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Hosea 1:2-4
New Catholic Bible
Hosea 1:2-4
New Catholic Bible
The Marriage of Hosea Is a Symbol[a]
The Harlot and Her Children[b]
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea:
“Go forth and take a harlot for a wife,
and father children of harlotry,
for the people have devoted themselves to adultery
and turned away from the Lord.”
3 Therefore, Hosea went forth and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the Lord said to him:
“Name the boy Jezreel,
for in a short time
I will punish the house of Jehu
for the blood shed at Jezreel,
and I will bring an end to the kingdom
of the house of Israel.
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:2 A prophet proclaims his message not only by what he says but also by what he does and by the way he lives. Hosea becomes a sign by reason of his strange and painful marital history and also by reason of the provocative names that he gives to his children. We are given two accounts of his marriage; these repeat and complete each other. His married life is a kind of parable of the history of Israel. God is attached to his people with a passion that resembles that of a husband; as time passes, Israel increasingly betrays the covenant by seeking to find its happiness in the many Canaanite fertility cults. Degradation leads to a complete break, but God cannot forever abandon his own; one day they will return and enjoy a new life. The Lord remains faithful, despite the continuing infidelity of the people.
- Hosea 1:2 Gomer was perhaps a sacral prostitute at some high place, or perhaps simply a young girl who vowed herself to the god Baal in order to become fertile. She represents here the situation of the country and its children, who have been contaminated by the worship of false gods. Even the name given to the children symbolizes the threat that hangs over Israel and the royal house. At Jezreel, royal residence of the northern kingdom, Jehu had ordered the massacre, in 841 B.C., of all the descendants of the wicked King Ahab (see 2 Ki 9–10). The new dynasty has likewise become unfaithful, and King Zechariah will pay for his misdeeds with his life after only a six months’ rule. The bow (v. 5), that is, the military power, will be broken in 732 B.C., by Tiglath-pileser III, who turns the Transjordan area and Galilee into Assyrian provinces. Contrary to all custom, the name of Hosea’s second child is a negative one, signifying the end, at least provisionally, of God’s mercy. The name of the third child signifies the complete break.
