The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahz, and Hezikiah, Kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Johash, King of Israel:
When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord.
So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived and bore him a son.
And the Lord said to him, "Call his name 'Jezreel'; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."
She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, "Call her name 'Not Pitied', for I will no more have pity on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. ["But I will have pity on the House of Judah, and I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by bow, nor by sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen." This comes next, but in my Oxford Annotated is said to be "a later addition."]"
When she had weaned 'Not Pitied,' she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, "Call his name 'Not My People,' for you are not my people, and I am not your god."
Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can neither be measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the Living God." And the people of Judah and the people of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint to themselves one head; and they shall take possession of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel."
2 comments:
Hosea's first son was named Jezreel.
Like so much of the Bible any word may have multiple meanings. For example
Jezreel was a very prominent valley in Northern Palestine.
It was also a city with considerable history.
It's associated with a horrible story of Jezebel, where she was eaten by dogs in God's righteous wrath.
it's also called the Great Plain.
Nazareth was on the northern wall of the valley, etc. etc.
These meanings of Jezreel were found in GotQuestions.org.
Forrest, thanks for your continuous work for this blog; your efforts will be rewarded.
"The blood of Jezreel," then, would be that shed in Jehu's coup?
These efforts are frequently rewarded: They continue to get me, via typing these texts in, much better acquainted with these most peculiar books... and occasionally a little less clueless re "What's going on here?"
& outside reading. A recent example: Why are these prophets, speaking mostly in Israel, so allied with Judah & the Temple personnel there? Because their books come to us filtered through editing/copying in Jerusalem. Why such vehemence against "high places" & private shrines? Because these are members of the same priesthood who "'found' the book of the Law in the Temple", just after they'd attempted to repair the Temple, and found that their revenues (and the King's) were inadequate for all they intended. And in that Lawbook, surprise!: ~'Everyone should come celebrate the Passover, not at home but in Jerusalem! Bring your tithes to Jerusalem, not to those nasty ad hoc shrines in the countryside!'
So this book is making a lot more sense, not all of it inspiring, however. The trick is to realize God at work even in these depressingly secular stratagems.
And Hosea! My father named me after a war criminal! But didn't name me anything like "Not Pitied." Or "Not My People." I bet the other kids really had fun with names like that.
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