The Book of Hosea is the first of the 12 so-called minor prophets. It purports to have been written during the decline of the northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BCE, and scholars believe the material probably did originate then, although like most such early material it was likely redacted later. It is important to remember that the Hebrew Bible -- the Tanakh -- that we have today was a product of centuries of Rabbinical debate that mostly happened after the destruction of the Temple and the diaspora.
The oldest surviving version of the Hebrew Bible, a translation into Koine Greek called the Septuagint, was made between the third and first centuries BCE, contains many books that did not make it into the current version, and it has longer versions of Daniel and Esther. Although the basic collection of books that constitute the Tanakh was probably settled in the second century CE, the final version of all of them was not settled upon until the Masoretic text was finally settled in the tenth century CE. So any and all prophecies in the Tanakh were actually made after the events in question, or were revised to fit, or just never came true and the Rabbis didn't bother to fix it.
Hosea is based on a bizarre premise. God orders him to marry a prostitute, in order to symbolize the apostasy of the Israelites. He then orders him to name his first son Jezreel, in reference to an incident in 2 Kings 9-10 in which God order Jehu to massacre all of the relatives of Ahab, which he did in a place called Jezreel.
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall.
Jehu's reward for carrying out this order is specified in 2 Kings 10:30:
And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
But now God intends to punish the descendants of Jehu because their ancestor carried out his orders! Yeah, that makes sense. Then God orders Hosea to give his other children disparaging names. Yeah, this is all fairly insane.
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] king of Israel:
Hosea’s Wife and Children
2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4 Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”
6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.[b]
10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.[c]
Footnotes
- Hosea 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
- Hosea 1:9 Or your I am
- Hosea 1:11 In Hebrew texts 1:10,11 is numbered 2:1,2.
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