Tree of Life Version
Hosea 3:2
2So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and an omer and a half of barley.
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 Adonai said to me: “Go again! Love a woman who is loved by a companion and committing adultery—just as Adonai has loved the Bnei-Yisrael, while they were turning to other gods and loving raisin cakes.” So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver and an omer and a half of barley. 3Then I said to her: “For many days you must stay with me. You must not practice prostitution. You must not have a man, and I will be the same toward you.” 4For Bnei-Yisrael will remain for many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without sacred pillar, and without ephod or teraphim.
Read all of Hosea 3Hosea 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 31:41This is how it’s been for me twenty years in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flocks—and you changed my salary ten times!
- Genesis 34:12Set the dowry and the presents as high as you like and I’ll give whatever you say to me. But give me the young woman as a wife.”
- Exodus 22:17“You must not permit a sorceress to live.
- 1 Samuel 18:25Then Saul said, “Thus you will say to David, ‘The king desires no bridal dowry except 100 foreskins of the Philistines—to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” So Saul schemed to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
- Leviticus 27:16“If one consecrates to Adonai part of the field of his possession, then your valuation is to be in proportion to the seed to sow it: an omer of barley at 50 shekels of silver.
- Isaiah 5:10Ten acres of vineyard will yield six gallons, and an omer of seed will yield one ephah.
- Ezekiel 45:11The dry and liquid measure will be of a uniform measure: the bath will contain a tenth part of a homer, and the ephah a tenth part of a homer; the standard measure will be 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
In the dictionaries
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
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Commentaries