Hosea 2:15

15. From thence As soon as Jehovah has succeeded in speaking to her heart, as soon as she has come to her senses and is ready to appreciate the intimate relation formerly enjoyed, she will be led forth from the wilderness, and immediately upon leaving from thence the vineyards, which had been taken away (Hosea 2:12), will be restored.

Valley of Achor The place where Achan was stoned (Joshua 7:26), meaning “valley of troubling.” A very disheartening experience in the early days of the conquest. This is to become a door of hope The first Israelites entered upon the conquest of the promised land with a disheartening experience. Not so the restored community; the first experiences will be bright, an earnest of the good things to come.

Sing R.V., “make answer.” If the translation of A.V. is correct, the allusion is probably to the song of triumph in Exodus 15:0. That was sung in her youth The time of the Exodus (Exodus 11:1). The new Exodus will again fill her heart with singing. The verb is literally “answer,” and might be used of the antiphonal singing (compare Exodus 15:21). In this connection antiphonal singing seems to be out of place; yet R.V. is to be preferred. Israel, seeing the renewed mercies of Jehovah, will respond to the divine love as formerly. This interpretation gives an acceptable sense (compare Hosea 2:21-22), but leaves a grammatical peculiarity. To remove this Buhl suggests changing one letter of the verb, so that it will read, “and she shall go up thither” to the door of hope as she did at the time of the Exodus.

As a result of this re-established union Israel’s tendency to turn to the Baalim will be eradicated. This is the thought of Hosea 2:16-17. It would remain the thought of 17 even if 16 should be an interpolation. The chief objection to Hosea 2:16 Wellhausen expresses as follows: “Was Jehovah addressed at any time by Israel as Baali my Master? Does Hosea really hope that instead he will now be addressed as Ishi my husband?”

Baali Originally a common noun, meaning master, lord, and even husband; as such it might legitimately be applied to Jehovah. The present religious condition in Israel showed how difficult it was to maintain the proper distinction between Jehovah and the Baalim of the land. This confusion was increased by the application of the ambiguous Baal to Jehovah. As Von Orelli says, “In every age ambiguous language has helped to distort religion.” In the regenerated future all religious danger must be removed, including the application of the name Baal, obnoxious to Jehovah only because of its association with foreign cults. This feeling is also responsible for the change of proper names such as Ish-baal (1 Chronicles 8:33; 1 Chronicles 9:39) into Ishbosheth (2 Samuel 2:8; 2 Samuel 3:7).

Ishi My husband, with practically the same meaning as Baali; it is to be substituted because it is without unpleasant associations. That the Baalim are to be forgotten is taught in Hosea 2:17; Hosea 2:16 is an attempt to express the same truth in a vivid and forceful manner, and a literal interpretation need not be pressed. The objection of Wellhausen, indorsed by Marti, is therefore not convincing. The latter weakens the text by emending it so as to read, “And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, that she shall call to her husband (that is, Jehovah) and she shall not call to her Baalim.”

At that day When the old-time relation becomes re-established. The change in person, from third to second and back to third, due to emotion and excitement, is not uncommon in prophetic discourse (G.-K., 144p). Names of [“the”]

Baalim The proper names of the various Baalim are not known; they were distinguished from one another by the addition of the name of their special locality (Hosea 9:10).

Remembered Better, with R.V., “mentioned” (Exodus 23:13; Zechariah 13:2).