Hosea 2:2 (ASV)

Passage

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;

Nearby Context

Hosea 2:1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.

Hosea 2:2 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;

Hosea 2:3 lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.

Hosea 2:4 Yea, upon her children will I have no mercy; for they are children of whoredom;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "contend", "mother", "wife", "neither", "husband", "away", and "whoredoms". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "contend" and "mother", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Say ye unto your brethren Ammi and..." into verse 3's "lest I strip her naked and set...", so "contend" and "mother" belong inside that flow. In Hosea context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "contend" and "mother" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.