Hosea 1:9

9 Then the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, [a] for you are not my people and I am not your God." [b]

Hosea 1:9 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 1:9

Then said God, call his name Loammi
Which Aben Ezra interprets of the children of the ten tribes horn in captivity, who never returned; but it rather signifies the ten tribes themselves, who were carried captive and had this name given them for the reason following: for ye are not my people;
though he had chosen them to be his people above all people, and had distinguished them from others by various blessings and privileges; yet they did not behave as such to him; they did not serve, obey, and worship him, but the calves at Dan and Bethel; and therefore did not deserve the name of his people: hence he says, and I will not be your
or "yours" F1; that is, as we supply it, and so Aben Ezra, "your God"; will not behave toward you as such; will not take you under my care and protection, or continue you in your land, and in the enjoyment of the blessings of it; will not be your King, patron, and defender, but give you up into the hands of your enemies. This respects the captivity of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser, ( 2 Kings 17:6 ) . The Targum is,

``for ye are not my people; because ye do not confirm the words of my law, my word shall not be your help.''

FOOTNOTES:

F1 (Mkl hyha al) "non ero vester", Pagninus; "nec ego sum futurus vester", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Hosea 1:9 In-Context

7 But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen."
8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.
9 Then the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God."
10 Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God."
11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head; and they shall take possession of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Footnotes 2

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.