Hoshea 1:9

9 Then said G-d, Call shmo Lo-ami; for ye are lo ami (not My people), and to you (pl) not eh’h’yeh (I am, which is ALEFH HEH YOD HEH 1 common sg form of YOD HEH VAV HEH—HASHEM, i.e., to you I am not Hashem).

Hoshea 1:9 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 1:9

Then said God, call his name Loammi
Which Aben Ezra interprets of the children of the ten tribes horn in captivity, who never returned; but it rather signifies the ten tribes themselves, who were carried captive and had this name given them for the reason following: for ye are not my people;
though he had chosen them to be his people above all people, and had distinguished them from others by various blessings and privileges; yet they did not behave as such to him; they did not serve, obey, and worship him, but the calves at Dan and Bethel; and therefore did not deserve the name of his people: hence he says, and I will not be your
or "yours" ^F1; that is, as we supply it, and so Aben Ezra, "your God"; will not behave toward you as such; will not take you under my care and protection, or continue you in your land, and in the enjoyment of the blessings of it; will not be your King, patron, and defender, but give you up into the hands of your enemies. This respects the captivity of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) . The Targum is,

``for ye are not my people; because ye do not confirm the words of my law, my word shall not be your help.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Mkl hyha al) "non ero vester", Pagninus; "nec ego sum futurus vester", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Hoshea 1:9 In-Context

7 But I will have mercy upon the Bais Yehudah, and will save them by Hashem Eloheihem, and will not save them by keshet, nor by cherev, nor by milchamah, by susim, nor by parashim.

8 Now when she had weaned Lo-ruchamah, she conceived, and bore ben.

9 Then said G-d, Call shmo Lo-ami; for ye are lo ami (not My people), and to you (pl) not eh’h’yeh (I am, which is ALEFH HEH YOD HEH 1 common sg form of YOD HEH VAV HEH—HASHEM, i.e., to you I am not Hashem).