New American Bible
2002 11 11
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Chapter 3
1
1 2 Again the LORD said to
me: Give your love to a woman beloved of a paramour, an adultress; Even as the
LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and are fond of
raisin cakes.
2
3 So I bought her for fifteen pieces of silver
and a homer and a lethech of barley.
3
Then I said to her: "Many days you shall
wait for me; you shall not play the harlot Or belong to any man; I in turn will
wait for you."
4
4 For the people of Israel shall remain many
days without king or prince, Without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod
or household idols.
5
5 Then the people of Israel shall turn back and
seek the LORD, their God, and David, their king; They shall come trembling to
the LORD and to his bounty, in the last days.
1
6 The number of the Israelites shall be like the
sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor counted. Whereas they were
called, "Lo-ammi," They shall be called, "Children of the living
God."
2
Then the people of Judah and of Israel shall be
gathered together; They shall appoint for themselves one head and come up from
other lands, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
3
Say to your brothers, "Ammi," and to
your sisters, "Ruhama."
1 [1-5] Hosea is instructed to take
Gomer back, redeeming her from her paramours. On condition of her amendment,
she will be restored to her former position of wife. This in turn signifies
God's enduring love for his people. He will put the people through a period of
trial - the dissolution of the kingdom - in order that they may return to him
wholeheartedly.
2 [1] Raisin cakes: offerings to the
fertility goddess Ashera, the female counterpart of Baal; cf
⇒ Jeremiah 7:18;
⇒ 44:19.
3 [2] Homer: about ten bushels. Lethech:
a half-homer.
4 [4] Sacred pillar: the stone
massebah, originally perhaps a phallic symbol, representing Baal. These were
also used, with another signification, in Israelite worship; see notes on
⇒ Genesis 28:18; ⇒ Exodus
34:13. Ephod: an instrument used in consulting the deity; cf
⇒ 1 Sam 23:6-12;
⇒ 30:7; see notes on ⇒ Exodus
28:6, ⇒ 15-30. Household idols: images
regarded as the tutelary deities of the household; cf
⇒ Genesis 31:19; ⇒ Judges
17:5; ⇒ 18:14,
⇒ 17- 18.
5 [5] David, their king: the
messianic King of the Davidic line who will restore the kingdom of God's
people; cf ⇒ Jeremiah 23:5;
⇒ Ezekiel 34:23, ⇒ 24:
The last days: the messianic age.
6 [1-3] These verses (The number . .
. Ruhama) (transposed from Hosea 2) continue the conditional promise of
restoration made in ⇒ Hosea 3:1-5, reversing the dire
predictions of Hosea 1; the symbolic names now become names of honor: Jezreel,
"God sows"; Ammi, "my people"; Ruhama, "she is
pitied."
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