Oséias 1:2-5

2b-5. The marriage of Hosea and the birth of the first child. 2.

Take… a wife Common expression for marry.

A wife of whoredoms Not harlot, that is, a woman already a sinner, whether in a literal or a spiritual sense (Hosea 2:5), but a woman with deeply rooted tendencies toward unchastity (Introduction, pp. 12ff.).

Children of whoredoms Either children inheriting the mother’s evil tendencies, or children born of a woman with such tendencies, or both (Hosea 2:4).

The land hath committed [“doth commit”] great whoredom The reason for leading the prophet into this peculiar experience. By his own domestic life he was to apprehend more clearly the relation of Jehovah to Israel. As the prophet in his later life meditated over his own sad experience he recognized that the affliction came to him from Jehovah to teach him, in order that he might be a teacher of others. That does not mean that he was not a prophet until his eyes were thus opened. He was conscious of a prophetic call when his first son was born, as is clear from the giving of the symbolic name. In fact, he understood the significance of his own domestic experience because he had the prophetic gift. Nevertheless, his experience led him into a deeper appreciation of the most important phase of his message to the people. Israel, like his wife, had adulterous tendencies; for a while they were restrained, but at the slightest provocation they broke forth.