Hosea 1:2

The beginning.. Lord] RV 'When the Lord spake at the first by Hosea.' A wife of whoredoms] Hosea is probably speaking in the light of his later experiences. His wife was probably innocent of this evil when he married her—or if not the prophet was ignorant of her true character.

4. For the giving of names for a prophetic purpose cp. Isaiah 7:8; Isaiah 8:1. The name Jezreel ('God will sow') signified, (1) the town which was the capital of Israel during Jehu's dynasty, and the scene of the murders by which he established his rule (2 Kings 9); (2) the resowing of the restored Israel (Hosea 1:11). The name was given to the child as a reminder of the punishment due for the massacre. I will avenge the blood] This prophecy was fulfilled by the overthrow of the ruling dynasty when Jeroboam's son, Zechariah, had reigned six months: see 2 Kings 15:10, and cp. Amos 7:9. Hosea looks at Jehu's murders from a different point of view from that of Elisha and the editors of the book of Kings: see especially 2 Kings 10:30. They regarded chiefly his outward religious policy and his probably genuine detestation of Baal-worship. Hosea sees mainly the motives of personal ambition and lust of cruelty which underlay his actions. Time had shown that neither Jehu nor his descendants had justified his zeal by any high religious principle. Will cause to cease] This and Hosea 1:5 extend the prophecy to the final destruction of the kingdom at the hands of the Assyrians: see 2 Kings 17:6. The valley of Jezreel was the battlefield of Palestine, and nothing would seem more probable to the prophet than that the final overthrow would take place there.