When the LORD first spoke through Hosea is more literally “The beginning of the word of Yahweh by/to Hosea.” In the Hebrew text this clause appears as a separate paragraph and serves as the title for the entire section, not verse 2 only. We recommend showing this in the formatting of the translation; for example, the New Jerusalem Bible (New Jerusalem Bible) begins this verse with “The beginning of what Yahweh said through Hosea: ….” The Hebrew prepositional phrase for through Hosea can mean “to Hosea” or “by means of Hosea.” Here it probably indicates that Hosea was used as an instrument of Yahweh. Good News Translation adds the phrase “to Israel” for clarity.
The LORD said to Hosea is literally “and Yahweh spoke [or, said] to Hosea.” In the Hebrew text this clause begins the first narrative of the book. Revised Standard Version expresses it as the main clause to the previous one. In view of the comments on the previous clause, we suggest starting a new paragraph here, saying “The LORD said to him [Hosea].”
Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry is a double command for a single action. Some languages will have similar double commands; for example, Chewa says “Go to marry….” Other languages will use a single command, such as “Marry….” Many languages will leave to yourself implicit since it is included in the act of marrying (so Good News Translation).
A wife of harlotry translates literally a Hebrew idiomatic expression that is ambiguous. The Hebrew phrase here describes the inner nature of the woman. She was inclined to prostitution (compare 4.12 and 5.4), not necessarily engaged in the activity at this point. Neither are we told how deeply the woman may have been involved in the Canaanite fertility cult. Was she a temple prostitute? Such activity was thought to encourage the fertility of crops, cattle, and people in the community. Had she merely submitted to initiation rites performed before one married? There she may have surrendered her virginity to a representative of the god of fertility, Baal, thus dedicating her marriage with Hosea to the god Baal. Was she still a virgin who was inclined or even dedicated to prostitution but had not yet become an active prostitute? Or does the expression mean that the woman would later become unfaithful, even though she was faithful at the beginning of her marriage? We do not know the answer to these questions, yet we must translate the text. Some translations interpret a wife of harlotry as describing the activity of the woman before the marriage; for example, the New English Bible (New English Bible) has “a wanton,” and the New Living Translation (New Living Translation) says “a prostitute.” We do not recommend these renderings. A translation that suggests inclination to prostitution is a better option. The last part of the verse implies that the people of Israel, to whom the prophet’s wife is compared, were once faithful to God but then left him to worship idols. Therefore Good News Translation interprets the phrase as describing what the wife would do after the marriage, saying “your wife will be unfaithful.” Translators will make their own decision, but the interpretation of Good News Translation is preferred.
And have children of harlotry: Some scholars have interpreted the literal phrase children of harlotry to mean that the children were fathered by other men than Hosea. One unlikely theory is that Hosea gradually became suspicious that the second and third children were not his, and so the names show how he gradually rejected them as his own, ending with “Not my people.” Another theory is that, if the woman had dedicated her marriage to Baal, then the children would also belong to Baal and therefore would be dedicated to such prostitution as children of harlotry. In any case, 1.3 clearly states that Hosea was the father of the first child. This is not mentioned explicitly about the second and third child. Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982) understand the phrase to mean that the children will become unfaithful in the way that their mother did, either spiritually unfaithful, or unfaithful when they would get married. Good News Translation renders this clause as “and your children will be just like her.” New Jerusalem Bible simply indicates that the children will be children of a prostitute: “and get children with a whore.” Both interpretations are possible.
For the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the LORD: The conjunction for introduces the grounds for the previous command. Good News Translation renders it well with “In the same way.” The land cannot literally commit harlotry. This figurative expression refers to the people living in the land of Israel who were committing harlotry. Good News Translation therefore translates the land as “my people.” Harlotry is a striking image used by many of the prophets to describe the sin of forsaking the LORD and worshiping other gods. The fact that the Canaanite fertility cult made use of temple prostitutes may mean that the Israelites actually did commit sexual sins when they worshiped in such a place. Commits great harlotry (literally “to prostitute herself she prostitutes herself”) translates a Hebrew emphatic expression that stresses the seriousness and the completeness of what they have done. Good News Translation leaves the figure of prostitution implicit by rendering this clause as “In the same way my people have left me and become unfaithful.” Some other translations repeat the word “prostitute” (New Living Translation), “whoredom” (New Revised Standard Version [New Revised Standard Version]), or “adultery” (New International Version) used in describing the woman, as does the Hebrew, to show that Israel is, in effect, doing the same thing. Since harlotry is a thematic term in the book of Hosea, especially in the first half of the book, it is recommended to translate it in such a way that harlotry can be recognized as a theme.
In this verse Yahweh himself speaks to Hosea, yet he speaks of himself in the third person with the phrase by forsaking the LORD. This manner of Yahweh referring to himself occurs frequently in the prophetic writings. Since he is speaking, many languages will have to refer to him in the first person by saying “have left me” (Good News Translation) or “have left me, Yahweh.”
A translation model for this verse is:
• This is the beginning of what Yahweh spoke through Hosea.
Yahweh said to Hosea, “Marry an adulterous wife and get children of adultery, because the people of the land are adulterous, they abandon Yahweh.”
Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .