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Hosea / Chapter 3
A renewed command leads Hosea to restore an unfaithful partner through a tangible transaction and a defined period of restraint. That enacted pattern then frames Israel’s extended lack and eventual reorientation toward God.
Yahweh said to me, Go again, love a woman beloved of [her] friend, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.
So I bought her to me for fifteen [pieces] of silver, and a homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley;
and I said to her, You shall abide for me many days; you shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be any man`s wife: so will I also be toward you.
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without ephod or teraphim:
afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with fear to Yahweh and to his goodness in the latter days.
Hosea journey · Hosea 3
Full passage context
Start with the map and timeline, then explore verse notes, background, theology, questions, and related passages.
Covenant love confronts spiritual adultery and promises mercy after judgment.
Movement
Love and judgment in Israel
Artifact
Marriage sign and covenant lawsuit
Biblical Timeline
Kingdom
Hosea context: 1000 BC - 586 BC
Hosea context
Kingdom / 1000 BC - 586 BC
Hosea context is set in the kingdom period, where Israel's monarchy from David and Solomon to exile.
Follow the movement of the chapter, then open any passage in its full context.
Context snapshot
Date
Northern kingdom ministry, c. 755-725 BC
Genre
Prophetic oracles and covenant lawsuit
Setting
Northern Israel/Judah
Audience
Israel and Judah
World Stage
Jeroboam II and Tiglath-pileser III 8th century BC
Hosea speaks mostly to northern Israel as Assyria grows stronger and Samaria moves toward collapse. Political instability, covenant unfaithfulness, and divine compassion shape the book's urgent appeal.
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