Hosea 2:23 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Hosea 2:23
And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
to sow · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
earth
בָּאָ֔רֶץba.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
mercy
וְרִֽחַמְתִּ֖יve.ri.cham.Ti
H7355
to fondle · conjunction + verb, piel sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
mercy
רֻחָ֑מָהru.Cha.mah
H7355
to fondle · proper noun, a man's name
say
וְאָמַרְתִּ֤יve.'a.mar.Ti
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
people
עַמִּי֙'a.Mi
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 1st person masculine singular
people
עַמִּי'a.mi-
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
say
יֹאמַ֥רyo.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
God
אֱלֹהָֽי'e.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 9:25-26 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
1 Peter 2:9-10 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath…
Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall…
Hosea 1:9-10 Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
Romans 3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Zechariah 2:11 And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know…
Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be hi…
Deuteronomy 26:17-19 Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgmen…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hosea 2:14–end
The state of Israel ruined by their own sin did not look so black and dismal in the former part of the chapter, but that the state of Israel, restrained by the divine grace, looks as bright and pleasant here in the latter part of the chapter, and the more surprisingly so as the promises follow thus close upon the threatenings; nay, which is very strange, they are by a note of connexion joined to, and inferred from, that declaration of their sinfulness upon which the threatenings of their ruin are grounded: She went after her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord; therefore I will allure her. Fitly therefore is that therefore which is the note of connexion immediately followed with a note of…
I will sow her--referring to the meaning of Jezreel (Hos 2:22).
Next: Hosea Chapter 3
John Gill on Hosea 2:23
And I will sow her unto me in the earth,.... That is, Jezreel, or the people of God, the church betrothed; this is another blessing following upon the marriage relation between Christ and his people, both Jews and Gentiles, in the latter day, a multiplication of a spiritual seed and offspring. So Kimchi and Aben Ezra observe, that the words signify that the people of Israel shall increase and be fruitful as the seed of the earth. These now are good seed which the Lord sows; such as are born not of corruptible but incorruptible seed; are quickened by the Spirit of God; have a good work of grace begun in them; and though they may lie for some time under the clods in darkness and obscurity, yet…
Hosea 2:23
23. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
23. Et seminabo eam mihi in terra (vel, in terram) et miserabor ejus quae non erat adapta misericordiam, et dicam, ll'-my, (hoc est, qui non erat populus meus,) Tu populus meus; et ipse dicet, Deus mi.
The Prophet here takes the occasion to speak of the increase of the people. He had promised a fruitful and large increase of corn, and wine, and oil; but for what end would this be, except the land had numerous inhabitants? It was hence needful to make this addition. Besid…
The Church Fathers
And the holy people inherited an eternal kingdom; the holy people who were chosen instead of the people. For "he provoked them to jealousy with a people that was not a people. And with a foolish people he angered them." For even if one has served the heathen, as soon as ever he draws near to the covenant of God, he is set free. The Gentiles are the new people chosen by God to replace the people of the old covenant as foretold by the prophet.
Next the promise of God is said for those who hear; if they do what is "commanded: And you will be my people and I will be your God." Not everyone who says they are a people of God are "a people" of God. Hence, that people who were proclaimed to be a people of God heard, "You are not my people," in the passage, "Therefore you are not my people." And it has been said to that people you are "not my people." Elsewhere this people was called a "people," for "they have provoked me to jealousy with what is not God"—he speaks concerning the former—"they have provoked me with their idols. So I will provoke them to jealousy with those who are not a people, with a senseless nation I will provoke them."
"You who were once not a people but now are the people of God, who did not seek after mercy but now have received mercy." By these verses he indicates clearly that he has written this letter to those who had come from the Gentiles to the faith, who were once separated from the way of life of the people of God but then through the grace of faith were joined to his people and obtained the mercy that they did not know how to hope for. He takes them, however, from the prophet Hosea, who predicted the calling of the Gentiles and said, "I shall call [those who were] not my people my people and [those who did] not receive mercy [a people] having received mercy. And it will be in the place where it was said, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called sons of the living God."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ammi — My people, a name given by Jehovah to the people of Israel (Hos. 2:1, 23. Comp. 1:9; Ezek. 16:8; Rom. 9:25, 26; 1 Pet. 2:10).
Lo-ruhamah — Not pitied, the name of the prophet Hosea’s first daughter, a type of Jehovah’s temporary rejection of his people (Hos. 1:6; 2:23).
Adoption · Of Gentiles, predicted — Of Gentiles, predicted
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Mercy Of God, The · Manifested: To whom he will — Manifested: To whom he will
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
"And it comes to pass in that day, I will hear, is the word of Jehovah; I will hear heaven, and it hears the earth. And the earth will hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will hear Jezreel (God sows)." God will hear all the prayers that ascend to Him from His church (the first אענה is to be taken absolutely; compare the parallel in Isa 58:9), and cause all the blessings of heaven and earth to flow down to His favoured people. By a prosopopeia, the prophet represents the heaven as praying to God, to allow it to give to the earth that which is requisite to ensure its fertility; whereupon the heaven fulfils the desires of the earth, and the earth yields its produce to the nat…
As God has promised (2:1), on the coming day of the Lord he will reverse the names of Gomer’s children. He will show love to ‘Not loved.’ To ‘Not my people,’ he will say, ‘Now you are my people.’ The only fitting response from God’s people is “You are our God!”
Rashi on Hosea 2:23
I will answer the heavens to pour upon the clouds from the rivulet of good that depends on My word. They will, in turn, answer to pour water upon the earth.
