Hosea 1:6

6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, [a] for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them.

Hosea 1:6 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 1:6

And she conceived again, and bare a daughter
One of the weaker sex; denoting the weaker state of the kingdom of Israel after Jeroboam, as Kimchi thinks; Zachariah his son reigning but six months, and Shallum the son of Jabesh, his successor, reigned but one month, ( 2 Kings 15:8 2 Kings 15:13 ) :

and God said unto him, call her name Loruhamah;
which signifies, "she hath not obtained mercy": and what follows explains it to the same sense. The Targum is,

``and they added and did evil works; and he said unto him call their name, who obtained not mercy by their works:''

for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel;
as he had heretofore, sparing them time after time, though they continued to sin against him; but now he would spare them no longer, but deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, as he did a part of them, first into the hands of Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and then to Shalmaneser, ( 2 Kings 15:29 ) ( 2 Kings 17:3 2 Kings 17:6 ) , otherwise, in the latter day, mercy will be shown them again, especially in a spiritual way, when they shall be converted, and believe in Christ, and all Israel shall be saved, as well as possess their own land again; see ( Hosea 1:10 Hosea 1:11 ) ( Romans 11:26 ) : but I will utterly take them away;
out of their land, from being a kingdom and nation, which was done by Shalmaneser, another king of Assyria, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) , or, "bringing I will bring into them", or "against them" F23; that is, an enemy, the same king of Assyria: or, "but forgetting I will forget them" F24, as some render it, and remember them no more, till the fulness of time comes: or, "through pardoning I have pardoned", or "spared them" F25; that is, in times past. The Targum is,

``but if they return, pardoning I will pardon them;''

which will be done in the latter day.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (Mhl ava avn) "adducendo adducam contra cos", Munster; "importando importabo eis", Drusius; so Kimchi and Ben Melech.
F24 "Obliviscendo obliviscar eorum", V. L. Pagninus.
F25 "Quamvis omnino condonaverim eis", Piscator; "quamvis haetenus condonando condonaverim eis", so some in Drusius.

Hosea 1:6 In-Context

4 And the Lord said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."
6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them.
7 But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen."
8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.

Footnotes 1

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.