Hosea 1:2 (YLT)

Passage

The commencement of Jehovah's speaking by Hosea. And Jehovah saith unto Hosea, `Go, take to thee a woman of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms, for utterly go a-whoring doth the land from after Jehovah.'

Nearby Context

Hosea 1:1 A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Hosea, son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel:

Hosea 1:2 The commencement of Jehovah's speaking by Hosea. And Jehovah saith unto Hosea, `Go, take to thee a woman of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms, for utterly go a-whoring doth the land from after Jehovah.'

Hosea 1:3 And he goeth and taketh Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceiveth and beareth to him a son;

Hosea 1:4 and Jehovah saith unto him, `Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little, and I have charged the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and have caused to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "commencement", "jehovah's", "speaking", "hosea", "saith", and "take". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "commencement" and "jehovah's", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "A word of Jehovah that hath been..." into verse 3's "And he goeth and taketh Gomer daughter...", so "commencement" and "jehovah's" 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 "commencement" and "jehovah's" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.