Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Hosea » Chapter 3 » Verse 1

Hosea 3:1 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

1 Then said H559 the LORD H3068 unto me, Go H3212 yet, love H157 a woman H802 beloved H157 of her friend, H7453 yet an adulteress, H5003 according to the love H160 of the LORD H3068 toward the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 who look H6437 to other H312 gods, H430 and love H157 flagons H809 of wine. H6025

Cross Reference

Hosea 1:2-3 STRONG

The beginning H8462 of the word H1696 of the LORD H3068 by Hosea. H1954 And the LORD H3068 said H559 to Hosea, H1954 Go, H3212 take H3947 unto thee a wife H802 of whoredoms H2183 and children H3206 of whoredoms: H2183 for the land H776 hath committed great H2181 whoredom, H2181 departing from H310 the LORD. H3068 So he went H3212 and took H3947 Gomer H1586 the daughter H1323 of Diblaim; H1691 which conceived, H2029 and bare H3205 him a son. H1121

Jeremiah 3:12-14 STRONG

Go H1980 and proclaim H7121 these words H1697 toward the north, H6828 and say, H559 Return, H7725 thou backsliding H4878 Israel, H3478 saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 and I will not cause mine anger H6440 to fall H5307 upon you: for I am merciful, H2623 saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 and I will not keep H5201 anger for ever. H5769 Only acknowledge H3045 thine iniquity, H5771 that thou hast transgressed H6586 against the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and hast scattered H6340 thy ways H1870 to the strangers H2114 under every green H7488 tree, H6086 and ye have not obeyed H8085 my voice, H6963 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Turn, H7725 O backsliding H7726 children, H1121 saith H5002 the LORD; H3068 for I am married H1166 unto you: and I will take H3947 you one H259 of a city, H5892 and two H8147 of a family, H4940 and I will bring H935 you to Zion: H6726

Jeremiah 3:1-4 STRONG

They say, H559 If a man H376 put away H7971 his wife, H802 and she go H1980 from him, and become another H312 man's, H376 shall he return unto her again? H7725 shall not that land H776 be greatly H2610 polluted? H2610 but thou hast played the harlot H2181 with many H7227 lovers; H7453 yet return again H7725 to me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 Lift up H5375 thine eyes H5869 unto the high places, H8205 and see H7200 where H375 thou hast not been lien H7693 H7901 with. In the ways H1870 hast thou sat H3427 for them, as the Arabian H6163 in the wilderness; H4057 and thou hast polluted H2610 the land H776 with thy whoredoms H2184 and with thy wickedness. H7451 Therefore the showers H7241 have been withholden, H4513 and there hath been no latter rain; H4456 and thou hadst a whore's H2181 H802 forehead, H4696 thou refusedst H3985 to be ashamed. H3637 Wilt thou not from this time cry H7121 unto me, My father, H1 thou art the guide H441 of my youth? H5271

Hosea 9:1-2 STRONG

Rejoice H8055 not, O Israel, H3478 for joy, H1524 as other people: H5971 for thou hast gone a whoring H2181 from thy God, H430 thou hast loved H157 a reward H868 upon every cornfloor. H1637 H1715 The floor H1637 and the winepress H3342 shall not feed H7462 them, and the new wine H8492 shall fail H3584 in her.

Luke 1:54-55 STRONG

He hath holpen G482 his G846 servant G3816 Israel, G2474 in remembrance G3415 of his mercy; G1656 As G2531 he spake G2980 to G4314 our G2257 fathers, G3962 to Abraham, G11 and G2532 to his G846 seed G4690 for G1519 ever. G165

Micah 7:18-20 STRONG

Who is a God H410 like unto thee, that pardoneth H5375 iniquity, H5771 and passeth by H5674 the transgression H6588 of the remnant H7611 of his heritage? H5159 he retaineth H2388 not his anger H639 for ever, H5703 because he delighteth H2654 in mercy. H2617 He will turn again, H7725 he will have compassion H7355 upon us; he will subdue H3533 our iniquities; H5771 and thou wilt cast H7993 all their sins H2403 into the depths H4688 of the sea. H3220 Thou wilt perform H5414 the truth H571 to Jacob, H3290 and the mercy H2617 to Abraham, H85 which thou hast sworn H7650 unto our fathers H1 from the days H3117 of old. H6924

Isaiah 17:7-8 STRONG

At that day H3117 shall a man H120 look H8159 to his Maker, H6213 and his eyes H5869 shall have respect H7200 to the Holy H6918 One of Israel. H3478 And he shall not look H8159 to the altars, H4196 the work H4639 of his hands, H3027 neither shall respect H7200 that which his fingers H676 have made, H6213 either the groves, H842 or the images. H2553

Psalms 106:43-46 STRONG

Many H7227 times H6471 did he deliver H5337 them; but they provoked H4784 him with their counsel, H6098 and were brought low H4355 for their iniquity. H5771 Nevertheless he regarded H7200 their affliction, H6862 when he heard H8085 their cry: H7440 And he remembered H2142 for them his covenant, H1285 and repented H5162 according to the multitude H7230 of his mercies. H2617 He made H5414 them also to be pitied H7356 of H6440 all those that carried them captives. H7617

Nehemiah 9:18-19 STRONG

Yea, when they had made H6213 them a molten H4541 calf, H5695 and said, H559 This is thy God H430 that brought thee up H5927 out of Egypt, H4714 and had wrought H6213 great H1419 provocations; H5007 Yet thou in thy manifold H7227 mercies H7356 forsookest H5800 them not in the wilderness: H4057 the pillar H5982 of the cloud H6051 departed H5493 not from them by day, H3119 to lead H5148 them in the way; H1870 neither the pillar H5982 of fire H784 by night, H3915 to shew them light, H215 and the way H1870 wherein they should go. H3212

Deuteronomy 7:6-7 STRONG

For thou art an holy H6918 people H5971 unto the LORD H3068 thy God: H430 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath chosen H977 thee to be a special H5459 people H5971 unto himself, above all people H5971 that are upon the face H6440 of the earth. H127 The LORD H3068 did not set his love H2836 upon you, nor choose H977 you, because ye were more H7230 in number than any people; H5971 for ye were the fewest H4592 of all people: H5971

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Hosea 3


Chapter 3

God is still by the prophet inculcating the same thing upon this careless people, and much in the same manner as before, by a type or sign, that of the dealings of a husband with an adulterous wife. In this chapter we have,

  • I. The bad character which the people of Israel now had; they were, as is said of the Athenians (Acts 17:16), "wholly given to idolatry,' (v. 1).
  • II. The low condition which they should be reduced to by their captivity, and the other instances of God's controversy with them (v. 2-4).
  • III. The blessed reformation that should at length be wrought upon them in the latter days (v. 5).

Hsa 3:1-5

Some think that this chapter refers to Judah, the two tribes, as the adulteress the prophet married (ch. 1:3) represented the ten tribes; for this was not to be divorced, as the ten tribes were, but to be left desolate for a long time, and then to return, as the two tribes did. But these are called the children of Israel, which was the ten tribes, and therefore it is more probable that of them this parable, as well as that before, is to be understood. Go, and repeat it, says God to the prophet; Go yet again. Note, For the conviction and reduction of sinners it is necessary that precept be upon precept, and line upon line. If they will not believe one sign, try another, Ex. 4:8, 9. Now,

  • I. In this parable we may observe,
    • 1. God's goodness and Israel's badness strangely serving for a foil to each other, v. 1. Israel is as a woman beloved of her friend, either of him that has married her or of him that only courts her, and yet an adulteress; such is the case between God and Israel. We say of those whose affection is mutual that there is no love lost between them; but here we find a great deal of the love even of God himself lost and thrown away upon an unworthy ungrateful people. The God of Israel retains a very great love for the children of Israel, and yet they are an evil and adulterous generation. Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and wonder, O earth!
      • (1.) That God's goodness has not put an end to their badness; the Lord loves them, has a kindness for them, and is continually showing kindness to them; they know it, they cannot but own it, that he has been as a friend and Father to them; and yet they look to other gods, gods that they can see, and to the love of which they are drawn by the eye; they look to them with an eye of adoration (they offer up all their services to them) and with an eye of dependence (they expect all their comforts from them); if they were restrained from bowing the knee to idols, yet they gave them an amorous glance, and had eyes full of that spiritual adultery. And they loved flagons of wine; they joined with idolaters because they lived merrily and drank hard; they had a kindness for other gods for the sake of the plenty of good wine with which they had been sometimes treated in their temples. Idolatry and sensuality commonly go together; those that make a god of their belly, as drunkards do, will easily be brought to make a god of any thing else. God's priests were to drink no wine when they went in to minister, and his Nazarites none at all. But the worshippers of other gods drank wine in bowls; nay, no less than flagons of wine would content them.
      • (2.) That their badness had not stopped the current of his favours to them. This is a wonder of mercy indeed, that she is thus beloved of her friend, though an adulteress; such is the love of the Lord towards the children of Israel. "Go,' says God, "love such a woman; see if thou canst find in thy heart to do it. No, thou canst not, the breast of no man would admit such a love; yet such is my love to the children of Israel; it is love to the loveless, to the unlovely, to those that have a thousand times forfeited it.' Note, In God's goodwill to poor sinners his thoughts and ways are infinitely above ours, and his love is more condescending and compassionate than ours is, or can be; in this, as much as any thing, he is God, and not man, Hos. 11:9.
    • 2. The method found for the bringing of a God so very good and a people so very bad together again; this is the thing aimed at, and what God aims at he will accomplish. To our great surprise, we find a breach thus wide as the sea effectually healed; miracles cease not so long as divine mercy does not cease. Observe here,
      • (1.) The course God takes to humble them and make them know themselves (v. 2): I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer and a half of barley, that is, I courted her to be reconciled, to leave her ill courses, and return to her first husband, as ch. 2:14. I allured her, and spoke comfortably to her; as the Levite who went after his concubine that had played the harlot from him, and had run away with another man, spoke friendly to her, Jdg. 19:3. But here the present which the prophet brought her for the purchasing of her favour is observed to be a very small one; but it was all that was intended for her separate maintenance, and in it she is reduced to a short allowance, and, to punish her for her pride, is made to look very mean. When Samson went to be reconciled to his wife that had disobliged him he visited her with a kid (Jdg. 15:1), which was a genteel entertainment. But the prophet here visited his wife with fifteen pieces of silver, a small sum, which yet she must be content to live upon a great while, so long as till her husband thought fit to restore her to her first estate. She shall also have a homer and a half of barley, for bread-corn, and that is all she must expect till she be sufficiently humbled, and, by a competent time of trial, satisfactory proof given that she is indeed reformed. Let her be made sensible that it is not for her own merit that her husband makes court to her; it is but a lame price that he values her at. The price of a servant was thirty shekels, Ex. 21:32. This was but half so much; yet let her know that it is more than she is worth. God had given Egypt for Israel's ransom once, so precious were they then in his sight, and so honourable, Isa. 43:3, 4. But now that they have gone a whoring from him he will give but fifteen pieces of silver for them, so much have they lost in their value by their iniquity. Note, Those whom God designs honour and comfort for he first makes sensible of their own worthlessness, and brings them to acknowledge, with the prodigal, I am no more worthy to be called thy son. Time was when Israel was fed with the finest of the wheat, but they grew wanton, and loved flagons of wine, and therefore, in order to the humbling and reducing of them, they must be brought in the land of their captivity to eat barley-bread, and be thankful they can get it, and to eat that too by weight and measure, whereas they did not use to be stinted. Note, Poverty and disgrace sometimes prove a happy means of making great sinners true penitents.
      • (2.) The new terms upon which God is willing to come with them (v. 3): Thou shalt abide for me many days, and shalt not be for another, so will I be for thee. He might justly have given them a bill of divorce, and have resolved to have no more to do with them; but he is willing to show them kindness, and that the matter should be compromised; he deals not with them in strict justice, according to the rigour of the law, but according to the multitude of his mercies; and it represents God's gracious dealings with the apostate race of mankind, that had gone a whoring from him; he bought them indeed with an inestimable price, not for their honour, but for the honour of his own justice; and now this is the proposal he makes to them, the covenant of grace he is willing to enter into with them-they must be to him a people, and he will be to them a God, the same with the proposal here made to Israel.
        • [1.] They must take to themselves the shame of their apostasy from him, must submit to, and accept of, the punishment of their iniquity: Thou shalt abide for me many days in solitude and silence, as a widow that is desolate and in sorrow; they must lay aside their ornaments, and wait with patience and submission to know what God will do with them, and whether he will please to admit such unworthy wretches into his favour again, as they did Ex. 33:4, 5. Their father, their husband, has spit in their face (as God said concerning Miriam), has put them under the marks of his displeasure, and therefore, like her, they must be ashamed seven days, and be shut out of the camp (Num. 12:14), till their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, Lev. 26:41. Let them sit alone and keep silence, waiting for the salvation of the Lord, and in the mean time let them bear the yoke, Lam. 3:26-28. Let them not expect that God should speedily return in mercy to them,; no, let them want it, let them wait for it many days, during all the days of their captivity, and reckon it a miracle of mercy, and well worth waiting for, it if come at last. Note, Those whom God designs mercy for he will first bring to abase themselves and to put a high value upon his favours.
        • [2.] They must never return to folly again; that is the condition upon which God will speak peace to his people and to his saints (Ps. 85:8), and no other. "Thou shalt not play the harlot, shalt not worship idols in the land of thy captivity, while thou art there set apart for the uncleanness.' Note, It is not enough to take shame to ourselves for the sins we have committed, and to justify God in correcting us for them, but we must resolve, in the strength of God's grace, that we will not offend any more, that we will not again go a whoring from God, after the world and the flesh. Blessed be God, though it is the law of the covenant, it is not the condition of it that we shall never in any thing do amiss: "But thou shalt not play the harlot; thou shalt not serve other gods, shalt not be for another man.' In the land of their captivity they would be courted to worship the idols of the country; that would be a trial for them, a long trial, many days: "But if thou keep thy ground, and hold fast thy integrity, if, when all this comes upon thee, thou dost not stretch out thy hand to a strange god, thou wilt be qualified for the returns of God's favour.' Note, It is a certain sign that our afflictions are means of much good to us, and earnests of more, when we are kept by the grace of God from being overcome by the temptations of an afflicted state.
        • [3.] Upon these terms their Maker will again be their husband: So will I also be for thee. This is the covenant between God and returning sinners, that, if they will be for him to serve him, he will be for them to save them. Let them renounce and abjure all rivals with God for the throne in the heart, and devote themselves entirely to him and him only, and he will be to them a God all-sufficient. If we be faithful and constant to God in a way of duty, and will never leave nor forsake him, he will be so to us in a way of mercy, and will never leave nor forsake us. And a fairer proposal could not be made.
  • II. In the last two verses we have the interpretation of the parable and the application of it to Israel.
    • 1. They must long sit like a widow, stripped of all their joys and honours, Lam. 4:1, 2. They shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince; and a nation in this condition may well be called a widow. They want the blessing,
      • (1.) Of civil government: They shall abide without a king, and without a prince, of their own. There were kings and princes over them to oppress them and rule them with rigour, but they had no king nor prince to protect them, to fight their battles for them, to administer justice to them, and to take care of their common safety and welfare. Note, Magistracy is a very great blessing to a people, and it is a sad and sore judgment to want it.
      • (2.) Of public worship: They shall abide without a sacrifice, and without an image (or a statue, or pillar; the word is used concerning the pillars Jacob erected, Gen. 28:18; 31:45; 35:20), and without an ephod and teraphim. The teraphim being here closely joined to the ephod, some thing the urim and thummim were meant by it in the breast-plate of the high priest. The meaning is that in their captivity they should not only have no face of a nation upon them, but no face of a church; they should not have (as a learned expositor speaks) liberty of any public profession or exercise of religion, either true or false, according to their choice. They shall have no sacrifice or altar (so the Septuagint), and therefore no sacrifice because no altar. They shall have no ephod, nor teraphim, no legal priesthood, no means of knowing God's mind, no oracle to consult in doubtful cases, but shall be all in the dark. Note, The case of those is very melancholy that are deprived of all opportunities to worship God in public. This was the case of the Jews in their captivity; and it is so far the case of the scattered Jews at this day that, though they have their synagogues, they have no temple-service. Desolate indeed is their condition that are shut out from communion with God, that have no opportunity of directing their addresses to God by sacrifice and altar, and of receiving instruction from him by ephod and teraphim.
    • 2. They shall at length be received again as a wife (v. 5): Afterwards, in process of time, when they have gone through this discipline, they shall return, that is, they shall repent of their idolatries and forsake them, they shall apply themselves to God and adhere to him, and herein they shall be accepted of him. Two things are here promised as instances of their return, and steps towards their acceptance with God in their return:-
      • (1.) The enquiries they shall make after God: They shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king. Note, Those that would find God, and find favour with him, must seek him, must ask after him, covet acquaintance with him, desire to be reconciled to him, set their love on him, and labour in this that they may be accepted of him. Their seeking him implies that they had lost him, that they were lamenting their loss, and that they were solicitous to retrieve what they had lost. They shall seek him as their God; for should not a people seek unto their God? And they shall seek David their King, who can be no other than the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the root and offspring of David, whom David himself called Lord (Ps. 110:1), and to whom God gave the throne of his father David, Lu. 1:32. The Chaldee reads it, They shall seek the service of the Lord their God, and shall obey Messiah, the Son of David their king. Compare this with Jer. 30:9; Eze. 34:23; 37:25. Note, Those that would seek the Lord so as to find him must apply to Jesus Christ, and must seek to him as their King, and become his willing people, and take an oath of fealty and allegiance to him.
      • (2.) The reverence they shall have of God: They shall fear the Lord and his goodness. Some by his goodness here understand the temple, towards which they shall look, in worshipping God. The Jews say, There were three things which Israel cast off in the days of Rehoboam-the kingdom of heaven, the family of David, and the house of the sanctuary; and it will never be well with them till they return, and seek them all three, which is here promised. They shall seek the kingdom of heaven in the Lord their God, the royal family in David their King, and the temple in the goodness of the Lord. Others by his goodness understand Christ, the same with David their King. But it is rather to be taken for that attribute of God which he showed as his glory, and by which he proclaimed his name. Note, It is not only the Lord and his greatness that we are to fear, but the Lord and his goodness, not only his majesty, but his mercy. They shall flee for fear to the Lord and his goodness (so some take it), shall flee to it as their city of refuge. We must fear God's goodness, that is, we must admire it, and stand amazed at it, must adore it, and worship as Moses did at the proclaiming of this name, Ex. 34:6. We must be afraid of offending his goodness, of making any ungrateful returns for it, and so forfeiting it. There is forgiveness with God, that he may be feared, Ps. 130:4. We must rejoice with trembling in the goodness of God, must not be high-minded, but fear. Now this promise had its accomplishment when by the gospel of Christ great multitudes both of Jews and Gentiles were brought home to God, and incorporated in the New-Testament church, served God in Christ, with a filial fear of divine grace, and were accepted of God as his Israel. And some think it is to be yet further accomplished in the conversion of those Jews to the faith of Christ who shall remain in unbelief, when they shall seek their Messiah as David their King, and by him all Israel shall be saved, when the fulness of the Gentiles is brought in. Time was when they sought him to put him to death, saying, We have no king but Caesar; but the day is coming when they shall seek him to appoint him their head, and to lay their necks under his yoke. He that has here promised that they shall do it will enable them to do it, and bring about this great work in his own way and time, in the latter days of the last times, the times of the Messiah: but, alas! who shall live when God does this? How far we are to expect a general conversion of that nation I cannot say; but I am sure we ought to pray that the Jews may be converted.