Hosea 3:1

Amplified Bible

Hosea’s Second Symbolic Marriage

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman (^[a]Gomer) who is beloved by her husband and yet is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the ^[b]children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes [used in the feasts in pagan worship].”

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Footnotes

Hosea 3:1 The ambiguous wording might be interpreted as referring to a different woman, but this time Hosea is told only to love her, not to take, i.e. marry her. Also, the application of the symbolism to God’s relationship with Israel seems to depend upon the woman’s being Gomer. The purpose of the ambiguities probably is to reflect the emotional estrangement between Hosea and Gomer and the contempt that she deserved for her behavior. Matthew’s anonymous reference to Bathsheba literally as “wife of Uriah” (Matt 1:6).
Hosea 3:1 See note 1:10.

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