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Selected Verse: Hosea 2:19 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ho 2:19	Strong Concordance	And I will betroth [0781] thee unto me for ever [05769]; yea, I will betroth [0781] thee unto me in righteousness [06664], and in judgment [04941], and in lovingkindness [02617], and in mercies [07356].
	King James	And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
"Betroth" is thrice repeated, implying the intense love of God to His people; and perhaps, also, the three Persons of the Triune God, severally engaging to make good the betrothal. The marriage covenant will be as it were renewed from the beginning, on a different footing; not for a time only, as before, through the apostasy of the people, but "forever" through the grace of God writing the law on their hearts by the Spirit of Messiah (Jer 31:31-37). righteousness . . . judgment--in rectitude and truth. loving-kindness, &c.--Hereby God assures Israel, who might doubt the possibility of their restoration to His favor; low, sunk, and unworthy as thou art. I will restore thee from a regard to My own "loving-kindness," not thy merits.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

"Betroth" is thrice repeated, implying the intense love of God to His people; and perhaps, also, the three Persons of the Triune God, severally engaging to make good the betrothal. The marriage covenant will be as it were renewed from the beginning, on a different footing; not for a time only, as before, through the apostasy of the people, but "forever" through the grace of God writing the law on their hearts by the Spirit of Messiah (Jer 31:31-37).

righteousness . . . judgment--in rectitude and truth.

loving-kindness, &c.--Hereby God assures Israel, who might doubt the possibility of their restoration to His favor; low, sunk, and unworthy as thou art. I will restore thee from a regard to My own "loving-kindness," not thy merits.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
And I will betroth her unto Me forever - God does not say here, "I will forgive her;" "I will restore her;" "I will receive her back again;" "I will again shew her love and tenderness." Much as these would have been, He says here much more. He so blots out, forgets, abolishes all memory of the past, that He speaks only of the future, of the new betrothal, as if it were the first espousal of a virgin. Hereafter God would make her wholly His, and become wholly her's, by an union nearer and closer than the closest bond of parent and child, that, whereby they are "no more twain, but one flesh;" and through this oneness, formed by His own indwelling in her, giving her Himself, and taking her into Himself, and so bestowing on her a title to all which is His. And this, forever. The betrothal and union of grace in this life passeth over into the union of glory, of which it is said, "Blessed are they who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb" Rev 19:9. He, by His Spirit, shall be with His Church "unto the end of the world," and so bind her unto Himself that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." The whole Church shall never fail. This "betrothal" implies and involves a new covenant, as God says, "Behold the days come, that I will make a new covenant with the hoarse of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to My covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake" Jer 31:31-32, and which vanisheth away. To those who had broken His covenant and been unfaithful to Him, it was great tenderness, that He reproached them not with the past; as neither doth He penitents now. But beyond this, in that He speaks of "espousing" her who was already espoused to Him, God shows that He means something new, and beyond that former espousal. What God here promised He fulfilled, not as God the Father, but in Christ. What God promised of Himself, He only could perform. God said to the Church, "I will betroth thee unto Me." He who became the "Bridegroom" Joh 3:29 of the Church was Christ Jesus; she became "the wife of the Lamb" Rev 21:9; to Him the Church was "espoused, as a chaste Virgin" Co2 11:2. He then who fulfilled what God promised that He would Himself fulfill, was Almighty God. I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness - Or rather, (which is more tender yet and more merciful,) by, with, righteousness, etc. These are the marriage-dowry, the bridal gifts, "with" which He purchaseth and espouseth the bride unto Himself. Righteousness then and Judgment, loving-kindness and mercies, and faithfulness or truth, are attributes of God, wherewith, as by gifts of espousal, He maketh her His own. "Righteousness" is that in God, whereby He is Himself righteous and just; "Judgment," that whereby He puts in act what is right against these who do wrong, and so judges Satan; as when the hour of His Passion was at hand, He said, "when the Comforter is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" Joh 16:8, Joh 16:11. "Loving-kindness" is that tender affection, wherewith He cherisheth His children, the works of His hands; Mercies, His tender yearnings over us (see the note above at Hos 1:6), wherewith He hath compassion on our weakness; "Faithfulness," that whereby He "keepeth covenant forever" Psa 111:9, and "loveth His own unto the end" Joh 13:1. And these qualities, as they are His, whereby He saved us, so doth He impart them to the Church in her measure, and to faithful souls. These are her dowry, her jewels, her treasure, her inheritance. He giveth to her and to each soul, as it can receive it, and in a secondary way, His Righteousness, Judgment, Loving-kindness, Mercies, Faithfulness. His "Righteousness," contrary to her former unholiness, He poureth into her, and giveth her, with it, grace and love and all the fruits of the Spirit. By His Judgment, He giveth her a right judgment in all things, as contrary to her former blindness. "Know ye not, says the Apostle Co1 6:3, that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?" "Loving-kindness" is tender love, wherewith we "love one another, as Christ loved us" Joh 15:12. "Mercies" are that same love to those who need mercy, whereby we are "merciful, as our Father is merciful" Luk 6:36. "Faithfulness" is that constancy, whereby the elect shall "persevere unto the end, as He saith, Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" Rev 2:10. The threefold repetition of the word betroth is also, doubtless mysterious, alluding chiefly to the Mystery of the All-Holy Trinity, so often and so manifoldly, in Holy Srcipture, foreshadowed by this sacred number. To them is the Church betrothed, by the pronouncing of whose names each of her members is, in Holy Baptism, "espoused as a chaste virgin unto Christ." At three times especially did our Lord espouse the Church unto Himself. : "First in His Incarnation, when He willed to unite His own Deity with our humanity," and "in the Virgin's womb, the nature of the woman, our nature, human nature, was joined to the nature of God," and that "forever." "He will be forever the Word and Flesh, i. e., God and Man." Secondly, in His Passion, when he washed her with His Blood, and bought her for His own by His Death. Thirdly, in the Day of Pentecost, when He poured out the Holy Spirit upon her, whereby He dwelleth in her and she in Him. And He who thus espoused the Church is God; she whom He espoused, an adulteress, and He united her to Himself, making her a pure virgin without spot or blemish. : "Human marriage makes those who were virgins to cease to be so; the divine espousal makes her who was defiled, a pure virgin." "I have espoused you," says Paul to those whom he had won back from all manner of pagan sins, "to one Husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin unto Christ" (Co2 11:2; see Jer 3:1-2). O the boundless clemency of God! : "How can it be possible, that so mighty a King should become a Bridegroom, that the Church should be advanced into a Bride? That alone hath power for this, which is All-powerful; 'love, strong as death' Sol 8:6. How should it not easily lift her up, which hath already made Him stoop? If He hath not acted as a Spouse, if He hath not loved as a Spouse, been jealous as a Spouse, then hesitate thou to think thyself espoused."

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

And I will betroth her unto Me forever - God does not say here, "I will forgive her;" "I will restore her;" "I will receive her back again;" "I will again shew her love and tenderness." Much as these would have been, He says here much more. He so blots out, forgets, abolishes all memory of the past, that He speaks only of the future, of the new betrothal, as if it were the first espousal of a virgin. Hereafter God would make her wholly His, and become wholly her's, by an union nearer and closer than the closest bond of parent and child, that, whereby they are "no more twain, but one flesh;" and through this oneness, formed by His own indwelling in her, giving her Himself, and taking her into Himself, and so bestowing on her a title to all which is His. And this, forever. The betrothal and union of grace in this life passeth over into the union of glory, of which it is said, "Blessed are they who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb" Rev 19:9.

He, by His Spirit, shall be with His Church "unto the end of the world," and so bind her unto Himself that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against her." The whole Church shall never fail. This "betrothal" implies and involves a new covenant, as God says, "Behold the days come, that I will make a new covenant with the hoarse of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to My covenant which I made with their fathers, which My covenant they brake" Jer 31:31-32, and which vanisheth away. To those who had broken His covenant and been unfaithful to Him, it was great tenderness, that He reproached them not with the past; as neither doth He penitents now. But beyond this, in that He speaks of "espousing" her who was already espoused to Him, God shows that He means something new, and beyond that former espousal. What God here promised He fulfilled, not as God the Father, but in Christ. What God promised of Himself, He only could perform. God said to the Church, "I will betroth thee unto Me." He who became the "Bridegroom" Joh 3:29 of the Church was Christ Jesus; she became "the wife of the Lamb" Rev 21:9; to Him the Church was "espoused, as a chaste Virgin" Co2 11:2. He then who fulfilled what God promised that He would Himself fulfill, was Almighty God.

I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness - Or rather, (which is more tender yet and more merciful,) by, with, righteousness, etc. These are the marriage-dowry, the bridal gifts, "with" which He purchaseth and espouseth the bride unto Himself. Righteousness then and Judgment, loving-kindness and mercies, and faithfulness or truth, are attributes of God, wherewith, as by gifts of espousal, He maketh her His own. "Righteousness" is that in God, whereby He is Himself righteous and just; "Judgment," that whereby He puts in act what is right against these who do wrong, and so judges Satan; as when the hour of His Passion was at hand, He said, "when the Comforter is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" Joh 16:8, Joh 16:11. "Loving-kindness" is that tender affection, wherewith He cherisheth His children, the works of His hands; Mercies, His tender yearnings over us (see the note above at Hos 1:6), wherewith He hath compassion on our weakness; "Faithfulness," that whereby He "keepeth covenant forever" Psa 111:9, and "loveth His own unto the end" Joh 13:1.

And these qualities, as they are His, whereby He saved us, so doth He impart them to the Church in her measure, and to faithful souls. These are her dowry, her jewels, her treasure, her inheritance. He giveth to her and to each soul, as it can receive it, and in a secondary way, His Righteousness, Judgment, Loving-kindness, Mercies, Faithfulness. His "Righteousness," contrary to her former unholiness, He poureth into her, and giveth her, with it, grace and love and all the fruits of the Spirit. By His Judgment, He giveth her a right judgment in all things, as contrary to her former blindness. "Know ye not, says the Apostle Co1 6:3, that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life?" "Loving-kindness" is tender love, wherewith we "love one another, as Christ loved us" Joh 15:12. "Mercies" are that same love to those who need mercy, whereby we are "merciful, as our Father is merciful" Luk 6:36. "Faithfulness" is that constancy, whereby the elect shall "persevere unto the end, as He saith, Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" Rev 2:10.

The threefold repetition of the word betroth is also, doubtless mysterious, alluding chiefly to the Mystery of the All-Holy Trinity, so often and so manifoldly, in Holy Srcipture, foreshadowed by this sacred number. To them is the Church betrothed, by the pronouncing of whose names each of her members is, in Holy Baptism, "espoused as a chaste virgin unto Christ." At three times especially did our Lord espouse the Church unto Himself. : "First in His Incarnation, when He willed to unite His own Deity with our humanity," and "in the Virgin's womb, the nature of the woman, our nature, human nature, was joined to the nature of God," and that "forever." "He will be forever the Word and Flesh, i. e., God and Man." Secondly, in His Passion, when he washed her with His Blood, and bought her for His own by His Death. Thirdly, in the Day of Pentecost, when He poured out the Holy Spirit upon her, whereby He dwelleth in her and she in Him. And He who thus espoused the Church is God; she whom He espoused, an adulteress, and He united her to Himself, making her a pure virgin without spot or blemish. : "Human marriage makes those who were virgins to cease to be so; the divine espousal makes her who was defiled, a pure virgin." "I have espoused you," says Paul to those whom he had won back from all manner of pagan sins, "to one Husband, that I may present you a chaste virgin unto Christ" (Co2 11:2; see Jer 3:1-2). O the boundless clemency of God! : "How can it be possible, that so mighty a King should become a Bridegroom, that the Church should be advanced into a Bride? That alone hath power for this, which is All-powerful; 'love, strong as death' Sol 8:6. How should it not easily lift her up, which hath already made Him stoop? If He hath not acted as a Spouse, if He hath not loved as a Spouse, been jealous as a Spouse, then hesitate thou to think thyself espoused."

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
"And I betroth thee to myself for ever; and I betroth thee to myself in righteousness, and judgment, and in grace and pity. Hos 2:20. And I betroth thee to myself in faithfulness; and thou acknowledgest Jehovah." ארשׂ לו, to betroth to one's self, to woo, is only applied to the wooing of a maiden, not to the restoration of a wife who has been divorced, and is generally distinguished from the taking of a wife (Deu 20:7). ארשׂתּיך therefore points, as Calvin observes, to an entirely new marriage. "It was indeed great grace for the unfaithful wife to be taken back again. She might in justice have been put away for ever. The only valid ground for divorce was there, since she had lived for years in adultery. But the grace of God goes further still. The past is not only forgiven, but it is also forgotten" (Hengstenberg). The Lord will now make a new covenant of marriage with His church, such as is made with a spotless virgin. This new and altogether unexpected grace He now directly announces to her: "I betroth thee to myself;" and repeats this promise three times in ever fresh terms, expressive of the indissoluble character of the new relation. This is involved in לעולם, "for ever," whereas the former covenant had been broken and dissolved by the wife's own guilt. In the clauses which follow, we have a description of the attributes which God would thereby unfold in order to render the covenant indissoluble. These are, (1) righteousness and judgment; (2) grace and compassion; (3) faithfulness. Tsedeq = tsedâqâh and mishpât are frequently connected. Tsedeq, "being right," denotes subjective righteousness as an attribute of God or man; and mishpât, objective right, whether in its judicial execution as judgment, or in its existence in actual fact. God betroths His church to Himself in righteousness and judgment, not by doing her justice, and faithfully fulfilling the obligations which He undertook at the conclusion of the covenant (Hengstenberg), but by purifying her, through the medium of just judgment, from all the unholiness and ungodliness that adhere to her still (Isa 1:27), that He may wipe out everything that can injure the covenant on the part of the church. But with the existing sinfulness of human nature, justice and judgment will not suffice to secure the lasting continuance of the covenant; and therefore God also promises to show mercy and compassion. But as even the love and compassion of God have their limits, the Lord still further adds, "in faithfulness or constancy," and thereby gives the promise that He will not more withdraw His mercy from her. בּאמוּנה is also to be understood of the faithfulness of God, as in Psa 89:25, not of that of man (Hengstenberg). This is required by the parallelism of the sentences. In the faithfulness of God the church has a certain pledge, that the covenant founded upon righteousness and judgment, mercy and compassion, will stand for ever. The consequence of this union is, that the church knows Jehovah. This knowledge is "real." "He who knows God in this way, cannot fail to love Him, and be faithful to Him" (Hengstenberg); for out of this covenant there flows unconquerable salvation.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
I will betroth thee unto me - The people are always considered under the emblem of a wife unfaithful to her husband. In righteousness - According to law, reason, and equity. In judgment - According to what is fit and becoming. In lovingkindness - Having the utmost affection and love for thee. In mercies - Forgiving and blotting out all past miscarriages. Or there may be an allusion here to the dowry given by the husband to his wife: "I will give righteousness," etc., as a dowry.

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³¹ Behold, the days [03117] come [0935], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that I will make [03772] a new [02319] covenant [01285] with the house [01004] of Israel [03478], and with the house [01004] of Judah [03063]:
³² Not according to the covenant [01285] that I made [03772] with their fathers [01] in the day [03117] that I took [02388] them by the hand [03027] to bring them out [03318] of the land [0776] of Egypt [04714]; which my covenant [01285] they brake [06565], although I was an husband [01166] unto them, saith [05002] the LORD [03068]:
³³ But this shall be the covenant [01285] that I will make [03772] with the house [01004] of Israel [03478]; After [0310] those days [03117], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], I will put [05414] my law [08451] in their inward parts [07130], and write [03789] it in their hearts [03820]; and will be their God [0430], and they shall be my people [05971].
³⁴ And they shall teach [03925] no more every man [0376] his neighbour [07453], and every man [0376] his brother [0251], saying [0559], Know [03045] the LORD [03068]: for they shall all know [03045] me, from the least [06996] of them unto the greatest [01419] of them, saith [05002] the LORD [03068]: for I will forgive [05545] their iniquity [05771], and I will remember [02142] their sin [02403] no more.
³⁵ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], which giveth [05414] the sun [08121] for a light [0216] by day [03119], and the ordinances [02708] of the moon [03394] and of the stars [03556] for a light [0216] by night [03915], which divideth [07280] the sea [03220] when the waves [01530] thereof roar [01993]; The LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] is his name [08034]:
³⁶ If those ordinances [02706] depart [04185] from before [06440] me, saith [05002] the LORD [03068], then the seed [02233] of Israel [03478] also shall cease [07673] from being a nation [01471] before [06440] me for ever [03117].
³⁷ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068]; If heaven [08064] above [04605] can be measured [04058], and the foundations [04146] of the earth [0776] searched out [02713] beneath [04295], I will also cast off [03988] all the seed [02233] of Israel [03478] for all that they have done [06213], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].

⁶ Set [07760] me as a seal [02368] upon thine heart [03820], as a seal [02368] upon thine arm [02220]: for love [0160] is strong [05794] as death [04194]; jealousy [07068] is cruel [07186] as the grave [07585]: the coals [07565] thereof are coals [07565] of fire [0784], which hath a most vehement flame [07957].

¹ They say [0559], If a man [0376] put away [07971] his wife [0802], and she go [01980] from him, and become another [0312] man's [0376], shall he return unto her again [07725]? shall not that land [0776] be greatly [02610] polluted [02610]? but thou hast played the harlot [02181] with many [07227] lovers [07453]; yet return again [07725] to me, saith [05002] the LORD [03068].
² Lift up [05375] thine eyes [05869] unto the high places [08205], and see [07200] where [0375] thou hast not been lien [07693] [07901] with. In the ways [01870] hast thou sat [03427] for them, as the Arabian [06163] in the wilderness [04057]; and thou hast polluted [02610] the land [0776] with thy whoredoms [02184] and with thy wickedness [07451].

² For [1063] I am jealous [2206] over you [5209] with godly [2316] jealousy [2205]: for [1063] I have espoused [718] you [5209] to one [1520] husband [435], that I may present [3936] you as a chaste [53] virgin [3933] to Christ [5547].

¹⁰ Fear [5399] none [3367] of those things which [3739] thou shalt [3195] suffer [3958]: behold [2400], the devil [1228] shall [3195] cast [906] some of [1537] you [5216] into [1519] prison [5438], that [2443] ye may be tried [3985]; and [2532] ye shall have [2192] tribulation [2347] ten [1176] days [2250]: be thou [1096] faithful [4103] unto [891] death [2288], and [2532] I will give [1325] thee [4671] a crown [4735] of life [2222].

³⁶ Be ye [1096] therefore [3767] merciful [3629], as [2531] your [5216] Father [3962] also [2532] is [2076] merciful [3629].

¹² This [3778] is [2076] my [1699] commandment [1785], That [2443] ye love [25] one another [240], as [2531] I have loved [25] you [5209].

³ Know ye [1492] not [3756] that [3754] we shall judge [2919] angels [32]? how much more [3386] [1065] things that pertain to this life [982]?

¹ Now [1161] before [4253] the feast [1859] of the passover [3957], when Jesus [2424] knew [1492] that [3754] his [846] hour [5610] was come [2064] that [2443] he should depart [3327] out of [1537] this [5127] world [2889] unto [4314] the Father [3962], having loved [25] his own [2398] which [3588] were in [1722] the world [2889], he loved [25] them [846] unto [1519] the end [5056].

⁹ He sent [07971] redemption [06304] unto his people [05971]: he hath commanded [06680] his covenant [01285] for ever [05769]: holy [06918] and reverend [03372] is his name [08034].

⁶ And she conceived again [02029], and bare [03205] a daughter [01323]. And God said [0559] unto him, Call [07121] her name [08034] Loruhamah [03819]: for I will no more [03254] have mercy [07355] upon the house [01004] of Israel [03478]; but I will utterly [05375] take them away [05375].

¹¹ Of [4012] [1161] judgment [2920], because [3754] the prince [758] of this [5127] world [2889] is judged [2919].

⁸ And [2532] when he is come [2064], he [1565] will reprove [1651] the world [2889] of [4012] sin [266], and [2532] of [4012] righteousness [1343], and [2532] of [4012] judgment [2920]:

⁹ And [2532] there came [2064] unto [4314] me [3165] one of [1520] the seven [2033] angels [32] which [3588] had [2192] the seven [2033] vials [5357] full [1073] of the seven [2033] last [2078] plagues [4127], and [2532] talked [2980] with [3326] me [1700], saying [3004], Come hither [1204], I will shew [1166] thee [4671] the bride [3565], the Lamb's [721] wife [1135].

²⁹ He that hath [2192] the bride [3565] is [2076] the bridegroom [3566]: but [1161] the friend [5384] of the bridegroom [3566], which [3588] standeth [2476] and [2532] heareth [191] him [846], rejoiceth [5463] greatly [5479] because [1223] of the bridegroom's [3566] voice [5456]: this [3778] my [1699] joy [5479] therefore [3767] is fulfilled [4137].

⁹ And [2532] he saith [3004] unto me [3427], Write [1125], Blessed [3107] are they which are called [2564] unto [1519] the marriage [1062] supper [1173] of the Lamb [721]. And [2532] he saith [3004] unto me [3427], These [3778] are [1526] the true [228] sayings [3056] of God [2316].

²⁵ I will set [07760] his hand [03027] also in the sea [03220], and his right hand [03225] in the rivers [05104].

²⁷ Zion [06726] shall be redeemed [06299] with judgment [04941], and her converts [07725] with righteousness [06666].

⁷ And what man [0376] is there that hath betrothed [0781] a wife [0802], and hath not taken [03947] her? let him go [03212] and return [07725] unto his house [01004], lest he die [04191] in the battle [04421], and another [0312] man [0376] take [03947] her.

²⁰ I will even betroth [0781] thee unto me in faithfulness [0530]: and thou shalt know [03045] the LORD [03068].