Lo-Ruhamah is the name of Hosea’s daughter and is explained as “not pitied” (or not shown compassion) in the verse Hosea 1:6. God says he will no longer have pity on the house of Israel in that statement.
In Hosea 1:6–7, Hosea’s next child is given a name that signals a turning point: Israel will no longer receive the same compassion and “letting it go” as before. Yet the message is not identical for everyone. Judah is singled out for mercy and for a kind of rescue that does not depend on normal military means. These verses sit inside the opening sign-act narrative where Hosea’s family becomes a public message.
Hosea 1:6–7 continues the opening sign-act: a real child is born, and her name carries a public message. The name “Look-ruhamah” signals a change in how Yahweh will treat the “house of Israel”: the text explicitly says mercy will no longer be shown, and that Yahweh will not keep “pardoning” as before. The passage also makes an explicit contrast.
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Hosea 1:6, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
6She conceived again, and bore a daughter. [Yahweh] said to him, Call her name Look-ruhamah; for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any wise pardon them.