Hosea 2:19
Verse
Context
God’s Mercy to Israel
18On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land, and will make them lie down in safety. 19So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion. 20And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”
Sermons
Erlo Stegen
Mack TomlinsonErlo Stegen
Thomas Brooks
John Henry Jowett
Basilea Schlink
John MacDuffSummary
Commentary
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
I will betroth thee unto me - The people are always considered under the emblem of a wife unfaithful to her husband. In righteousness - According to law, reason, and equity. In judgment - According to what is fit and becoming. In lovingkindness - Having the utmost affection and love for thee. In mercies - Forgiving and blotting out all past miscarriages. Or there may be an allusion here to the dowry given by the husband to his wife: "I will give righteousness," etc., as a dowry.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
"And I betroth thee to myself for ever; and I betroth thee to myself in righteousness, and judgment, and in grace and pity. Hos 2:20. And I betroth thee to myself in faithfulness; and thou acknowledgest Jehovah." ארשׂ לו, to betroth to one's self, to woo, is only applied to the wooing of a maiden, not to the restoration of a wife who has been divorced, and is generally distinguished from the taking of a wife (Deu 20:7). ארשׂתּיך therefore points, as Calvin observes, to an entirely new marriage. "It was indeed great grace for the unfaithful wife to be taken back again. She might in justice have been put away for ever. The only valid ground for divorce was there, since she had lived for years in adultery. But the grace of God goes further still. The past is not only forgiven, but it is also forgotten" (Hengstenberg). The Lord will now make a new covenant of marriage with His church, such as is made with a spotless virgin. This new and altogether unexpected grace He now directly announces to her: "I betroth thee to myself;" and repeats this promise three times in ever fresh terms, expressive of the indissoluble character of the new relation. This is involved in לעולם, "for ever," whereas the former covenant had been broken and dissolved by the wife's own guilt. In the clauses which follow, we have a description of the attributes which God would thereby unfold in order to render the covenant indissoluble. These are, (1) righteousness and judgment; (2) grace and compassion; (3) faithfulness. Tsedeq = tsedâqâh and mishpât are frequently connected. Tsedeq, "being right," denotes subjective righteousness as an attribute of God or man; and mishpât, objective right, whether in its judicial execution as judgment, or in its existence in actual fact. God betroths His church to Himself in righteousness and judgment, not by doing her justice, and faithfully fulfilling the obligations which He undertook at the conclusion of the covenant (Hengstenberg), but by purifying her, through the medium of just judgment, from all the unholiness and ungodliness that adhere to her still (Isa 1:27), that He may wipe out everything that can injure the covenant on the part of the church. But with the existing sinfulness of human nature, justice and judgment will not suffice to secure the lasting continuance of the covenant; and therefore God also promises to show mercy and compassion. But as even the love and compassion of God have their limits, the Lord still further adds, "in faithfulness or constancy," and thereby gives the promise that He will not more withdraw His mercy from her. בּאמוּנה is also to be understood of the faithfulness of God, as in Psa 89:25, not of that of man (Hengstenberg). This is required by the parallelism of the sentences. In the faithfulness of God the church has a certain pledge, that the covenant founded upon righteousness and judgment, mercy and compassion, will stand for ever. The consequence of this union is, that the church knows Jehovah. This knowledge is "real." "He who knows God in this way, cannot fail to love Him, and be faithful to Him" (Hengstenberg); for out of this covenant there flows unconquerable salvation.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
"Betroth" is thrice repeated, implying the intense love of God to His people; and perhaps, also, the three Persons of the Triune God, severally engaging to make good the betrothal. The marriage covenant will be as it were renewed from the beginning, on a different footing; not for a time only, as before, through the apostasy of the people, but "forever" through the grace of God writing the law on their hearts by the Spirit of Messiah (Jer 31:31-37). righteousness . . . judgment--in rectitude and truth. loving-kindness, &c.--Hereby God assures Israel, who might doubt the possibility of their restoration to His favor; low, sunk, and unworthy as thou art. I will restore thee from a regard to My own "loving-kindness," not thy merits.
John Gill Bible Commentary
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When these espousals shall be made, when the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and his bride will be betrothed to him; then the whole creation, the heavens and the earth, shall contribute of their riches and plenty to make a marriage feast for them; or then shall the spouse of Christ, in a very visible and plentiful manner, by virtue of the marriage union between them, partake of all his good things, both temporal and spiritual; and especially the latter, as signified by the former; but yet in the use of means, and as the effect of prayer, as follows: I will hear, saith the Lord; the petitions of his new married bride, which he cannot deny her :or, "I will answer" (a); men oftentimes hear, and answer not; but when the Lord hears his people, he answers them, and grants them their requests; he is a God hearing and answering prayer. So the Targum, "I will receive your prayer, saith the Lord.'' I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; in these and the following words is an elegant personification, a figure by which inanimate creatures are represented as persons speaking, praying, asking, and being heard and answered; and a beautiful climax, or a chain of second causes linked together, and as depending upon the first cause, the Lord himself; the heavens are represented as desiring the Lord of nature, the Maker and Supporter of them, having been like brass, and shut up, that they might have leave to let down their refreshing dews, and gentle showers of rain, upon the earth; and the earth as being dry and thirsty, as gaping, opening its mouth, and imploring these benign influences of the heavens; and both as answered: for so it may be rendered, "I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth" (b); the Lord promises to answer the desires of the heavens, and allow them to drop their dew, and distil their rain; and so they shall answer the cravings of the earth. The spiritual sense may be, according to Schmidt, Christ is he on whom all blessings depend; "heaven" may signify the Holy Spirit Christ gives, who intercedes with him for the saints; the "earth" the ministration of the word and ordinances, by which the Spirit is given, invoked by the ministers of them. Or, as Cocceius, the "heavens" may design the ministers of the church, who govern in it, and who pray and plead for help, assistance, and success; and the "earth" the audience, the common people, who also pray, and are heard and answered, when ministers let down the dew and rain of evangelical doctrine upon them, and water them, and refresh them with it; and such precious seasons as these, as the fruit of prayer, will the saints have in the latter day. (a) "respondebo", Calvin, Drusius, Tarnovius, Cocceius. (b) "respondebo coelo, et illud respondebit terrae", Cocceius, Drusius.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
2:19-20 I will make you my wife: This Hebrew verb, used three times in these verses, can be translated with our seldom-used word betroth. In the ancient world, betrothal entailed all the legal steps of a marriage, including the payment of a bride price by the groom. The only thing missing was the marriage ceremony and sexual consummation. The Lord vowed to betroth Israel to himself forever. To ensure the eternal nature of this new marriage, God provided a bride price that included five priceless qualities: righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion, and faithfulness. As a result, the Lord said, Israel will finally know me (cp. 2:13).
Hosea 2:19
God’s Mercy to Israel
18On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and weapons of war in the land, and will make them lie down in safety. 19So I will betroth you to Me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in loving devotion and compassion. 20And I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will know the LORD.”
- Scripture
- Sermons
- Commentary
Betrothed of God
By Erlo Stegen2.0K1:00:01BetrothedHOS 2:19MAT 6:33In this sermon, the preacher tells a story about a judge who is about to sentence a man to death. The judge asks the man if there is anything he can say to save himself from being hanged, but the man remains silent. The preacher then reflects on how people are quick to gather for hunting trips, parties, and dancing, but not for hearing the word of God. He encourages the audience to prioritize reading the Bible and learning from it. The preacher also highlights the love and interest that God has for humanity, despite our shortcomings, and emphasizes the importance of accepting Jesus Christ as our savior.
(2006 Heart-Cry) Prayer and Revival Through History
By Mack Tomlinson1.1K1:06:06HOS 2:19JHN 1:12In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. He shares stories of individuals who experienced a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit and were transformed as a result. The preacher also highlights the need for continual dependence on the Holy Spirit and the importance of prayer for His presence and guidance. He concludes by mentioning the persecution faced by Robert Bruce and the need for believers to remain steadfast in their faith.
To Know God
By Erlo Stegen6221:03:31Knowing GodGEN 4:1GEN 4:17JER 22:15HOS 2:19MAT 22:7In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of accepting God's invitation to engage with Him. He warns that rejecting this proposal will lead to damnation and eternal separation from God. The preacher shares a story about a young woman who refused to fully commit to her Christian faith and tragically died in a car accident shortly after. The surprising detail of the intact trunk containing a crate of undamaged eggs serves as a reminder of God's protection and the consequences of not taking one's spiritual engagement seriously.
Not All the Powers of Hell
By Thomas Brooks0Covenant of GraceGod's Unchanging LoveHOS 2:19ROM 8:38HEB 13:5Thomas Brooks emphasizes the unbreakable nature of the covenant of grace, which is rooted in God's free, everlasting, special, and unchangeable love. He asserts that God's immutable counsel and purpose ensure that His election stands firm, and that no power, whether from sin, temptation, or affliction, can sever the covenant relationship between God and His people. Brooks reassures believers that God's glorious and invincible power guarantees their eternal connection with Him, affirming that once they are in covenant, they remain in covenant forever.
The Disciple's Tenderness
By John Henry Jowett0PSA 27:4HOS 2:19MAT 19:14ROM 12:91CO 13:13EPH 5:1COL 3:121PE 3:151JN 4:19John Henry Jowett preaches on the beautiful figure of being betrothed to God forever, emphasizing the ideal relationship between the soul and its Lord as a marriage covenant. He highlights the importance of Christian ministry aiming to bring souls into this covenant with God, focusing on winning children into a marriage-contract with the Lord. Jowett discusses the significance of revealing Jesus to children through His simplicity, sympathy, heroism, and the hope He offers, ultimately leading to a deep spiritual devotion. He stresses the need for consistency in the lives of those who are wooing others for God, as living out the Gospel message authentically is crucial in the process of winning hearts for the Lord.
Jesus Christ:the True Bridegroom
By Basilea Schlink0Intimacy With GodThe Love of ChristHOS 2:19MAT 9:15JHN 3:29Basilea Schlink emphasizes that Jesus Christ embodies the true Bridegroom, yearning for a deep, reciprocal love from His bride, the soul. He desires not just obedience but a heartfelt commitment, longing for His followers to share in His sufferings and concerns for the world. Jesus' love is a jealous love, seeking exclusivity and intimacy, and He waits patiently for His bride to respond to His call. The true bridal state involves a willingness to sacrifice and comfort Him in His grief, reflecting His love through actions that honor Him. Ultimately, Jesus, as the Bridegroom, desires a relationship that transcends mere duty, inviting His bride into a profound union of love and purpose.
The Faithful Promiser (31 Day Devotional)
By John MacDuff0DEU 33:25JOB 17:9PSA 25:10PSA 84:11PSA 119:49ISA 1:18ISA 40:31ISA 60:20HOS 2:19HOS 14:4MAT 12:20LUK 22:31JHN 13:7JHN 14:16JHN 14:18JHN 14:27ROM 8:281CO 15:532CO 9:8GAL 6:9PHP 1:6HEB 10:231PE 1:61PE 5:42PE 1:4REV 1:18REV 3:11REV 3:19REV 14:13REV 21:3REV 21:25John MacDuff preaches about the glorious promises of God, highlighting the delight of pleading individual promises at the mercy-seat and the importance of trusting in God's faithfulness. He emphasizes the gracious conference of God offering pardoning grace, the provision of needful grace in times of trial, and the abundance of all-sufficient grace for every situation. MacDuff also discusses the comforting, restraining, restoring, sanctifying, reviving, persevering, dying, and after-grace of God, encouraging believers to surrender to God's love and trust in His compassion and strength.
The Love of Jesus for His People
By J.C. Philpot0ISA 54:5HOS 2:19MAT 3:17JHN 3:35JHN 14:31JHN 17:23ROM 5:5EPH 5:30COL 1:22J.C. Philpot preaches about the profound love of Jesus for His people, emphasizing the communicative nature of love that desires to give and receive affection. He delves into the Triune God's eternal love for humanity, highlighting the deep bond between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Philpot explores the union and communion between Christ and the Church, illustrating how Jesus' sacrifice and love reconcile believers to God and lead to a transformative relationship. He encourages seeking communion with Christ through prayer, repentance, and a deep desire for His presence, as true religion is found in a living faith and love for Jesus.
God's Proposal to You
By Erlo Stegen0Repentance and RenewalGod's CovenantHOS 2:19Erlo Stegen emphasizes God's unwavering proposal of love and commitment to His people, despite their spiritual infidelity and pursuit of worldly pleasures. He draws parallels between ancient Israel's idolatry and the modern-day church's tendency to prioritize materialism over a genuine relationship with God. Stegen warns that living in such a way invites God's judgment, yet he highlights the hope found in God's mercy and the invitation to enter into an everlasting covenant with Him. He urges listeners to respond to Christ's gracious call for repentance and renewal, preparing themselves as His bride through the cleansing power of His sacrifice.
A Husbandly Covenant
By G.W. North0Covenant RelationshipGod's FaithfulnessHOS 2:19G.W. North emphasizes the profound covenant relationship between God and Israel, likening it to a husband and wife. Despite Israel's persistent unfaithfulness and the misuse of altars for sin, God remains committed to His people, promising corrective love rather than destruction. He highlights the significance of the covenant established at Sinai, where God sought a faithful relationship with His people, urging them to understand their role as His chosen ones. North points out that the essence of the covenant is not merely about sacrifices but about the people themselves being the living sacrifices to God. Ultimately, God's jealousy and love for His people drive His desire for their repentance and restoration.
- Adam Clarke
- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Tyndale
Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
I will betroth thee unto me - The people are always considered under the emblem of a wife unfaithful to her husband. In righteousness - According to law, reason, and equity. In judgment - According to what is fit and becoming. In lovingkindness - Having the utmost affection and love for thee. In mercies - Forgiving and blotting out all past miscarriages. Or there may be an allusion here to the dowry given by the husband to his wife: "I will give righteousness," etc., as a dowry.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
"And I betroth thee to myself for ever; and I betroth thee to myself in righteousness, and judgment, and in grace and pity. Hos 2:20. And I betroth thee to myself in faithfulness; and thou acknowledgest Jehovah." ארשׂ לו, to betroth to one's self, to woo, is only applied to the wooing of a maiden, not to the restoration of a wife who has been divorced, and is generally distinguished from the taking of a wife (Deu 20:7). ארשׂתּיך therefore points, as Calvin observes, to an entirely new marriage. "It was indeed great grace for the unfaithful wife to be taken back again. She might in justice have been put away for ever. The only valid ground for divorce was there, since she had lived for years in adultery. But the grace of God goes further still. The past is not only forgiven, but it is also forgotten" (Hengstenberg). The Lord will now make a new covenant of marriage with His church, such as is made with a spotless virgin. This new and altogether unexpected grace He now directly announces to her: "I betroth thee to myself;" and repeats this promise three times in ever fresh terms, expressive of the indissoluble character of the new relation. This is involved in לעולם, "for ever," whereas the former covenant had been broken and dissolved by the wife's own guilt. In the clauses which follow, we have a description of the attributes which God would thereby unfold in order to render the covenant indissoluble. These are, (1) righteousness and judgment; (2) grace and compassion; (3) faithfulness. Tsedeq = tsedâqâh and mishpât are frequently connected. Tsedeq, "being right," denotes subjective righteousness as an attribute of God or man; and mishpât, objective right, whether in its judicial execution as judgment, or in its existence in actual fact. God betroths His church to Himself in righteousness and judgment, not by doing her justice, and faithfully fulfilling the obligations which He undertook at the conclusion of the covenant (Hengstenberg), but by purifying her, through the medium of just judgment, from all the unholiness and ungodliness that adhere to her still (Isa 1:27), that He may wipe out everything that can injure the covenant on the part of the church. But with the existing sinfulness of human nature, justice and judgment will not suffice to secure the lasting continuance of the covenant; and therefore God also promises to show mercy and compassion. But as even the love and compassion of God have their limits, the Lord still further adds, "in faithfulness or constancy," and thereby gives the promise that He will not more withdraw His mercy from her. בּאמוּנה is also to be understood of the faithfulness of God, as in Psa 89:25, not of that of man (Hengstenberg). This is required by the parallelism of the sentences. In the faithfulness of God the church has a certain pledge, that the covenant founded upon righteousness and judgment, mercy and compassion, will stand for ever. The consequence of this union is, that the church knows Jehovah. This knowledge is "real." "He who knows God in this way, cannot fail to love Him, and be faithful to Him" (Hengstenberg); for out of this covenant there flows unconquerable salvation.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
"Betroth" is thrice repeated, implying the intense love of God to His people; and perhaps, also, the three Persons of the Triune God, severally engaging to make good the betrothal. The marriage covenant will be as it were renewed from the beginning, on a different footing; not for a time only, as before, through the apostasy of the people, but "forever" through the grace of God writing the law on their hearts by the Spirit of Messiah (Jer 31:31-37). righteousness . . . judgment--in rectitude and truth. loving-kindness, &c.--Hereby God assures Israel, who might doubt the possibility of their restoration to His favor; low, sunk, and unworthy as thou art. I will restore thee from a regard to My own "loving-kindness," not thy merits.
John Gill Bible Commentary
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When these espousals shall be made, when the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and his bride will be betrothed to him; then the whole creation, the heavens and the earth, shall contribute of their riches and plenty to make a marriage feast for them; or then shall the spouse of Christ, in a very visible and plentiful manner, by virtue of the marriage union between them, partake of all his good things, both temporal and spiritual; and especially the latter, as signified by the former; but yet in the use of means, and as the effect of prayer, as follows: I will hear, saith the Lord; the petitions of his new married bride, which he cannot deny her :or, "I will answer" (a); men oftentimes hear, and answer not; but when the Lord hears his people, he answers them, and grants them their requests; he is a God hearing and answering prayer. So the Targum, "I will receive your prayer, saith the Lord.'' I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; in these and the following words is an elegant personification, a figure by which inanimate creatures are represented as persons speaking, praying, asking, and being heard and answered; and a beautiful climax, or a chain of second causes linked together, and as depending upon the first cause, the Lord himself; the heavens are represented as desiring the Lord of nature, the Maker and Supporter of them, having been like brass, and shut up, that they might have leave to let down their refreshing dews, and gentle showers of rain, upon the earth; and the earth as being dry and thirsty, as gaping, opening its mouth, and imploring these benign influences of the heavens; and both as answered: for so it may be rendered, "I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth" (b); the Lord promises to answer the desires of the heavens, and allow them to drop their dew, and distil their rain; and so they shall answer the cravings of the earth. The spiritual sense may be, according to Schmidt, Christ is he on whom all blessings depend; "heaven" may signify the Holy Spirit Christ gives, who intercedes with him for the saints; the "earth" the ministration of the word and ordinances, by which the Spirit is given, invoked by the ministers of them. Or, as Cocceius, the "heavens" may design the ministers of the church, who govern in it, and who pray and plead for help, assistance, and success; and the "earth" the audience, the common people, who also pray, and are heard and answered, when ministers let down the dew and rain of evangelical doctrine upon them, and water them, and refresh them with it; and such precious seasons as these, as the fruit of prayer, will the saints have in the latter day. (a) "respondebo", Calvin, Drusius, Tarnovius, Cocceius. (b) "respondebo coelo, et illud respondebit terrae", Cocceius, Drusius.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
2:19-20 I will make you my wife: This Hebrew verb, used three times in these verses, can be translated with our seldom-used word betroth. In the ancient world, betrothal entailed all the legal steps of a marriage, including the payment of a bride price by the groom. The only thing missing was the marriage ceremony and sexual consummation. The Lord vowed to betroth Israel to himself forever. To ensure the eternal nature of this new marriage, God provided a bride price that included five priceless qualities: righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion, and faithfulness. As a result, the Lord said, Israel will finally know me (cp. 2:13).