Hosea 2:2
New International Version
“Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

New Living Translation
“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother— for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.

English Standard Version
“Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts;

Berean Standard Bible
Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

King James Bible
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

New King James Version
“Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; For she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put away her harlotries from her sight, And her adulteries from between her breasts;

New American Standard Bible
“Dispute with your mother, dispute, Because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; But she must remove her infidelity from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

NASB 1995
“Contend with your mother, contend, For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

NASB 1977
“Contend with your mother, contend, For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her put away her harlotry from her face, And her adultery from between her breasts,

Legacy Standard Bible
“Contend with your mother, contend, For she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; And let her remove her harlotry from her face And her adultery from between her breasts,

Amplified Bible
“Contend with your mother (nation); contend, For she is not my wife and I am not her husband; And have her remove her [marks of] prostitution from her face And her adultery from between her breasts

Christian Standard Bible
Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not my wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Rebuke your mother; rebuke her. For she is not My wife and I am not her husband. Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face and her adultery from between her breasts.

American Standard Version
Contend with your mother, contend; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Judge with your mother, judge because she was not my wife, and I have not been her husband; she shall put away her fornication from her face and her adultery from between her breasts

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband: and I will remove her fornication out of my presence, and her adultery from between her breasts:

Contemporary English Version
Accuse! Accuse your mother! She is no longer my wife, and now I, the LORD, am not her husband. Beg her to give up prostitution and stop being unfaithful,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Judge your mother, judge her: because she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her put away her fornications from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts.

English Revised Version
Plead with your mother, plead; for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: and let her put away her whoredoms from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Plead with your mother; plead with her. She no longer acts like my wife. She no longer treats me like her husband. Tell her to stop acting like a prostitute. Tell her to remove the lovers from between her breasts.

Good News Translation
My children, plead with your mother--though she is no longer a wife to me, and I am no longer her husband. Plead with her to stop her adultery and prostitution.

International Standard Version
"Call your mother to account, call her— for she is not my wife, and I'm not her husband. Let her do away with her seductive looks and remove her adultery from between her breasts.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Plead with your mother, plead; For she is not My wife, neither am I her husband; And let her put away her harlotries from her face, And her adulteries from between her breasts;

Literal Standard Version
Plead with your mother—plead | (For she [is] not My wife, and I [am] not her husband), | And she turns her whoredoms from before her, | And her adulteries from between her breasts,

Majority Standard Bible
Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.

New American Bible
Accuse your mother, accuse! for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove her prostitution from her face. her adultery from between her breasts,

NET Bible
Plead earnestly with your mother (for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband), so that she might put an end to her adulterous lifestyle, and turn away from her sexually immoral behavior.

New Revised Standard Version
Plead with your mother, plead— for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband— that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts,

New Heart English Bible
Contend with your mother. Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Webster's Bible Translation
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her prostitutions out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

World English Bible
Contend with your mother! Contend, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband; and let her put away her prostitution from her face, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Young's Literal Translation
Plead ye with your mother -- plead, (For she is not My wife, and I am not her husband,) And she turneth her whoredoms from before her, And her adulteries from between her breasts,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Israel's Adultery Rebuked
1“Say of your brothers, ‘My people,’ and of your sisters, ‘My loved one.’ 2Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts. 3Otherwise, I will strip her naked and expose her like the day of her birth. I will make her like a desert and turn her into a parched land, and I will let her die of thirst.…

Cross References
Isaiah 50:1
This is what the LORD says: "Where is your mother's certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Jeremiah 3:1
"If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers--and you would return to Me?" declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 3:9
Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

Ezekiel 23:45
But righteous men will sentence them to the punishment of those who commit adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses with blood on their hands.

Hosea 2:1
"Say of your brothers, 'My people,' and of your sisters, 'My loved one.'

Hosea 2:5
For their mother has played the harlot and has conceived them in disgrace. For she thought, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me bread and water, wool and linen, oil and drink.'

Hosea 4:5
You will stumble by day, and the prophet will stumble with you by night; so I will destroy your mother--


Treasury of Scripture

Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her prostitutions out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;

Plead with.

Isaiah 58:1
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Jeremiah 2:2
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

Jeremiah 19:3
And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.

she.

Isaiah 50:1
Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

Jeremiah 3:6-8
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot…

let.

Hosea 1:2
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

Jeremiah 3:1,9,13
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD…

Ezekiel 16:20,25
Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, …

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Adulteries Adulterous Adultery Breasts Cause Contend Face Harlotries Harlotry Husband Loose Mother Plead Prostitution Prostitutions Rebuke Remove Sight Turneth Ways Whoredoms Wife
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Adulteries Adulterous Adultery Breasts Cause Contend Face Harlotries Harlotry Husband Loose Mother Plead Prostitution Prostitutions Rebuke Remove Sight Turneth Ways Whoredoms Wife
Hosea 2
1. The idolatry of the people.
6. God's judgments against them.
14. His promises of reconciliation with them.














(2) Plead with your mother . . .--Contend, or plead in judgment. Let the awakened conscience of the present generation rise up in judgment with the nation as a whole. By "mother" we are to understand the nation Israel, viewed as a collective abstract; and by the "children" (Hosea 2:4) the inhabitants who are units in the total aggregate. Ammi and Ruhamah without the negative prefix, show that this awakening of conscience has given them back their privileges.

Render, That she may put away her whoredoms from her face: i.e., her meretricious guiles, her unblushing idolatry, her voluptuous service of gods that are no God. This strong image was constantly on the lips of the prophets, and had been burned by cruel sorrow into the very heart of Hosea. It acquired portentous meaning in the hideous impurities of the worship of Baal-peor and Ashtoreth, against which the Jehovah worship was a tremendous protest.

Verse 2. - Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not thy wife, neither am I her husband. In this second chapter the same cycle of events recurs as in the first, with this difference, that what is expressed by symbol in the one is simply narrated in the other. The cycle is the common one of sin: its usual consequences of suffering and sorrow; then succor and sympathy in case of repentance. The persons addressed in the verse before us are those individuals in Israel who had still retained their integrity, and who, notwithstanding surrounding defection and abounding ungodliness, had continued steadfast in their loyalty and love to the Lord. They might be few in number, widely scattered, perhaps unknown to each other, and of comparatively little note; yet they are here called on to raise their voice in solemn warning and earnest protest against the national defection and wickedness. "The congregation in its totality, or whole people taken conjointly, is compared to the mother, but individual members to the children, and the sense is that they are to plead with each other to bring them back to the way of goodness" (Kimchi). The nation as such, and in its impiety, is the mother; the pious persons still found in it are here required to testify for God both by exhortation and example. "The congregation of Israel is compared to an adulteress, and the children of the different generations to the children of whoredoms. Before them the prophet says, 'Plead with your mother'" (Kimchi). Adultery per se is a virtual dissolution of the marriage-tie; idolatry is spiritual adultery; the close and tender relationship into which God has graciously condescended to take Israel is rendered null and void, and that through Israel's own fault. God threatens the renunciation of it, unless perchance the pleading of the still faithful children might recall the erring mother to penitence and purity. A case the converse of this is that presented in Isaiah 1:1, where the mother's divorce is attributed to the unfaithfulness of the children. "Where," asks the Lord in that passage, "is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away?... for your transgressions is your mother put away." Ki before the second clause is either recitative, introducing the words of pleading, or assigns a reason; the latter seems preferable. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts. The word mippaneyha is rather to be rendered "from her face" than "out of her sight." The expression is to be taken literally, as the word "breasts" in the parallel clause proves. Thus Kimchi rightly explains it, saying, "Since he compares her to harlot, he attributes to her the ways of harlots; for the harlot's way is to adorn her face with various kinds of colors, that she may appear fair in the eyes of her paramours." But in addition to ornamenteth as earrings or nose-rings, and other ways of decking herself, as by painting, the expression may imply lascivious looks and wanton expressions of countenance; while the mention of breasts may indicate the making of them bare for the purpose of meretricious blandishments, or as indicating the place of the adulterer (comp. Ezekiel 23:3 and Song of Solomon 1:13). The Jewish commentators adopt the latter sense. Aben Ezra comments on the grammatical form of the words teuncha and naaphupheha (the former by duplication of the second radical, and the latter by that of the third) as intensive; while Rashi and Kimchi refer to the pressure of the breasts. But others understand them figuratively, the countenance indicating boldness, and the breasts shamelessness. Thus Horace speaks of the brilliant beauty (nixor) and coquettishness (protervitas) of Glyeera.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Rebuke
רִ֤יבוּ (rî·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 7378: To toss, grapple, to wrangle, controversy, to defend

your mother,
בְאִמְּכֶם֙ (ḇə·’im·mə·ḵem)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 517: A mother, )

rebuke her.
רִ֔יבוּ (rî·ḇū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 7378: To toss, grapple, to wrangle, controversy, to defend

For
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

she
הִיא֙ (hî)
Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

is not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

My wife,
אִשְׁתִּ֔י (’iš·tî)
Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

and I
וְאָנֹכִ֖י (wə·’ā·nō·ḵî)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 595: I

am not
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

her husband.
אִישָׁ֑הּ (’î·šāh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

Let her remove
וְתָסֵ֤ר (wə·ṯā·sêr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive imperfect Jussive - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5493: To turn aside

the adultery
זְנוּנֶ֙יהָ֙ (zə·nū·ne·hā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 2183: Adultery, idolatry

from her face
מִפָּנֶ֔יה‪‬ (mip·pā·neh)
Preposition-m | Noun - common plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

and the unfaithfulness
וְנַאֲפוּפֶ֖יהָ (wə·na·’ă·p̄ū·p̄e·hā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5005: Adultery

from between
מִבֵּ֥ין (mib·bên)
Preposition-m
Strong's 996: An interval, space between

her breasts.
שָׁדֶֽיהָ׃ (šā·ḏe·hā)
Noun - mdc | third person feminine singular
Strong's 7699: The breast of a, woman, animal


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OT Prophets: Hosea 2:2 Contend with your mother! (Ho Hs Hos.)
Hosea 2:1
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