Hosea 2:23

Hosea 2:23. And I will sow Or plant, her unto me in the earth, &c. The original word, rendered sow, or plant, alludes to and explains the word Jezreel, or seed of God, as used Hosea 1:4; Hosea 1:11, and here in the foregoing verse. The prophet foretels a plentiful increase of true believers, like to that of corn sown in the earth; and represents the converted Jews as being the seed from which an abundant harvest of Gentile converts should arise. “The myriads of the natural Israel,” says Bishop Horsley, “converted by the preaching of the apostles, were the first seed of the universal church. And there is reason to believe, that the restoration of the converted Jews will be the occasion and means of a prodigious influx of new converts from the Gentiles in the latter ages, Romans 11:12; Romans 11:15. Thus the Jezreel of the natural Israel, from the first have been, and to the last will prove, a seed sown of God for himself in the earth.” I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy I will have mercy both on the Jews and Gentiles, who shall obey the gospel call, and become true converts to the Christian faith. This was in part fulfilled at the first preaching of the gospel, whether in Judea or in other countries: see Romans 9:24-26. But it shall receive a more perfect completion at the restoration of the Jews, and the coming in of the fulness of the Gentiles: compare Hosea 1:10-11.