Amplified Bible
Hosea 1:2
2When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by not following the Lord.”
Hosea 1:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord."
- New King James Version (NKJV)When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the Lord.”
Context of Hosea 1:2
1The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel. When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and have children of [her] prostitution; for the land commits great acts of prostitution by not following the Lord.” 3So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4And the Lord said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for yet in a little while I will avenge the blood [that was shed in the Valley] of Jezreel and inflict the punishment for it on the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Read all of Hosea 1Hosea 1:2 word by word
תְּחִלַּ֥ת דִּבֶּר־יְהוָ֖ה בְּהוֹשֵׁ֑עַ פ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־הוֹשֵׁ֗עַ לֵ֣ךְ קַח־לְךָ֞ אֵ֤שֶׁת זְנוּנִים֙ וְיַלְדֵ֣י זְנוּנִ֔ים כִּֽי־זָנֹ֤ה תִזְנֶה֙ הָאָ֔רֶץ מֵֽאַחֲרֵ֖י יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- The beginningתְּחִלָּהtechillâh · beginningH8462
- of the wordדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- by Hoseaהוֹשֵׁעַhôshêa‛ · HoseaH1954
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
- takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: marryH3947
- unto thee a wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- of whoredomsזְנוּנִיםzânûn · fornicationH2183
- and childrenיֶ֫לֶדyeled · youthH3206
- for the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- hath committed greatזָנָהzânâh · to fornicateH2181
- fromאַחַר'achar · afterH310
Cross-references for Hosea 1:2
- Mark 1:1The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- Hosea 3:1Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman (Gomer) who is beloved by her husband and yet is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes [used in the feasts in pagan worship].”
- Isaiah 20:2at that time the Lord spoke through Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, untie the sackcloth from your hips and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking around stripped [to his loincloth] and barefoot.
- Jeremiah 13:1Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.”
- Ezekiel 4:1“Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you and inscribe on it [a diagram of] the city of Jerusalem.
- Hosea 2:4Also, I will have no mercy on her children, Because they are the children of prostitution.
- 2 Peter 2:14They have eyes full of adultery, constantly looking for sin, enticing and luring away unstable souls. Having hearts trained in greed, [they are] children of a curse.
- Exodus 34:15otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the prostitute with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat his sacrifice (meal),
- Deuteronomy 31:16The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down [in death] with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the prostitute (commit apostasy) with the foreign gods [of the people] of the land, where they go to be among them. They will abandon (turn away from) Me and break My covenant which I have made with them.
- 2 Chronicles 21:13but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful [to God] as the house of Ahab was unfaithful, and you have also murdered your brothers, your father’s house (your own family), who were better than you,
- Psalms 73:27For behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful and have abandoned You.
- Psalms 106:39In this way they became unclean in their practices; They played the prostitute in their own deeds [by giving their worship, which belongs to God alone, to other “gods”].
- Jeremiah 2:13“For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned (rejected) Me, The fountain of living water, And they have carved out their own cisterns, Broken cisterns That cannot hold water.
- Jeremiah 3:1That is to say, “If a man divorces his wife And she goes [away] from him And becomes another man’s [wife], Will he return to her again? [Of course not!] Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated? But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me.” says the Lord.
- Ezekiel 6:9Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be exiled, how I have been broken by their lewdness and their adulterous hearts which have turned away from Me, and by their eyes which lust after their idols; and they will loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed, for all their repulsive acts.
- Ezekiel 16:1Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Commentaries on Hosea 1:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2A wife of whoredoms - That is, says Newcome, a wife from among the Israelites, who were remarkable for spiritual fornication, or idolatry. God calls himself the husband of Israel; and this chosen nation owed him the fidelity of a wife. See Exodus 34:15; Deuteronomy 31:16; Judges 2:17; Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 31:32, Ezekiel 16:17; Ezekiel 23:5, Ezekiel 23:27; Hosea 2, Hosea 5:1-15; Revelation 17:1, Revelation 17:2. He therefore says, with…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea or in Hosea - God first revealed Himself and His mysteries to the prophet‘s soul, by His secret inspiration, and then declared, through him, to others, what He had deposited in him. God enlightened him, and then others through the light in him. And the Lord said unto Hosea - For this thing was to be done by Hosea alone, because God had commanded it, not by others of their own mind. To Isaiah God first…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3a prostitute: Some find it hard to believe that God would tell a prophet to marry a prostitute. Because of this, many interpret this story symbolically. Early church members often thought the marriage did not actually happen. They saw it as an allegory, with Hosea representing the Lord and Gomer representing Israel. Today, most believe the marriage was real, but they have different views on Gomer’s job before marriage. Some think Gomer was a regular…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. beginning--not of the prophet's predictions generally, but of those spoken by Hosea. take ... wife of whoredoms--not externally acted, but internally and in vision, as a pictorial illustration of Israel's unfaithfulness [Hengstenberg]. Compare Eze 16:8, 15, &c. Besides the loathsomeness of such a marriage, if an external act, it would require years for the birth of three children, which would weaken the symbol (compare Eze 4:4). Henderson objects that…Read the comment
Topics related to Hosea 1:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Hosea 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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