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Translation
King James Version
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
Complete Jewish Bible
Rebuke your mother, rebuke her; for she isn't my wife, and I'm not her husband. She must remove her whoring from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts.
Berean Standard Bible
Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
American Standard Version
Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
World English Bible Messianic
Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
Geneva Bible (1599)
Plead with your mother: plead with her: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: but let her take away her fornications out of her sight, and her adulteries from betweene her breasts.
Young's Literal Translation
Plead ye with your mother--plead, (For she is not My wife, and I am not her husband,) And she turneth her whoredoms from before her, And her adulteries from between her breasts,
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In the KJVVerse 22,108 of 31,102
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Commentary on Hosea 2 verses 1–5
1 ¶ Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
The first words of this chapter some make the close of the foregoing chapter, and add them to the promises which we have here of the great things God would do for them. When they shall have appointed Christ their head, and centered in him, then let them say to one another, with triumph and exultation (let the prophets say it to them, so the Chaldee - Comfort you, comfort you, my people, is now their commission), "say to them, Ammi, and Ruhamah; call them so again, for they shall no longer lie under the reproach and doom of Lo-ammi and Lo-ruhamah; they shall now be my people again, and shall obtain mercy." God's spiritual Israel, made up of Jews and Gentiles without distinction, shall call one another brethren and sisters, shall own one another for the people of God and beloved of him, and, for that reason, shall embrace one another, and stir up one another both to give thanks for and to walk worthy of this common salvation which they partake of. Or rather, because the following words seem to have a coherence with these, these also are designed for conviction and humiliation. The mother (Hos 2:2) seems to be the same with the brethren and sisters (Hos 2:1), the church of the ten tribes, the body of the people, who were brethren, and in a special manner with the heads and leaders, who were as the mother by whom the rest were brought up and nursed. But who are the children that must plead with their mother thus? Either, 1. The godly that were among them, that witnessed against the iniquities of the times, let them boldly go on to bear their testimony against the idolatries and gross corruptions that prevail among them. Let those that had not bowed the knee to Baal reason the case with those that had, and endeavour to convince them with such arguments as are here put into their mouths. Note, Private persons may, and ought in their places, to appear and plead against the public profanations of God's name and worship. Children may humbly and modestly argue with their parents when they do amiss: Plead with your mother, plead, as Jonathan with Saul concerning David. Or, 2. The sufferers among them, that shared in the calamities of the times, let them not complain of God, let them not quarrel with him, nor lay the blame on him, as if he had dealt hardly with them, and not like a tender father. No; let them plead with their mother, and lay the fault on her, where it ought to be laid; compare Isa 50:1. "For her transgressions is your mother put away; she may thank herself, and you may thank her for all your miseries." Let us see now how they must plead with her.
I. They must put here in mind of the relation wherein she had stood to God, the kindness he had had for her, the many favours he had bestowed upon her, and the further favours he had designed her. Let them tell their brethren and sisters that they had been Ammi and Ruhamah, that they had been God's people and vessels of his mercy, and might have been so still if it had not been their own fault, Hos 2:1. Note, Our relation to God and dependence on him are a great aggravation of our revolts from him and rebellions against him.
II. They must, in God's name, charge her with the violation of the marriage-covenant between her and God. Let them tell her that God does not look upon her as his wife, nor upon himself as her husband any longer. Tell her (Hos 2:2) that she is not my wife, neither am I her husband, that by her spiritual whoredom she has forfeited all the honour and comfort of her relation to God, and provoked him to give her a bill of divorce. Note, No consideration can be more powerful to awaken us to repentance than the provocation we have by sin given to God to disown and cast us off. It is time to look about us, and to think what course we must take, when God threatens to reject us; for woe unto us if he be not our husband. They must charge this home upon her (Hos 2:5): Their mother has played the harlot; their congregation has run a whoring after false prophets (so the Chaldee), or, rather, after idols, wherein they were encouraged by their false prophets; she that conceived them has done shamefully, in making and worshipping idols. An idol is called a shame (Hos 9:10) and idolatry is a shameful thing. It is not only an affront to God, but a reproach to men, to fall down to the stock of a tree, as the prophet speaks. Or it denotes that the sinner was shameless, impudent in sin, and could not blush; Jer 6:15. Or, She has made ashamed, has made all that see her ashamed of her; her own children are ashamed of their relation to her.
III. They must upbraid her with her horrid ingratitude to God her benefactor, in ascribing to her idols the glory of the gifts he had given her, and then giving that for a reason why she paid them the homage due to him only, Hos 2:5. In this she did shamefully indeed, that she said, I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water. Observe here, 1. Her wicked resolution to persist in idolatry, notwithstanding all that God said, both by his prophets and by his providences, to draw her from it. She said, Whatever is offered to the contrary, I will go after my lovers, or those that cause me to love them, whom I cannot but be in love with. The Chaldee understands it of the nations whose alliance Israel courted and depended upon, who supplied them with what they needed. But it is rather to be understood of the idols they worshipped, to justify their love of which they called them their lovers. See who do shamefully; those that are wilful and resolute in sin, and those that openly profess and own their resolution to go on in it. See the folly of idolaters, to call those their lovers that had not so much as life; yet let us learn to call our God our lover; let us keep up good thoughts of him, and put a high value upon our interest in him and in his love. 2. The gross mistake upon which this resolution was grounded: "I will go after my lovers, because they give me my bread and my water, which are necessary to sustain the body, my wool and my flax, which are necessary to clothe the body, and pleasant things, my oil, and my drink, my liquors" (so the word is), "wine and strong drink." Note, (1.) The things of sense are the best things with carnal hearts, and the most powerful attractives, in pursuit of which they care not what they follow after. The God of Israel set before them his statutes and judgments (Deu 4:8), more to be desired than gold, and sweeter than honey (Psa 119:10), promised them his favour, which would put gladness in their hearts more than corn, wine, and oil (Psa 4:7); but they had no relish at all for these things. Whence they thought their oil and their drink came, thither they would return their best affections. O curvae in terram animae et coelestium inanes! - O degenerate minds, bending towards the earth, and devoid of every thing heavenly! (2.) It is a great abuse and injury to God, in pursuance of the pleasures and delights of sense to forsake him, who not only gives us better things, but gives us even those things too. The idolaters made Ceres the goddess of their corn, Bacchus the god of their wine, etc., and then foolishly fancied they had their corn and wine from these, forgetting the Lord their God, who both gave them that good land and gave them power to get wealth out of it. (3.) Many are hardened in sin by their worldly prosperity. They had an abundance of those things when they served their idols, and then imagined them to be given them by their idols, which kept them to their service; thus they argued (Jer 44:17, Jer 44:18), While we burnt incense to the queen of heaven we had plenty of victuals.
IV. They must persuade her to repent and reform. God will disown her if she persist in her whoredoms; let her therefore put away her whoredoms, Hos 2:2. Let her be convinced that it is possible for her to reform; the idols, dear as they are, may yet be parted with; and it will certainly be well with her if she do reform. Note, Our pleading with sinners must be to drive them to repentance, not to drive them to despair. Let her put away her whoredoms and her adulteries; the doubling of words to the same purport, and both plural, denotes the abundance of idolatries they were guilty of, all which must be abandoned ere God would be reconciled to them. Let her put them out of her sight, as detestable things which she cannot endure to look upon; let her say unto them, Get you hence, Isa 30:22. Let her put them from her face and from between her breasts, that is, let her not do as harlots use to do, that both discover their own wicked disposition, and allure others to wickedness, by painting their faces, and exposing their naked breasts, and adorning them; let her not thus, by annexing all possible gaieties and pleasures to the worship of idols, engage herself and allure others to it. let her put away all these. Every sinful course, persisted in, is an adulterous departure from God. And here we may see what it is truly to repent of it and turn from it. 1. True penitents will forsake both open sins, will put away not only the whoredoms that lie in sight, but those that lie in secret between their breasts, the sin that is rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel. 2. They will both avoid the outward occasions of sin and mortify the inward disposition to it. Idolaters walked after their own eyes, which went a whoring after their idols (Eze 6:9, Deu 4:19), and therefore they must put them away out of their sight, lest they should be tempted to worship them. Look not upon the wine when it is red. But that is not enough: the axe must be laid to the root; the corrupt bent and inclination of the heart must be changed, and it must be put away from between the breasts, that Christ alone may have the innermost and uppermost place there. Sol 1:13.
V. They must show her the utter ruin that will certainly be the fatal consequence of her sin if she do not repent and reform (Hos 2:3): Lest I strip her naked. This comes in here not by way of sentence passed upon her, but by way of warning given to her, that she may prevent it: Let her put away her whoredoms, that I may not strip her naked (so it may be read), intimating that God waits to show mercy to sinners, if they would but qualify themselves for that mercy. It is here threatened that God will deal with her as the just and jealous husband at length does with an adulterous wife, that has filled his house with a spurious brood, and will not be reclaimed; he turns her and her children out of doors and sends them a begging; I will not have mercy upon her children (Hos 2:4); the particular persons that share in the calamity of the nation, and the rising generation, shall be ruined by it, for they are children of whoredoms, and keep up the vain conversation received by tradition from their fathers. Now it is here threatened that they shall be both stripped and starved. They thought their idols gave them their bread and their water, their wool and their flax; but God, by taking them away, will let them know that it was he that gave them. 1. She shall be stripped: Lest I strip her of all her ornaments which she is proud of, and with which she courts her lovers, strip her and set her as in the day that she was born, send her as naked out of the world as she came into it; this death does, Job 1:21. I will strip her, and so expose her to cold, and expose her to shame; and justly is she exposed to shame that did shamefully, Hos 2:5. The day when God brought them out of Egypt, where they were no better than slaves and beggars, was the day in which they were born; and God threatens to bring them back to as low and miserable a condition as he then found them in. Whatever they had that either gained them respect or screened them from contempt, among their neighbours, should be taken from them. See Eze 16:4, Eze 16:39. 2. She shall be starved, shall be deprived not only of her honours, but of her comforts and necessary supports. She shall be famished, shall be made as a wilderness and a dry land, and slain with thirst. She that boasted so much of her bread and water, her oil and her drinks, which her lovers had given her, shall not have so much as necessary food. The land shall not afford subsistence for the inhabitants, for want of the rain of heaven; or, if it do, it shall be taken from them by the enemy, so that the rightful owners shall perish for want of it. Some understand it thus: I will make her as she was in the wilderness, and set her as she was in the desert land, where she was sometimes ready to perish for thirst. So it explains the former part of the verse: I will set her as in the day that she was born; for it was in the vast howling wilderness that Israel was first formed into a people. They shall be in as deplorable a condition as their fathers were, whose carcases fell in the wilderness, and in this respect, worse, that then the children were reserved to be heirs of the land of promise, but now I will not have mercy upon her children, for their mother has played the harlot.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–5. Public domain.
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JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Hosea 2:2-3
"Judge your mother, judge her, for she is not my wife and I am not her husband: let her remove her fornications from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts: lest perhaps I strip her naked, and make her as on the day of her birth." This is a message directed towards the Israelite people, that is, the ten tribes. Now begins the second chapter, and they are commanded to their sons, that is, the people, to judge against their mother, who bore them, who, becoming a harlot's wife, did not leave previous manners, and again committed fornication with her lovers. And observe the mercy of the husband. She has already been divorced, already rejected, already he has said to her: "This is not my wife, and I am not her husband:" yet he commands his sons, that they should not speak to the wife whom he dismissed, but to their mother who bore them. But let those who provoke to repentance speak, so as to remove fornication from their face, and their adultery from the midst of their breasts. She is a harlot, who lies with many. An adulteress is she who, deserting one man, joins herself to another. Both of these are a Synagogue, which if it remains in fornication and adultery, God will take away from her the clothes and ornaments He had given her. Of whom Ezekiel writes: "In the day when you were born, your navel was not cut, neither were you washed with water for your health; you did not rub yourself with salt, or wrap yourself in swaddling clothes. And when I passed by thee, I saw thee wallowing in thy blood (Ezek. 16:4-5)." And after a little while: "I clothed thee with broidered work and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands and a chain on thy neck." These things were given to her by her exceedingly lavish husband when he found her in Egypt, lusting after idolatry and spreading her legs to all. And now he threatens, if she does not return to her husband, she will become without God and without a husband, just as she once was in Egypt. Let it suffice rarely to have warned us that what has been said agrees with both the Jews denying Christ, and the heretics abandoning the faith of the Lord: whose fornication is properly among the breasts, and is situated in the craft of idols and various doctrines in the heart, who will return on the day of their birth, so that if they do not do penance, they will be compared to the heathen.
And I will make it like a wilderness, and set it up like a desert land, and slay it with thirst" (Jeremiah 50:12). The Septuagint translates it as: "And I will make it as a desert, and I will set it up as a land without water, and I will kill it with thirst." If they do not want to turn to better things, I will do to them what I did in the wilderness, so that those led into captivity may fall in a foreign land, patiently enduring thirst for all good things, and unable to return to their homeland. Or certainly, let them hear in the Gospel: "Your house will be left desolate to you" (Matt. XXIII). And the Lord will not send him a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water; but a hunger to hear the word of the Lord (Amos. VIII). About whom Isaiah also speaks: "They shall be like a garden without water" (Isaiah I, 30). Heretics who are rejected by the Lord, if they do not return to their former home, suffer such scarcity of all things that even what they seem to possess falsely will be reduced to nothing.
Cyril of AlexandriaAD 444
COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 2:11
She has not preserved the genuineness of love toward me, but rather she denied the intimacy and underestimated the purity of spiritual communion with me. Nor was she willing to bring forth the fruits of my will.
Richard ChallonerAD 1781
Your mother: The synagogue.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Hosea 2:2 unveils a poignant divine indictment against Israel, portrayed through the searing metaphor of a husband confronting his unfaithful wife. The Lord, as the wronged husband, calls upon the children (representing faithful members or the prophet) to plead with their "mother" (the nation Israel) to abandon her spiritual "whoredoms" and "adulteries"—terms that vividly describe her idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness—before severe judgment is enacted. This verse powerfully encapsulates God's grief over Israel's betrayal and His urgent call for repentance and restoration to an exclusive relationship with Him.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Hosea 2:2 is rich in Metaphor, primarily the extended metaphor of marriage to describe the covenant relationship between God and Israel. God is the faithful husband, and Israel is the unfaithful wife, whose spiritual idolatry is depicted as Adultery and Whoredom. This central metaphor allows for a deeply personal and emotional portrayal of God's hurt and betrayal. The verse also employs Anthropomorphism, attributing human emotions and relational roles (husband, wife, children) to God, making His grief and indignation relatable. The phrase "from between her breasts" is powerful Imagery, creating a vivid and visceral picture of Israel's blatant and intimate embrace of idolatry, possibly referring to pagan amulets or symbols worn on the body, emphasizing the public and deeply personal nature of their sin. The Repetition of "plead" at the beginning of the verse adds emphasis and urgency to the divine command, highlighting the gravity of the situation and the immediate need for confrontation and change.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Hosea 2:2 profoundly articulates God's character as a covenant-keeping God who demands exclusive devotion from His people, yet is deeply grieved by their unfaithfulness. The imagery of marriage underscores the intimate, personal, and exclusive nature of the relationship God desires with humanity, a relationship that demands loyalty and purity. Israel's "whoredoms" and "adulteries" are not merely ritualistic errors but profound betrayals of love and trust, demonstrating the gravity of idolatry as spiritual infidelity. This verse establishes the theological principle that turning away from God to other gods or earthly attachments constitutes a breach of the divine covenant, incurring just judgment. However, even within this severe indictment, there is an implicit call to repentance, foreshadowing God's ultimate desire for restoration and reconciliation, which is a recurring theme throughout Hosea.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Hosea 2:2, though rooted in ancient Israel's context, offers a timeless and piercing challenge to believers today. It serves as a stark reminder that God desires an exclusive and undivided devotion from His people, just as a husband desires fidelity from his wife. For the contemporary church and individual believer, this verse prompts profound self-examination: What are the "whoredoms" and "adulteries" in our lives that compete for God's rightful place? These might not be literal idols, but rather materialism, career ambition, social status, entertainment, or even relationships that subtly displace God as our ultimate priority. The call to "put away" these spiritual impurities from "sight" and "between our breasts" is a summons to radical repentance and a commitment to spiritual purity, ensuring that our lives reflect an undivided loyalty to our Heavenly Husband. It encourages us to dismantle anything that compromises our devotion, striving for a relationship marked by genuine intimacy, trust, and fidelity.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why does God use such strong language like "whoredoms" and "adulteries" to describe Israel's sin?
Answer: God uses such strong, visceral language to underscore the profound depth and seriousness of Israel's sin. In the ancient Near East, marriage was the most sacred and binding covenant between two individuals, demanding absolute fidelity. By portraying Himself as the faithful husband and Israel as the unfaithful wife, God highlights that Israel's idolatry and pursuit of other gods were not mere theological errors but a deeply personal betrayal of their covenant relationship, akin to marital infidelity. This language emphasizes the emotional pain and betrayal God felt, and the severity of breaking the exclusive covenant He had made with them, as outlined in passages like Exodus 20:3-5. It also reflects the reality that Canaanite fertility cults, which Israel embraced, often involved ritual prostitution, making the metaphor powerfully literal in some aspects.
What does "from between her breasts" signify in this context?
Answer: The phrase "from between her breasts" is a vivid and intimate piece of imagery that emphasizes the blatant, public, and deeply ingrained nature of Israel's spiritual defilement. It could literally refer to pagan amulets, charms, or symbols associated with fertility cults (like Baal worship) that might have been worn openly on the chest, signifying a public declaration of allegiance to false gods. Metaphorically, it suggests that idolatry had become deeply personal and cherished, integrated into the very identity and public display of the nation. The command to remove these "adulteries" from "between her breasts" is a call for a thorough, visible, and internal cleansing, demanding that Israel strip away every last vestige of their unfaithfulness and return to exclusive devotion to Yahweh, who had chosen them as His own, as seen in Deuteronomy 7:6.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Hosea 2:2, with its raw depiction of God's broken heart over Israel's unfaithfulness, finds its ultimate fulfillment and resolution in Jesus Christ. While Israel, as God's Old Testament bride, repeatedly failed to uphold her covenant vows, Christ perfectly embodies the faithful "Husband" and establishes a new, unbreakable covenant. The "whoredoms" and "adulteries" of Israel, representing humanity's pervasive sin and idolatry, are ultimately atoned for by the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Through His death and resurrection, Christ cleanses His new bride, the Church, from all spiritual defilement, presenting her to Himself "without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:27). The call for Israel to "put away her whoredoms" is fulfilled in the New Covenant by the Spirit's work within believers, enabling them to turn from sin and live in faithful devotion to Christ, who is the true Bridegroom. He does not divorce His unfaithful people but redeems them, transforming them into a pure and devoted bride, demonstrating God's unwavering love and commitment to His covenant people, ultimately secured not by human faithfulness but by His own divine grace and the atoning work of Christ on the cross (Romans 5:8).