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 said Yhwh unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of Yhwh toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: 3And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. 4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:

Hosea 3:2 word by word

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

• 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 31:41Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
• Genesis 34:12Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.
• Exodus 22:17If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
• 1 Samuel 18:25And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
• Leviticus 27:16And if a man shall sanctify unto Yhwh some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.
• Isaiah 5:10Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
• Ezekiel 45:11The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and the ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer.

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