Gomer

Biblical Account

Gomer is named only in chapter 1 of the Book of Hosea. Hosea 1:1 states that Hosea prophesied during the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah and of King Jeroboam the son of Joash of Israel.

• Marriage: God commands Hosea to take "a wife of whoredoms." Hosea marries Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim (Hosea 1:2-3).
• Three children: Gomer bears a son, Jezreel; a daughter, Lo-ruhamah (meaning "not having obtained mercy"); and a son, Lo-ammi (meaning "not my people") (Hosea 1:3-9). The children's names function as prophetic signs announcing judgment on the dynasty of Jehu and Israel's estrangement from God.
• Taking her back: In Hosea 3:1-3, God commands Hosea to love a woman "beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress." Hosea buys her for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley and brings her back. The woman is not named in this chapter.

Significance Within Scripture

The Book of Hosea likens Gomer's unfaithfulness to Israel's idolatry in serving Baal, and Hosea's taking his wife back to God's steadfast love (hesed). Hosea 2 extends this metaphor to the covenant relationship. In doing so, it reverses the meaning of the children's names, promising that those who were "not my people" will become "my people" (Hosea 1:10; 2:23).

The New Testament does not mention Gomer by name. However, Paul quotes these promises in Romans 9:25-26 and applies them to the calling of the Gentiles to be God's people. 1 Peter 2:10 uses the same language.

Interpretations and Debated Questions

• Actual event or symbol? Most modern commentators, as well as the Korean church, read the marriage as a historical event. Some medieval and Reformation-era commentators regarded the marriage as a vision or an allegory.
• Was she unchaste before the marriage? Interpretations of the phrase "a wife of whoredoms" differ. Some hold that she was already unchaste at the time of the marriage; others see the phrase as describing in advance what she would later become. Some scholars conjecture that she was a woman associated with Canaanite fertility cults, but the text does not state this.
• Is the woman in chapter 3 Gomer? Most identify her as Gomer, though some hold that she was a different woman.
• The children's father: Hosea 1:3 says that Gomer "bare him [Hosea] a son." Because this phrase is absent from the accounts of the second and third children, some interpreters speculate that they were not Hosea's children. The text does not state this explicitly.
• Embellished details: A scene commonly depicted in sermons and dramatizations shows Gomer placed on an auction block at a slave market, with Hosea paying her price. This is an imaginative elaboration based on the word "bought" in Hosea 3:2; the text contains no description of a market or an auction. Characterizing Gomer as a professional prostitute likewise goes beyond the wording of the text.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, Gomer is usually presented as a picture of humanity that has departed from God. Hosea's love serves as an illustration of God's love in paying a price to reclaim sinners, that is, of atonement and grace. Sermons for young adult ministries and retreats sometimes liken believers themselves to Gomer in order to emphasize repentance and restoration.