Hosea 3:1

This short chapter is one of the most important passages in the whole prophecy. It completes the presentation of Hosea's domestic life as an analogy depicting the prophecy of God's relationship with the state of Israel, the second part of the analogy, that of God's relationship to his divorced bride, being founded upon that of Hosea's behavior toward Gomer after their divorce. Thus, the event of the prophet's purchase of Gomer after she became a slave occurs in the narrative just exactly at the right place the more perfectly to present that analogy. All of the fiddling with these chapters (Hosea 1-3) which has been engaged in by scholars attributing this or that verse to some nameless "redactor," or by revising the order of the chapters, or shifting the date of the whole prophecy as a means of getting rid of his reference to future events, - all that, is due simply to a failure to read the message and understand it. These three chapters, concluding with this brief one, are as logically written, intricately coordinated, and as dogmatically confirmed by the history of nearly three millenniums, as any sacred text ever treasured by the human race. The reason why some cannot understand Hosea 3 is that they missed the point in Hosea 2, which was the divorce, depicting God's repudiation of Israel as "the chosen people." No, that was not the end of God's relationship with Israel, that being depicted in the events of this chapter as the status, not of a wife, but as that of a slave without any conjugal relationship whatever with God whom Israel had rejected, a status that would continue until the times (in the latter days) of the new marriage, not with the old and discredited whore, but with the new bride, the church of Jesus Christ!

From this, it is perfectly clear that Hosea 3 belongs where it is, after the divorce and the prophecy of the new marriage to be fulfilled in the times of the Messiah. Furthermore, the indefinite period when Gomer was under her husband's control, but without any of her former privileges, accurately depicts the history of Israel (especially that of the northern kingdom, but also that of Judah) for long centuries afterward. The inter-testamental period in which Israel had no prophet (there is a gap of centuries between the Old Testament and the New Testament), no king, and throughout which period they were usually subjugated to hostile states, such as Rome, shows the literal fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy; and, as far as the "hardened Israel" of the present dispensation is concerned, their status throughout history to the present time has remained the same ever since. It is of very special significance that in this chapter, no reconciliation appears; there is no acceptance of Gomer into any conjugal relationship with Hosea; there is certainly no new marriage, nor any resumption of the old one. How incredible are the comments of scholars who speak glibly of such things as realities. The status of Israel continues exactly as that of Gomer in the condition where the sacred narrative rings down the curtain, leaving her a slave in the house of her former husband, who nevertheless continued to love her and yearn for her return! The analogy in that state is exactly that depicted in the parable of the Prodigal Son, where the Father, as the story ends, is still pleading with the heartless elder brother to partake of the feast!

Hosea 3:1

"And Jehovah said unto me, Go again, love a woman loved of her friend, and an adulteress, even as Jehovah loveth the children of Israel, though they turn unto other gods, and love cakes of raisins."

"Jehovah said unto me ..." Hosea makes it clear throughout that the words and actions recorded here were not from himself but from the God of heaven.

"Go again, love a woman ..." The word "again" in this passage requires the understanding of the event recorded as sequential with what has already been related. If God had meant for Hosea to love another woman not previously mentioned, there could not be assigned any appropriate meaning for "again."

"Loved of her friend ..." Some have tried to make out that the friend loved by the woman here was her husband; but as Dummelow noted, any such interpretation "involves a clumsy tautology."[1]

"And an adulteress ..." The woman in focus here is one who has violated her marriage covenant. Moreover, the "love" in view here was nothing to be compared with the love of God which is forcefully contrasted with it in this very verse. If we understand the "friend" here to be the same as the "lovers" in Hosea 1:13, it would refer to the attachment which the pagan priesthood of the Baalim had for Israel, through which relationship the pagan structure enjoyed all their wealth, preferment, and licentious luxury. No doubt, Israel was useful to that society; and she was loved of them in the same sense that the farmer may be said to love his cattle or his swine.

"As Jehovah loveth the children of Israel ..." Note the word "as." It was a far different thing to love Gomer as Hosea did, and a far different thing for God to love Israel as he did (and does). No love of the "friend" could be compared to this.

"Though they turn unto other gods ..." There is a stern echo of the first commandment of the Decalogue in this, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The overriding nature of Israel's apostasy was distinctly a religious thing.

"And love cakes of raisins ..." "These were delicacies made of flour and pressed raisins, figuratively representing the idolatrous worship."[2] Most of the scholars stress the fact of these "goodies" being a symbol of the sensuality and carnal desires associated with paganism; but we believe there is an even more significant connection. The customary price paid by those frequenting the pagan shrines and given in exchange for the use of their so-called priestesses in fornication was simply the "raisin cakes" mentioned here. Thus, it was the love of Israel for the gross sensuality of the pagan cult which formed the principal motivation for their departure from the Lord.

"Go...and love ..." How was it possible for Hosea to fulfill this commandment? Certainly, he could not have loved Gomer with the same emotional passion for her which might have existed at first. As Morgan said, "He did not go after Gomer because he loved her, but because God sent him."[3] Surely, there must be an element of truth in such an observation. And yet, Hosea's obedience to God in his recovery of Gomer from slavery was supercharged with the very essence of love in the highest and best sense.

Who was this "woman" mentioned so dramatically in this verse? We shall not bother with the interpretations which make the whole incident to be merely a parable, nor with the notion that this is a recapitulation of Hosea's "taking" Gomer in Hosea 1, nor with the proposition that this woman must be another person totally different from Gomer. None of such guesses at the meaning here carry any conviction whatever. The woman here is undoubtedly Gomer. Many scholars have discerned this:

The woman was evidently Gomer.[4] Hosea is urged here to continue loving a woman, Gomer.[5] In the light of the meaning of the symbolism, who could the woman be but Gomer?[6] Hosea redeems Gomer, symbolizing God's dealings with adulterous Israel ending in the Messianic blessings.[7] "The woman can only be Gomer."[8]

Harper has taken the lead in affirming and defending this understanding of who the woman is, giving the following reasons why she can be none other than Gomer:

"The prophet was compelled by his love for Gomer, faithless as she was, to purchase her, out of the depths of infamy into which she had fallen, at the price of a slave. This is true because: (1) she is described as an adulteress (one who has broken her marriage vows), (2) The use of "her" (Hosea 3:2) refers to a particular woman. If this is a different woman (from the one in Hosea 1), why is not some reference made to the fact? (3) She plays the part in the parallelism with Israel, represented by Gomer."[9]