The Meaning of Hosea 2:2 Explained

Hosea 2:2

KJV: 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;

YLT: 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,

Darby: Plead with your mother, plead; 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;

ASV: 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;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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; 

What does Hosea 2:2 Mean?

Study Notes

She is not my wife
That Israel is the wife of Jehovah Hosea 2:16-23 , now disowned but yet to be restored, is the clear teaching of the passages. This relationship is not to be confounded with that of the Church of Christ. In the mystery of the Divine tri-unity both are true. The N.T. speaks of the Church as a virgin espoused to one husband 2 Corinthians 11:1 ; 2 Corinthians 11:2 which could never be said of an adulterous wife, restored in grace. Israel is, then, to be the restored and forgiven wife of Jehovah, the Church the virgin wife of the Lamb; John 3:29 ; Revelation 19:6-8 . Israel Jehovah's earthly wife Hosea 2:23 , the Church the Lamb's heavenly bride, Revelation 19:7 .

Verse Meaning

Hosea called on his children to act as witnesses against the conduct of their mother. She was not acting like a true wife, so he could not be a true husband to her. Perhaps they had separated. She needed to stop practicing harlotry and adultery.
In the figure Yahweh used, He called on the Israelites to contend with their mother, a figure for the nation as a whole.
"Israel"s one hope is that her own sons should stand up in accusation against her, as Ezekiel was later to do with Judah (cf. chs16 , 20 , 23), rebuking her not for her faults but for her fundamental unfaithfulness." [1]
"Contend" (Heb. rib) often refers to a legal accusation. Yahweh was bringing legal charges against Israel that could stand up in court. The legal charge was not a formal declaration of divorce, however, because He wanted to heal the relationship, not terminate it (cf. Hosea 2:6-7; Hosea 2:14-23). The relationship between Yahweh and Israel was not what it should have been because Israel had become a spiritual harlot. [2] She had stopped worshipping and serving Yahweh exclusively and had worshipped and served other gods. This was spiritual adultery. Under the Mosaic Law, a husband could have his wife stoned for being unfaithful ( Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22), but this was not God"s intention for Israel.
"Marriage is one of many figures used in Scripture to emphasize the relationship of God to men. This illustration is used in both O.T. and N.T. to picture love, intimacy, privilege, and responsibility. In the O.T, as here in Hosea 2:16-23, Israel is described as the wife of the LORD, though now disowned because of disobedience. Nevertheless eventually, upon repentance, Israel will be restored. This relationship is not to be confounded with that of the Church to Christ ( John 3:29). In the mystery of the divine Trinity both are true. The N.T. speaks of the Church as a virgin espoused to one husband ( 2 Corinthians 11:1-2), which could never be said of an adulterous wife restored in grace. Israel Isaiah , then, to be the restored and forgiven wife of the LORD the Church is the virgin wife of the Lamb ( John 3:29; Revelation 19:6-8). Israel will be the LORD"s earthly wife (ch. Hosea 2:23); the Church, the Lamb"s heavenly bride ( Revelation 19:7)." [3]

Context Summary

Hosea 2:1-13 - The Bitter Sin Of Wandering From God
Hosea is represented as having exhausted his expostulations upon his faithless wife. He has tried every arrow in love's quiver, but in vain; so now he sends his children, worse than motherless, to plead with their mother, before she brings upon them all irretrievable retribution.
Almost insensibly our mind passes from the pleadings of the human love to the divine Bridegroom. Often He has to erect thorn hedges about us-not that He takes pleasure in thwarting us, but that we may be diverted from ruin. There was no better method of turning Israel from her idols than by withholding that material prosperity which she thought they gave. Has not this been our experience also? Our mirth has ceased and our prosperity has vanished. We have sat amid the wrecks of a happy past. It is not that God has ceased to care for us, but that He longs to wean us back to Himself. Have we reached the point of saying, "It was better with me then than now?" Then let us be of good cheer! The dawn is already on the hills, and God's coming to us, in restoring grace, is like the breaking glory of the morning! [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 2

1  The idolatry of the people
6  God's judgments against them
14  His promises of reconciliation with them

What do the individual words in Hosea 2:2 mean?

Bring charges against your mother bring charges for she [is] not My wife and [am] I nor her Husband and let her put away her harlotries from her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts
רִ֤יבוּ בְאִמְּכֶם֙ רִ֔יבוּ כִּֽי־ הִיא֙ לֹ֣א אִשְׁתִּ֔י וְאָנֹכִ֖י לֹ֣א אִישָׁ֑הּ וְתָסֵ֤ר זְנוּנֶ֙יהָ֙ מִפָּנֶ֔יה‪‬ וְנַאֲפוּפֶ֖יהָ מִבֵּ֥ין שָׁדֶֽיהָ

רִ֤יבוּ  Bring  charges 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: רִיב  
Sense: to strive, contend.
בְאִמְּכֶם֙  against  your  mother 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אֵם  
Sense: mother.
רִ֔יבוּ  bring  charges 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine plural
Root: רִיב  
Sense: to strive, contend.
הִיא֙  she  [is] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person feminine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
אִשְׁתִּ֔י  My  wife 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
וְאָנֹכִ֖י  and  [am]  I 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אָנׄכִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
לֹ֣א  nor 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
אִישָׁ֑הּ  her  Husband 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: אִישׁ 
Sense: man.
וְתָסֵ֤ר  and  let  her  put  away 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive imperfect Jussive, third person feminine singular
Root: סוּר 
Sense: to turn aside, depart.
זְנוּנֶ֙יהָ֙  her  harlotries 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: זְנוּנִים  
Sense: adultery, fornication, prostitution.
מִפָּנֶ֔יה‪‬  from  her  sight 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, common plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
וְנַאֲפוּפֶ֖יהָ  and  her  adulteries 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: נַאֲפוּפִים  
Sense: adultery.
מִבֵּ֥ין  from  between 
Parse: Preposition-m
Root: בַּיִן 
Sense: between, among, in the midst of (with other preps), from between.
שָׁדֶֽיהָ  her  breasts 
Parse: Noun, mdc, third person feminine singular
Root: שַׁד 
Sense: breast, bosom, (female) breast.