Hosea 1, An Adulteress and Three Children

Hosea lived in the northern kingdom, Israel, during the reign of Jeroboam II, two hundred years after the division of the nation into two kingdoms.

Hosea 1:1-3, An adulteress and her children

The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:  

When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD."  So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

It is possible that the identification of Gomer as an adulteress is after she marries Hosea. The Mosaic Law would prohibit Hosea marrying a known adulteress (later identified as a prostitute) and although the instructions include "children of unfaithfulness", Gomer seems to come to Hosea without children.

Elsewhere in Scripture, Gomer is the name of a son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2-3 ) and a people group (Ezekiel 38:6.)

Hosea 1:4-5, A son named Jezreel

Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.  In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel."  

Jezreel means "God sows" or "God plants."  The Jezreel Valley was the location of a number of Israelite victories (for example, a victory by Gideon, beginning in Judges 6:2-3.) But it was also there that King Jehu massacred all the children of Ahab.  (See II Kings 10.) The valley was later conquered by Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria in 733 BC (see 2 Kings 15:29.)

Hosea 1:6-7, A daughter name Lo-Ruhamah

Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them--not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God."  

"Lo-Ruhamah" is Hebrew for "not loved.  A distinction is made here between the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel.  Israel (often called Ephraim by Hosea) will shortly be conquered.

Hosea 1:8-9, A son named Lo-Ammi

After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son.   Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.  

The name Lo-Ammi is Hebrew for "not my people. " Kidner suggests that since the text says nothing about the father of Lo-Ruhamah and Lo-Ammi then the names might suggest that Hosea was not the father. (This possibly is clear in 2:4.) Hosea's character is being challenged by these names.

Hosea 1:10-11, Yet...

"Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, `You are not my people,' they will be called `sons of the living God.' The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited, and they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.    

The "sand on the seashore" echoes the promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18. Despite the judgment of God, the people who are "not my people" will eventually be "sons of the living God" and united as one nation.

In the Hebrew text there is a chapter division before verse 10. Commentators agree that verses 1: 10-2:1 should be together and the chapter division should either be before verse 10 or after 2:1.  (Hosea 2:1 is "Say of your brothers, `My people,' and of your sisters, `My loved one.' )

First published June 6, 2025; updated June 6, 2025