any wickedness in departing from God in the least: as man, God was his God, and he always believed his interest in him, and claimed it even when he forsook him on the cross; nor did he quit his service, desert his cause, nor depart from the work and business he enjoined him, till it was finished.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (ytrmv) "observaveram", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "observo", Junius & Tremellius; "observavi", Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

Hoshea 1:2 In-Context

1 The Devar Hashem that came unto Hoshea, ben Be’eri, in the yamim of Uziyah, Yotam, Achaz, and Yechizkiyah, melachim of Yehudah, and in the yamim of Yarov‘am ben Yoash, Melech Yisroel.

2 The beginning of the Devar Hashem by Hoshea: And Hashem said to Hoshea, Go, take unto thee an eshet zenunim (wife of whoredoms) and yeladim of zenunim; for ha’aretz hath committed great whoredom, by departing from Hashem.

3 So he went and took Gomer bat Divlayim; which conceived, and bore him ben.

4 And Hashem said unto him, Call shmo Yizre’el (G-d will sow); for yet a little while, and I will visit vengeance upon Bais Yehu for the demei Yizre’el (massacre at Yizre’el), and will cause to cease the Mamlechut Bais Yisroel [See 2Kg chp 9].

5 And it shall come to pass on Yom Hahu, that I will break the keshet Yisroel (bow of Israel), in the Emek Yizre’el (Jezreel Valley).