Hosea 2:2-23

2 "Contend with your mother, ¹contend, For she is ²not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her ³harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

3 Or I will strip her ⁴naked And expose her as on the ⁵day when she was born. I will also ⁶make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land And slay her with ⁷thirst.

4 "Also, I will have no compassion on her children, Because they are ⁸children of harlotry.

5 "For their mother has ⁹played the harlot; She who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, '¹⁰I will go after my lovers, Who ¹¹give me my bread and my water, My wool and my flax, my ¹²oil and my drink.'

6 "Therefore, behold, I will ¹³hedge up ^[a]her way with ¹⁴thorns, And I will build ^[b]a wall against her so that she cannot find her ¹⁵paths.

7 "She will ¹⁶pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; And she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, '¹⁷I will go back to my ¹⁸first husband, For it was ¹⁹better for me then than now!'

8 "For she does ²⁰not know that it was ²¹I who gave her the grain, the new wine and the oil, And lavished on her silver and gold, Which they ^[c]used for Baal.

9 "Therefore, I will ²²take back My grain at ^[d]harvest time And My new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax Given to cover her nakedness.

10 "And then I will ²³uncover her lewdness In the sight of her lovers, And no one will rescue her out of My hand.

11 "I will also ²⁴put an end to all her gaiety, Her ²⁵feasts, her ²⁶new moons, her sabbaths And all her festal assemblies.

12 "I will ²⁷destroy her vines and fig trees, Of which she said, 'These are my wages Which my lovers have given me.' And I will ²⁸make them a forest, And the ²⁹beasts of the field will devour them.

13 "I will punish her for the ³⁰days of the Baals When she used to ^[e]³¹offer sacrifices to them And ³²adorn herself with her ^[f]earrings and jewelry, And follow * her lovers, so that she ³³forgot Me," declares the LORD.

Restoration of Israel

14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, ³⁴Bring her into the wilderness And speak ^[g]kindly to her.

15 "Then I will give her her ³⁵vineyards from there, And ³⁶the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will ^[h]³⁷sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the ³⁸day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

16 "It will come about in that day," declares the LORD, "That you will call Me ³⁹Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali.

17 "For ⁴⁰I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will be mentioned by their names no more.

18 "In that day I will also make a covenant for them With the ⁴¹beasts of the field, The birds of the sky And the creeping things of the ground. And I will ⁴²abolish the bow, the sword and war from the land, And will make them ⁴³lie down in safety.

19 "I will ⁴⁴betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in ⁴⁵righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion,

20 And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will ⁴⁶know the LORD.

21 "It will come about in that day that ⁴⁷I will respond," declares the LORD. "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth,

22 And the ⁴⁸earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine and to the oil, And they will respond to Jezreel.

23 "I will ⁴⁹sow her for Myself in the land. ⁵⁰I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And ⁵¹I will say to those who were ⁵²not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!' "

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Hosea 2:2-23 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 2

This chapter is an explanation of the former, proceeding upon the same argument in more express words. The godly Israelites are here called upon to lay before the body of the people their idolatry, ingratitude, obstinacy, and ignorance of the God of their mercies; and to exhort them to repentance, lest they should be stripped of all their good things, and be brought into great distress and difficulties; all their joy and comfort cease, and be exposed to shame and contempt, Ho 2:1-13, yet, notwithstanding, many gracious promises are made unto them, of their having the alluring and comfortable word of the Gospel; of a door of hope; of salvation being opened to them; of faith in the Lord, and affection to him as their husband; of the removal of all idolatry from them; of safety from all enemies; of their open espousal to Christ; of his hearing of their prayers, and giving them plenty of all good things; and of their multiplication, conversion, and covenant relation to God, Ho 2:14-23.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 52

1. Ezekiel 23:45; Hosea 2:5; Hosea 4:5
2. Isaiah 50:1
3. Jer 3:1, 9, 13
4. Jeremiah 13:22; Ezek 16:7, 22, 39
5. Ezekiel 16:4
6. Isaiah 32:13, 14; Hosea 13:15
7. Jeremiah 14:3; Amos 8:11-13
8. Jeremiah 13:14
9. Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:25; Jeremiah 3:1, 2; Hosea 3:1
10. Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:25; Jeremiah 3:1, 2; Hosea 3:1
11. Jeremiah 44:17, 18; Hosea 2:12
12. Hosea 2:8
13. Job 19:8; Lamentations 3:7, 9
14. Hosea 9:6; Hosea 10:8
15. Jeremiah 18:15
16. Hosea 5:13
17. Luke 15:17, 18
18. Jeremiah 2:2; Jeremiah 3:1; Ezekiel 16:8; Ezekiel 23:4
19. Jeremiah 14:22; Hosea 13:6
20. Isaiah 1:3
21. Ezekiel 16:19
22. Hosea 8:7; Hosea 9:2
23. Ezekiel 16:37
24. Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9
25. Hosea 3:4; Amos 5:21; Amos 8:10
26. Isaiah 1:13, 14
27. Jeremiah 5:17; Jeremiah 8:13
28. Isaiah 5:5; Isaiah 7:23
29. Hosea 13:8
30. Hosea 4:13; Hosea 11:2
31. Jeremiah 7:9
32. Ezekiel 16:12, 17; Ezekiel 23:40
33. Hosea 4:6; Hosea 8:14; Hosea 13:6
34. Ezekiel 20:33-38
35. Ezekiel 28:25, 26
36. Joshua 7:26
37. Jeremiah 2:1-3; Ezekiel 16:8-14
38. Hosea 11:1; Hosea 12:9, 13; Hosea 13:4
39. Isaiah 54:5; Hosea 2:7
40. Exodus 23:13; Joshua 23:7; Psalms 16:4
41. Job 5:23; Isaiah 11:6-9; Ezekiel 34:25
42. Isaiah 2:4; Ezekiel 39:1-10
43. Leviticus 26:5; Jeremiah 23:6; Ezekiel 34:25
44. Isaiah 62:4, 5
45. Isaiah 1:27; Isaiah 54:6-8
46. Jeremiah 31:33, 34; Hosea 6:6; Hosea 13:4
47. Isaiah 55:10; Zechariah 8:12; Malachi 3:10, 11
48. Jeremiah 31:12; Joel 2:19
49. Jeremiah 31:27
50. Hosea 1:6
51. Romans 9:25; 1 Peter 2:10
52. Hosea 1:9

Footnotes 16

[a]. So with some ancient versions; Heb "your"
[b]. Lit "her wall so that"
[c]. Or "made into the"
[d]. Lit "its time"
[e]. Or "burn incense"
[f]. Or "nose rings"
[g]. Lit "upon her heart"
[h]. Or "give answer"
[i]. I.e. my husband
[j]. I.e. my master, or my Baal
[k]. Or "remembered"
[l]. Lit "break"
[m]. I.e. God sows
[n]. Heb "Lo-ruhamah"
[o]. Heb "Lo-ammi"
[p]. Lit "he"