Chapter 1

1:2-3 - God tells Hosea to commit adultery, saying "take ... a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms" because the land has "committed great whoredom." So Hosea did as God commanded and "took" a wife named Gomer.

* God does tell Hosea to take a harlot for a wife.  However, He doesn't say that he should do this specifically and only because the land has committed great whoredom.

* This book of the Bible and this marriage are true and historical.  However, there is also a very significant, symbolic relationship.  God loves the Israelites, yet they often play the "whore" of the relationship by "prostituting" themselves to other gods.  Nonetheless, God seeks them out and loves them.  There is also a symbolic, prophetic significance of God's love for the Gentiles.  They have rejected God, yet He seeks them out and offers salvation to them through Jesus Christ.

Chapter 2

2:2-3 - Hosea tells his kids to talk to their mother, "For she is not my wife." Then God continues to rant about "whoredoms" and "adulteries from between her breasts." He threatens to "strip her naked and set her as in the day she was born."

* In these verses, Hosea's wife and the country of Israel are shown to have committed adultery and produced offspring.  This is upsetting to God.  Therefore, there are verses about exposing the nakedness (sin) of this woman.

2:4-5 - God "will not have mercy upon her children for they be the children of whoredoms. For their mother hath played the harlot."

* The Creator God decides who will have His mercy and who will not.  He also decides how much patience He will have on people.  Sin makes people guilty and consequently, sinners cannot argue their case against Him.  They are unrighteous.

2:10 - God says he "will discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers."

* This Hebrew word for "discover" is better translated "uncover."  God uncovers her sins in the sight of her lovers (the ones that she has sinned with).

2:13 - God gets jealous when women wear jewelry and pursue relationships with other men.

* This verse indicates how God is upset when women are adulterous; both earthly women and the country of Israel (and the church, today).

Chapter 3

3:1 - God tells Hosea to "love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress."

* Hosea seeks his wife, who has become a harlot, again.  This is exactly what God does to the people who are unrepentant.  He lets them chase after ungodliness, then He seeks them and shows them love.  This relationship is indicated by the remainder of verse 1.  It reads, ". . . just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods . . ."

3:2 - In accordance with God's command, Hosea buys himself a wife for 15 pieces of silver and one and a half homers of barley.

* The dowry, which in this case was more like a fee paid to a pimp, was paid by Hosea to get his wife back.

Chapter 4

4:3 - Because of the Israelites' disobedience, the land mourns, and all the animals are dying.

* Disobedience brings consequences.  How righteous do the unpunished sinners become?

4:10 - Committing whoredom by going a whoring with the spirit of whoredom.

* This verse clearly gives the consequences for whoredom.

4:13 - If you misbehave, God will make your daughters "commit whoredom" and your wife "commit adultery."

* This verse isn't talking about simply misbehaving or God making women commit whoredom or adultery.  This verse is clearly stating that "offering unholy sacrifices," in a way that was against God's wishes, was akin to whoredom.  Verses 11 and 12 also explain more actions of whoredom.

Chapter 5

5:6 - God "hath withdrawn himself from them," contrary to verses that say God will help in our times of need.

* Consistent with the scriptures, God is faithful to the people who love Him and repent.  However, also consistent with the scriptures, God's patience and mercy runs thin and He can implement His judgment.

5:14 - God's going to tear up Ephraim like a lion so "in their affliction they will seek me." That's nice.

* This verse is simply using metaphorical language to describe God's judgment.

Chapter 6

6:2 - "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." This may be the verse referred to in Luke 18:31-33 and 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. However, Hosea 6:2 refers to the people living at the time (hence "us") and therefore cannot be fulfilled by the the death and resurrection of Jesus.

* As far as I know, this verse is not a prophetic passage referring to Jesus Christ.

6:6 - "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice." It is nice to know that God desires mercy. However, look at Psalm 136:10 for an example of God's of mercy. As for sacrifice, what are the first 9 chapters of Leviticus about? Plus, God says he doesn't want animal sacrifice, contrary to other verses that say he does.

* This Hebrew word for "mercy" is better translated "kindness" or "obedience."  Therefore, Hosea 6:6 reads, "For I desire obedience and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."  This passage is clearly stating that God prefers that the people obey Him than sin and offer sacrifices to Him.

6:9-10 - More talk of lewdness and whoredom.

* Perhaps whoredom is lewd, but this is what is happening.

Chapter 7

7:8-9 - It's not clear in the KJV, but "people" and "strangers" are translated as "aliens" and "foreigners" in other versions. This would mean part of the reason for Ephraim's bloody fate is association with other races.

* God gave the Israelites a command to avoid marrying pagans.  All throughout scripture, we can see the consequences when Israelites married pagans.  They eventually turned to their gods and away from God.

7:13 - God plays the control freak again, "woeing" them with destruction.

* This verse clearly states that God has tried to redeem them, but they have lied about Him, sinned against Him, and continued in their wickedness.

7:16 - For their ungratefulness, God says the princes "shall fall by the sword."

* God reveals His judgment for some unrepentant, wicked people.

Chapter 8

8:4 - God, the all-knowing, didn't know about the princes that the Israelites made.

* This Hebrew word for "knew," in the phrase "I knew them not," is better translated "acknowledged."  This passage is better translated as follows: ". . . they made princes, but I did not acknowledge them . . ."

8:11-13, 9:3 - Will Ephraim return to Egypt?

* In Hosea 8:11-13 and 9:3, the scriptures indicate that Ephraim would return to Egypt.  This was an idiom for bondage.  The Bible predicted that Ephraim would return to bondage.

* In Hosea 11:5, we read that Ephraim would not return to the country of Egypt, but would be in bondage by the Assyrians.  This was their "second Egypt" and the fulfillment of the prophecies in Hosea 8 and 9.

8:13, 9:4 - God again says he does not want animal sacrifices.

* Verse 11 states that these altars have become altars, so the people can sin.  Their sacrifices were empty and meaningless.  They were sinning, rejecting God, and doing as they pleased, so their sacrifices weren't pleasing God.

* This passage does not state that God stopped wanting the correct sacrifices according to His Word.

8:14 - God will burn the cities of Israel and Judah.

* This was a prophetic judgment from God.  These things were fulfilled by the Assyrians.

Chapter 9

9:1 - Israel has "gone a whoring" and sys "loved a reward upon every cornfloor."

* This verse is referring to Israel's harlotry: chasing other gods and forgetting about God.

9:7 - The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad." Wow, Hosea and I finally agree on something!

* Prophets warned about divine judgment.  This verse is saying that the time for warnings was finished.  It was time for judgment.

9:11-12 - God will induce miscarriages and kill the children of Ephraim.

* Verse 11 actually reads, ". . . no birth, no pregnancy, no conception . . ."  This is speaking of God's judgment on evil people.

9:14 - In another "pro-life" passage, Hosea says: "Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts."

* Hosea is making a suggestion to God regarding the judgment of wicked people.

9:15 - God hates the sinner even more than the sin.

* In the Hebrew text, the words "them: for their" are not present.  Therefore, a better translation of this phrase is: ". . . I hated the wickedness they did . . ."

* There is no mention of God hating one thing or person more or less than another thing or person.  There is no comparison here.

9:16 - In answering Hosea's tender prayer, God swears he will "slay even the beloved fruit of their womb."

* God is saying how He will enact judgment on wicked people and their wicked children that were conceived from harlotry.

Chapter 10

10:14 - God plans on punishing Israel the same way Beth-Arbel was destroyed; including the "dashing" of mothers and children.

* God is revealing a judgment on some people and telling how some of the women and children would die.

Chapter 11

11:1 - "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt."  Matthew (2:15) claims that the flight of Jesus' family to Egypt is a fulfillment of this verse. But Hosea 11:1 is not a prophecy at all. It is a reference to the Hebrew exodus from Egypt and has nothing to do with Jesus. Matthew tries to hide this fact by quoting only the last part of the verse ("Out of Egypt I have called my son").

* As is the case with many, prophetic passages of scripture, this verse refers to both a past event and a future one; in this case, the Israelites in Egypt and Jesus' family's departure from Egypt.

11:3-5 - Will Ephraim return to Egypt?

* In Hosea 8:11-13 and 9:3, the scriptures indicate that Ephraim would return to Egypt.  This was an idiom for bondage.  The Bible predicted that Ephraim would return to bondage.

* In Hosea 11:5, we read that Ephraim would not return to the country of Egypt, but would be in bondage by the Assyrians.  This was their "second Egypt" and the fulfillment of the prophecies in Hosea 8 and 9.

11:10 - God can roar like a lion.

* Although the Creator God could surely roar like a lion, this verse is metaphorical.

Chapter 12

12:14 - The blame for Ephraim's bloody destruction falls on Ephraim, not on God. Even though God is the one who brings it about.

* Unrepentant sin warrants righteous judgment.  God is not the reason why people sin and earn punishment.

Chapter 13

13:7-8 - God will rip humans apart and then eat them like a lion.

* These verses use poetic and metaphorical language to describe God's judgment.

13:16 - Because the Samaritans chose to worship another deity, God promises to dash their infants to pieces and their "women with child shall be ripped up."

* God hates sin.  In this verse, He is stating the judgment that will fall on these people for their unrepentant wickedness.

Chapter 14

14:9 - Has there ever been a just person?

* Yes. There have been some just people.  The apparent confusion lies only in Ecclesiastes 7:20.  However, the writer is stating that there are no perfect people.  In his new "circle of friends," there surely weren't any godly people (and definitely nobody perfect).