Hosea 1:3-4

Hosea obediently married Gomer (probably meaning "completion"), the daughter of Diblaim ("fig cakes"). She bore Hosea a son whom the Lord told the prophet to name "Jezreel." The Lord also prescribed the names of Isaiah’s sons (Isaiah 7:3; Isaiah 8:3-4), Messiah (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6), and many other entities. He also assigned the symbolic names Oholah and Oholibah to Samaria and Jerusalem (Ezekiel 23). The name "Jezreel" means "God sows" (by scattering seed), but it was not just the meaning of the name that was significant in this case but also the associations with the town in Israel that bore that name.

Each section on Hosea’s children (Hosea 1:3-9) contains a birth notice, a word of instruction from the Lord about the child’s name, and an explanation of the meaning of the name. The names of Hosea’s children all reminded everyone who heard them of the broken relationship that existed between Yahweh and Israel, and each one anticipated judgment.

It was at Jezreel that King Jehu of Israel (841-814 B.C.) had massacred many enemies of Israel, including King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel, King Jehoram of Israel, and many prophets of Baal, which was good (cf. 2 Kings 9:6-10; 2 Kings 9:24; 2 Kings 10:18-28; 2 Kings 10:30). But he also killed King Ahaziah of Judah and 42 of his relatives, which was bad (2 Kings 9:27-28; 2 Kings 10:12-14). Ahaziah and his relatives did not die in Jezreel, but their deaths were part of Jehu’s wholesale slaughter at Jezreel. Jehu went too far and thereby demonstrated disrespect for the Lord’s commands (cf. 2 Kings 10:29-31).

Because of Jehu’s atrocities that overstepped his authority to judge Israel’s enemies, God promised to punish his house (dynasty). [Note: Ibid., p. 20.] The fulfillment came when Shallum assassinated King Zechariah, Jeroboam II’s son and the fourth king of Jehu’s dynasty, in 753-752 B.C. This death ended Jehu’s kingdom (dynasty) forever (2 Kings 15:10). Another view is that the reference to putting an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel refers to the demise of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. [Note: Wood, "Hosea," p. 171.] It is very difficult to determine if the word rendered "kingdom" should be translated "kingdom" (Heb. mamlekat) or "kingship" (mamlekut). When Hosea wrote, the Hebrew alphabet only had consonants, no vowels.