1 Peter 2:10

Which in time past were not a people The reference is to the children of Gomer, with their strange ill-omened names, Lo-Ammi and Lo-Ruhamah (Hosea 1:2.): but it may be a question whether the citation is made directly from the prophet, or is traceable to St Paul's use of it in Romans 9:25. In favour of the former view is the fact that St Peter quotes it (1) in a different form from St Paul's, giving "had not obtained mercy" for "not beloved," following in this the text of the Alexandrian MS. of the LXX., and (2) in a different application, St Paul referring it to the calling of the Gentiles, while he applies it to that of Israel. Some interpreters, indeed, have seen in this passage also a proof that St Peter was writing to Gentile converts or thinking of them chiefly, but it may well be urged against this view that if the history of the prophet's adulterous wife had been to him a parable of the sin and repentance of Israel, it might well be so to the Apostle also. Had not his Master spoken of the people as "an evil and adulterous generation" (Matthew 12:39)? Had not his friend St James addressed them as "adulterers and adulteresses" (James 4:4)?