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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley.
• New Living Translation (NLT)So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.

Context of Hosea 3:2

1And the Lord said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins." So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3And I said to her, "You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you." 4For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.

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 31:41These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
• Genesis 34:12Ask me for as great a bride-price and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife."
• Exodus 22:17If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride-price for virgins.
• 1 Samuel 18:25Then Saul said, "Thus shall you say to David, 'The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies.'" Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
• Leviticus 27:16"If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
• Isaiah 5:10For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah."
• Ezekiel 45:11The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard 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