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Selected Verse: Hosea 3:2 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ho 3:2	Strong Concordance	So I bought [03739] her to me for fifteen [06240] [02568] pieces of silver [03701], and for an homer [02563] of barley [08184], and an half homer [03963] of barley [08184]:
	King James	So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:

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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]
I bought her--The price paid is too small to be a probable dowry wherewith to buy a wife from her parents; but it is just half the price of a female slave, in money, the rest of the price being made up in grain (Exo 21:32). Hosea pays this for the redemption of his wife, who has become the slave of her paramour. The price being half grain was because the latter was the allowance of food for the slave, and of the coarsest kind, not wheat, but barley. Israel, as committing sin, was the slave of sin (Joh 8:34; Rom 6:16-20; Pe2 2:19). The low price expresses Israel's worthlessness.

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

I bought her--The price paid is too small to be a probable dowry wherewith to buy a wife from her parents; but it is just half the price of a female slave, in money, the rest of the price being made up in grain (Exo 21:32). Hosea pays this for the redemption of his wife, who has become the slave of her paramour. The price being half grain was because the latter was the allowance of food for the slave, and of the coarsest kind, not wheat, but barley. Israel, as committing sin, was the slave of sin (Joh 8:34; Rom 6:16-20; Pe2 2:19). The low price expresses Israel's worthlessness.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver - The fifteen shekels were half the price of a common slave Exo 21:32, and so may denote her worthlessness. The homer and half-homer of barley, or forty-five bushels, are nearly the allowance of food for a slave among the Romans, four bushels a month. Barley was the offering of one accused of adultery, and, being the food of animals, betokens that she was "like horse and mule which have no understanding." The Jews gave dowries for their wives; but she was the prophet's wife already. It was then perhaps an allowance, whereby he bought her back from her evil freedom, not to live as his wife, but to be honestly maintained, until it should be fit, completely to restore her.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
"And I acquired her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer of barley, and a lethech of barley." אכּרה, with dagesh lene or dirimens (Ewald, 28, b), from kârâh, to dig, to procure by digging, then generally to acquire (see at Deu 2:6), or obtain by trading (Job 6:27; 40:30). Fifteen keseph are fifteen shekels of silver; the word shekel being frequently omitted in statements as to amount (compare Ges. 120, 4, Anm. 2). According to Eze 45:11, the homer contained ten baths or ephahs, and a lethech (ἡμίκορος, lxx) was a half homer. Consequently the prophet gave fifteen shekels of silver and fifteen ephahs of barley; and it is a very natural supposition, especially if we refer to Kg2 7:1; Kg2 16:18, that at that time an ephah of barley was worth a shekel, in which case the whole price would just amount to the sum for which, according to Exo 21:32, it was possible to purchase a slave, and was paid half in money and half in barley. The reason for the latter it is impossible to determine with certainty. The price generally, for which the prophet obtained the wife, was probably intended to indicate the servile condition out of which Jehovah purchased Israel to be His people; and the circumstance that the prophet gave no more for the wife than the amount at which a slave could be obtained, according to Ecc. 21:32 and Zac 11:12, and that this amount was not even paid in money, but half of it in barley - a kind of food so generally despised throughout antiquity (vile hordeum; see at Num 5:15) - was intended to depict still more strikingly the deeply depressed condition of the woman. The price paid, moreover, is not to be regarded as purchase money, for which the wife was obtained from her parents; for it cannot be shown that the custom of purchasing a bride from her parents had any existence among the Israelites (see my Bibl. Archologie, ii. 109, 1). It was rather the marriage present (mōhar), which a bridegroom gave, not to the parents, but to the bride herself, as soon as her consent had been obtained. If, therefore, the woman was satisfied with fifteen shekels and fifteen ephahs of barley, she must have been in a state of very deep distress.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Fifteen pieces of silver - It was half the value of a slave, Exo 21:32. An homer of barley - About fourteen bushels. Of barley - The meanest kind of provision; and suited to a low condition, all this is, to set forth Israel's indigence and ingratitude, and God's bounty to Israel.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Fifteen pieces of silver - If they were shekels, the price of this woman was about two pounds five shillings. A homer of barley - As the homer was about eight bushels, or something more, the homer and half was about twelve or thirteen bushels.

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¹⁹ While they promise [1861] them [846] liberty [1657], they themselves [846] are [5225] the servants [1401] of corruption [5356]: for [1063] of whom [3739] a man [5100] is overcome [2274], [2532] of the same [5129] is he brought in bondage [1402].

¹⁶ Know ye [1492] not [3756], that [3754] to whom [3739] ye yield [3936] yourselves [1438] servants [1401] to [1519] obey [5218], his servants [1401] ye are [2075] to whom [3739] ye obey [5219]; whether [2273] of sin [266] unto [1519] death [2288], or [2228] of obedience [5218] unto [1519] righteousness [1343]?
¹⁷ But [1161] God [2316] be thanked [5485], that [3754] ye were [2258] the servants [1401] of sin [266], but [1161] ye have obeyed [5219] from [1537] the heart [2588] that form [5179] of doctrine [1322] which [1519] [3739] was delivered you [3860].
¹⁸ Being [1659] then [1161] made free [1659] from [575] sin [266], ye became the servants [1402] of righteousness [1343].
¹⁹ I speak [3004] after the manner of men [442] because [1223] of the infirmity [769] of your [5216] flesh [4561]: for [1063] as [5618] ye have yielded [3936] your [5216] members [3196] servants [1401] to uncleanness [167] and [2532] to iniquity [458] unto [1519] iniquity [458]; even so [3779] now [3568] yield [3936] your [5216] members [3196] servants [1401] to righteousness [1343] unto [1519] holiness [38].
²⁰ For [1063] when [3753] ye were [2258] the servants [1401] of sin [266], ye were [2258] free [1658] from righteousness [1343].

³⁴ Jesus [2424] answered [611] them [846], Verily [281], verily [281], I say [3004] unto you [5213], [3754] Whosoever [3956] committeth [4160] sin [266] is [2076] the servant [1401] of sin [266].

³² If the ox [07794] shall push [05055] a manservant [05650] or a maidservant [0519]; he shall give [05414] unto their master [0113] thirty [07970] shekels [08255] of silver [03701], and the ox [07794] shall be stoned [05619].

¹⁵ Then shall the man [0376] bring [0935] his wife [0802] unto the priest [03548], and he shall bring [0935] her offering [07133] for her, the tenth [06224] part of an ephah [0374] of barley [08184] meal [07058]; he shall pour [03332] no oil [08081] upon it, nor put [05414] frankincense [03828] thereon; for it is an offering [04503] of jealousy [07068], an offering [04503] of memorial [02146], bringing [02142] iniquity [05771] to remembrance [02142].

¹² And I said [0559] unto them, If ye think [05869] good [02896], give [03051] me my price [07939]; and if not, forbear [02308]. So they weighed [08254] for my price [07939] thirty [07970] pieces of silver [03701].

¹⁸ And the covert [04329] [04329] for the sabbath [07676] that they had built [01129] in the house [01004], and the king's [04428] entry [03996] without [02435], turned [05437] he from the house [01004] of the LORD [03068] for [06440] the king [04428] of Assyria [0804].

¹ Then Elisha [0477] said [0559], Hear [08085] ye the word [01697] of the LORD [03068]; Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], To morrow [04279] about this time [06256] shall a measure [05429] of fine flour [05560] be sold for a shekel [08255], and two measures [05429] of barley [08184] for a shekel [08255], in the gate [08179] of Samaria [08111].

¹¹ The ephah [0374] and the bath [01324] shall be of one [0259] measure [08506], that the bath [01324] may contain [05375] the tenth part [04643] of an homer [02563], and the ephah [0374] the tenth part [06224] of an homer [02563]: the measure [04971] thereof shall be after the homer [02563].

²⁷ Yea, ye overwhelm [05307] the fatherless [03490], and ye dig [03738] a pit for your friend [07453].

⁶ Ye shall buy [07666] meat [0400] of them for money [03701], that ye may eat [0398]; and ye shall also buy [03739] water [04325] of them for money [03701], that ye may drink [08354].