Hos 3:1-3 | TNotes | STEP | 3:1 Go and love your wife again, even though she: The Lord commanded Hosea to restore his marriage as testimony that the Lord had promised to restore wayward Israel. • love to worship them: Literally love their raisin cakes. The worship of Asherah, a Canaanite fertility goddess, often included offerings of raisin cakes.

cExod 21:32►

dLev 27:4►

‏ Hosea 3:1-3

3:1 ^a Go and love your wife again, even though she: The Lord commanded Hosea to restore his marriage as testimony that the Lord had promised to restore wayward Israel.

• love to worship them: Literally love their raisin cakes. The worship of Asherah, a Canaanite fertility goddess, often included offerings of raisin cakes.
3:2 ^b So I bought her back: The biblical text does not indicate why the prophet needed to purchase his wife. Most interpreters have assumed that the unfaithful Gomer had fallen into debt and become a slave. The meager price Hosea paid for her may indicate that Gomer was considered a slave of little value (see Exod 21:32 ^c; Lev 27:4 ^d).
Summary for Hos 3:3-4: 3:3-4 ^e Just as Hosea’s wife was required to live many days without sexual relations, Israel would be deprived of the institutions (king or prince), practices (sacrifices), and objects (sacred pillars ... or even idols) that had been foundational to its life and worship.