Hosea
Chapter 3
1
Symbolic Marriage
The Lord said to me: “Welcome, once more, this woman, who makes love to others. Love her, just as the Lord loves his people, who turn to other gods and offer raisin cakes to them.”
2
So I bought her for fifteen pieces of silver and a whole measure of barley.
3
Then I said to her: “You shall stay here with me many days, without giving yourself to anyone, and without deserting me for another man. And I, too, will stand aloof.”
4
For the people of Israel shall be for many days without king or ruler, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without divination or household idol.
5
Then the people of Israel shall turn back, looking for the Lord, their God, and for David, their king. In the last days, they will come respectfully to the Lord and his blessings.
Commentaries
Symbolic Marriage.
The wife (Israel) has been unfaithful again: the grape cakes are offerings to the goddess of fertility, Astarte (cf. Jr 7:18). Like the Lord in 2:13-22, Hosea offers a dowry to marry Gomer again. As a result of this sin, Israel will lose its cultic and political institutions for many years, but ultimately, there will be reconciliation (5). The Canaanite gods Baal and Astarte, who were patrons of rain and fertility, posed a significant temptation to the Israelites, who lived in an agricultural society in a semi-arid region.