Hosea 3:2

Hosea 3:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
• New International Version (NIV)So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley.

Context of Hosea 3:2

1Then the Lord said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and nine bushels of barley. 3I said to her, “You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.” 4For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols.

Hosea 3:2 word by word

וָאֶכְּרֶ֣הָ לִּ֔י בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֥ה עָשָׂ֖ר כָּ֑סֶף וְחֹ֥מֶר שְׂעֹרִ֖ים וְלֵ֥תֶךְ שְׂעֹרִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• So I boughtכָּרָהkârâh · to tradeH3739
• her to me for fifteenחָמֵשׁchâmêsh chămishshâh · fiveH2568
• her to me for fifteenעָשָׂר‛âώâr · tenH6240
• of silverכֶּ֫סֶףkeseph · silver: moneyH3701
• an homerחֹ֫מֶרchômer · homerH2563
• of barleyשְׂעֹרָהώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôrâh ώe‛ôr ώe‛ôr · barleyH8184
• and an half homerלֶ֫תֶךְlethek · a barley-measureH3963

Cross-references for Hosea 3:2

• Genesis 31:41For twenty years in your household I served you — fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks — and you have changed my wages ten times!
• Genesis 34:12Demand of me a high compensation and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!”
• Exodus 22:17If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must pay an amount in silver equal to the bridal price for virgins.
• 1 Samuel 18:25Then Saul replied, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price except a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Actually, Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.
• Leviticus 27:16“If a man consecrates to the Lord any part of a field that he possesses, your assessment of value will be proportional to the seed needed to sow it, at the rate of fifty silver shekels for every six bushels of barley seed.
• Isaiah 5:10For a ten-acre vineyard will yield only six gallons of wine, and ten bushels of seed will yield only one bushel of grain.
• Ezekiel 45:11The dry measure and the liquid measure will be uniform, with the liquid measure containing 5½ gallons and the dry measure holding half a bushel. Their measurement will be a tenth of the standard larger capacity measure.

Commentaries on Hosea 3:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Fifteen pieces of silver - If they were shekels, the price of this woman was about two pounds five shillings. A homer of barley - As the homer was about eight bushels, or something more, the homer and half was about twelve or thirteen bushels.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver - The fifteen shekels were half the price of a common slave Exodus 21:32, and so may denote her worthlessness. The homer and half-homer of barley, or forty-five bushels, are nearly the allowance of food for a slave among the Romans, four bushels a month. Barley was the offering of one accused of adultery, and, being the food of animals, betokens that she was “like horse and mule which have no…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2So I bought her: The Bible does not explain why the prophet had to buy his wife. Many believe that the unfaithful Gomer fell into debt and became a slave. The low price Hosea paid suggests that Gomer was seen as a low-value slave (see Exodus 21:32; Leviticus 27:4).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. I bought her--The price paid is too small to be a probable dowry wherewith to buy a wife from her parents; but it is just half the price of a female slave, in money, the rest of the price being made up in grain (Ex 21:32). Hosea pays this for the redemption of his wife, who has become the slave of her paramour. The price being half grain was because the latter was the allowance of food for the slave, and of the coarsest kind, not wheat, but barley…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 3:2

• Barley
• Marriage
• Measure
• Polygamy
• Symbols and Similitudes

In the dictionaries

• Homer
• Marriage
• Dowry
• Gomer (2)
• Hosea
• Lethech
• Song of Songs
• Zechariah, Book of
• Piece of Silver
• Weights and Measures

Commentaries on Hosea 3

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings