Hosea 2:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 2:1-5

The first words of this chapter some make the close of the foregoing chapter, and add them to the promises which we have here of the great things God would do for them. When they shall have appointed Christ their head, and centered in him, then let them say to one another, with triumph and exultation (let the prophets say it to them, so the Chaldee?Comfort you, comfort you, my people, is now their commission), ?say to them, Ammi, and Ruhamah; call them so again, for they shall no longer lie... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 2:3

Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born ,.... Alluding to the case of an infant when born, which comes naked into the world; and referring to the state and condition of the Israelites in Egypt, which was the time of their nativity, as a people and church; see Ezekiel 16:4 , and when they were in a state of servitude and bondage, and had no wealth and substance, and without possessions and lands, and had no country of their own to inhabit; and signifying that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 2:3

Lest I strip her naked - Lest I expose her to infamy, want, and punishment. The punishment of an adulteress among the ancient Germans was this: "They shaved off her hair, stripped her naked in the presence of her relatives, and in this state drove her from the house of her husband." See on Isaiah 3:17 ; (note); and see also Ezekiel 16:39 ; Ezekiel 23:26 . However reproachful this might be to such delinquents, it had no tendency to promote their moral reformation. And set her like a... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 2:3

Verse 3 Though the Prophet in this verse severely threatens the Israelites, yet it appears from a full view of the whole passage, that he mitigates the sentence we have explained: for by declaring what sort of vengeance was suspended over them, except they timely repented, he shows that there was some hope of pardon remaining, which, as we shall see, he expresses afterwards more clearly. He now begins by saying, Lest I strip her naked, and set her as on the day of her nativity This alone would... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 2:2-5

The prophet exhibits the gross sin of idolatry. The prophet in this section exposes the shame as well as sin of idolatry. It is a mistaken notion to suppose, with some, that the tribe of Judah is here urged to plead with the tribes of Israel; for Israel cannot, with any propriety of speech or figure, be spoken of as the mother in this case, however possibly they may be addressed as brethren and sisters. The Church or nation is the mother, and the individual members, as nursed and brought up... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 2:2-5

Spiritual adultery. The individuals of the nation are exhorted to plead with their mother Israel, that she may turn from her adulterous courses, and so avert the doom which is otherwise certain to overtake her . Consider— I. ISRAEL 'S SHAMELESS PROFLIGACY . ( Hosea 2:2 , Hosea 2:5 ) The sin charged against Israel is that of adultery, in her relations with Jehovah. Owing to the peculiarity of these relations, the sin was of a specially aggravated kind. 1. The people had... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 2:2-7

Jehovah's condemnation of faithless Israel. In Hosea 1:1-11 . the prophet has Fainted a "vigorous fresco" (Ewald) illustrative of his domestic sorrows. And now he presents an explanation of the sad picture in its prophetic meaning. The supreme thought of the Book of Hosea is that of Jehovah's conjugal love for Israel, which she by her unfaithfulness had so foully dishonored. Here, in Hosea 2:1-23 ; accordingly, we have an allegory suggested by the prophet's symbolic marriage with Gomer;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 2:3

Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born. The Lord, by his servant the prophet, enforces the preceding exhortation by a stern denunciation, and the threat of further severities unless averted by repentance; as an injured husband withdraws from a faithless wife all the gifts and presents he had made for her adornment, leaving her poor and bare. Not only the removal of her garments by way of degradation and disgrace, but exposure in that position to insult and... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Hosea 2:3

Lest I strip her naked - “There is an outward visible nakedness and an inward, which is invisible. The invisible nakedness is, when the soul within is bared of the glory and the grace of God.” The visible nakedness is the privation of God’s temporal and visible gifts, the goods of this world, or outward distinction. God’s inward gifts the sinful soul or nation despises, while those outward gifts she prizes. And therefore, when the soul parts with the inward ornaments of God’s grace, He strips... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Hosea 2:3

Hosea 2:3. Lest I strip her naked, &c. The punishment frequently inflicted upon harlots was, to strip them naked and expose them to the world. The punishment of adulteresses among the Germans is thus described by Tacitus, “Accisis crinibus nudatam coram propinguis expellit domo maritus.” Or the allusion may be to the ignominy which brutal conquerors sometimes inflicted on the captives they took in war, by stripping them of their clothing and causing them to travel in that condition,... read more

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