Hosea 3

God tells Hosea to love his unfaithful wife again, and Hosea buys her back and sets her under a time of restraint. This is a picture of God’s love for unfaithful Israel. They will lose much for many days, and then return and seek the LORD and His goodness.

Hosea 3:1

Hosea is told to love again a wife who is loved by another and is an adulteress. God sets his own faithful love beside the people’s unfaithfulness. Israel chased other gods, even offering raisin cakes to idols, yet the LORD still loves them. Love here is stubborn and steady, not earned.

BSA: show love (“to have affection for, to be devoted to”): This is a devoted, chosen love that acts, not just a warm feeling. adulteress (“one who commits adultery, is unfaithful”): It names her as a covenant-breaker, which is exactly how Israel stood before God.

Hebrew: אֱהַב (ehav, H157) — “love.” It is the same Hebrew word for the LORD’s own love of Israel in this verse. Hosea’s costly love is meant to mirror God’s.

See also: Hosea 1:2; Romans 5:8.

Hosea 3:2

Hosea buys her back for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethech of barley. It is a modest price, and part of it is paid in grain. She may have fallen into servitude. He pays the cost himself to bring her home.

BSA: bought (“acquired, redeemed”): The buying is a redeeming: a price paid to bring back someone who had lost her freedom.

Hebrew: וָאֶכְּרֶהָ (vaekkereha, H3739) — “and I acquired her, I bought her.” The verb speaks of getting something by paying for it. Hosea does not simply demand his wife back. He pays.

See also: 1 Peter 1:18-19.

Hosea 3:3

Hosea restores her but sets a boundary. She must stay with him for many days and not give herself to any other man. He pledges the same faithfulness in return. Love forgives and welcomes her home, and it also calls her to a new loyalty.

BSA: promiscuous (“play the harlot, commit adultery”): The old pattern of her life is named so that it can be left behind. live (“dwell, remain”): She is to settle and stay, a quiet season of waiting that heals.

Hosea 3:4

Now the picture turns to Israel. For many days they will have no king or prince, no sacrifice or sacred pillar, no ephod or idol. Everything they leaned on, good and bad, will be stripped away. God lets them lose their props so they can learn to trust Him alone.

BSA: ephod (“priestly vest, sacred garment”): It was worn in seeking God’s guidance, so its loss means no means of getting direction. idol (“teraphim, household image”): These were household images used in seeking guidance in ways God did not approve.

Hebrew: תְּרָפִים (terafim, H8655) — “household images.” These small figures were used for guidance and luck in the home. Israel will lose both true and false ways of seeking direction.

See also: Hosea 10:3.

Hosea 3:5

After the long wait Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. David here points to the promised ruler from David’s line. They come trembling, in awe, to the LORD and His goodness. The chapter ends with restoration, not rejection.

BSA: goodness (“lovingkindness, mercy”): What they run to is the LORD’s generous kindness, the very thing they had once despised. seek (“search for, inquire about”): It is an earnest, deliberate search, not a passing glance.

See also: Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23-24.