Footnotes

1. Hosea 1:1 The word of the Lord: refers to the entire revelation received by the prophet over the course of a ministry that began around 750 B.C. The indications of the period of the prophet’s activity are somewhat vague; indeed, the list of kings is incomplete as far as the kingdom of Israel is concerned.
2. Hosea 1:2 A prophet proclaims his message not only by what he says but also by what he does and by the way he lives. Hosea becomes a sign by reason of his strange and painful marital history and also by reason of the provocative names that he gives to his children. We are given two accounts of his marriage; these repeat and complete each other. His married life is a kind of parable of the history of Israel. God is attached to his people with a passion that resembles that of a husband; as time passes, Israel increasingly betrays the covenant by seeking to find its happiness in the many Canaanite fertility cults. Degradation leads to a complete break, but God cannot forever abandon his own; one day they will return and enjoy a new life. The Lord remains faithful, despite the continuing infidelity of the people.
3. Hosea 1:2 Gomer was perhaps a sacral prostitute at some high place, or perhaps simply a young girl who vowed herself to the god Baal in order to become fertile. She represents here the situation of the country and its children, who have been contaminated by the worship of false gods. Even the name given to the children symbolizes the threat that hangs over Israel and the royal house. At Jezreel, royal residence of the northern kingdom, Jehu had ordered the massacre, in 841 B.C., of all the descendants of the wicked King Ahab (see 2 Ki 9–10). The new dynasty has likewise become unfaithful, and King Zechariah will pay for his misdeeds with his life after only a six months’ rule. The bow (v. 5), that is, the military power, will be broken in 732 B.C., by Tiglath-pileser III, who turns the Transjordan area and Galilee into Assyrian provinces. Contrary to all custom, the name of Hosea’s second child is a negative one, signifying the end, at least provisionally, of God’s mercy. The name of the third child signifies the complete break.
4. Hosea 1:7 This verse was probably added by a Judean editor in order to exclude Jerusalem from the threat; Jerusalem was, in fact, spared from the Assyrian peril in 701 B.C.