Hosea 1 - Introduction

PART I., 1-3. These Chapter s form a distinct section consisting of two narrative pieces, mainly in prose (Hosea 1:2 to Hosea 2:1 and Hosea 3), which narrate the story of the prophet's unhappy marriage with Gomer; and a prophetic discourse, in which the lessons to be deduced from his own domestic experience are applied to the nation (Hosea 2:2). 17 is probably an interpolation, while Hosea 1:10 is, at least, out of order. Steuernagel suggests that Hosea 1:1 and Hosea 3 are really parallel narratives, one, written by the original editor, being in the third person (Hosea 1:1), while the other, written in the first person, is the work of the prophet himself (Hosea 3), each describing the prophet's marriage. If Hosea 3 be read immediately after Hosea 1:9 the sections will gain in coherence.