NOTES for Hos 3:1-4:19
1 Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. |
2 So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: |
3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. |
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: |
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. |
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. |
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. |
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. |
4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. |
5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. |
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. |
7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. |
8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. |
9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. |
10 For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD. |
11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. |
12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. |
13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. |
14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. |
15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Beth-aven, nor swear, The LORD liveth. |
16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place. |
17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. |
18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. |
19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices. |
Hide
At the Lord's instruction, the prophet buys back a prostitute who is betraying her husband. He pays little for her, only half the price that would later be given for the Savior, and he does this in order that she may stop her former way of life and be freed from it. Here before us is another foreshadowing of Christ's action, by which He redeemed us from slavery to sin. It would seem that paying a ransom means turning a person into the property of the one who paid it, but in this case it makes us free: the Redeemer, having delivered us from the power of evil, wants to see in us not slaves, but friends.
The bitter prophecy that the people would remain without a king and without worship, as we know, soon came true literally. Like many other prophetic warnings, it has been justified more than once over the course of millennia. Alas, a people often brings heavy troubles upon itself. But the warning that as a result of human wickedness "even the fish of the sea will perish" makes it clear: retribution for sin can prove more terrible than the flood, which did not harm the fish.
Such a warning sounds very relevant in our day, when people know how to destroy on an enormous scale and are not very eager to renounce sin. No less important is the call not to accuse one's neighbor, an occupation beloved by many, many people in every age. But especially serious is the warning that the people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge, that is, for conscious refusal of it. It appears that this means it is not enough to accept the Lord's Revelation at a minimal and formal level: His wisdom requires constant and deepening attention to it. And this in turn entails the need to change not only familiar ideas, but also one's habitual way of life, and that is so troublesome... As a result, small transgressions, accumulating, lead to monstrous heaps of sin.
Readings for 11 June 2026
After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free. | ||
