Jezreel (Son of Hosea)

Biblical Account

Jezreel appears in the first chapter of the Book of Hosea. At God's command, Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, who "bare him a son" (Hosea 1:3). God commanded that the child be named Jezreel, saying, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel" (Hosea 1:4). The next verse continues, "I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel" (Hosea 1:5). Gomer later bore a daughter, Lo-ruhamah ("not having obtained mercy"), and a son, Lo-ammi ("not my people"). Scripture records nothing further about Jezreel's life or deeds.

Jezreel is a Hebrew name meaning "God sows." It is also the name of a city and a valley in the northern kingdom of Israel. The city was the site of a royal residence of King Ahab, and it was there that Jehu killed King Joram, Jezebel, and the house of Ahab (2 Kings 9–10).

The name Jezreel also appears in 1 Chronicles 4:3 among the descendants of the father of Etam in the tribe of Judah. That individual is a different person from Hosea's son.

Significance in Scripture

The name Jezreel points first to judgment. The dynasty of Jehu ended when his great-great-grandson Zechariah was assassinated by Shallum (2 Kings 15:8-12), and not long afterward the northern kingdom fell to Assyria (fall of the northern kingdom of Israel).

Yet the same name also serves as a sign of restoration. Hosea 1:11 calls the day when Judah and Israel will be gathered together "the day of Jezreel." Hosea 2:22-23 declares, "I will sow her unto me in the earth," reviving the sense of "sowing" contained in the name. In the same passage the names Lo-ruhamah and Lo-ammi are likewise reversed to signify mercy and "my people."

The New Testament does not quote the name Jezreel directly. However, Romans 9:25-26 and 1 Peter 2:10 cite the immediately adjacent passages, Hosea 1:10 and 2:23, applying them to Gentiles and the scattered being called to be the people of God.

Interpretation and Issues

• The judgment on Jehu: 2 Kings 10:30 records that God approved Jehu's destruction of the house of Ahab, yet Hosea 1:4 cites the same event as grounds for judgment. Interpreters differ on how to account for this tension. Some suggest that Jehu shed blood excessively, going beyond God's will; others hold that the issue is his dynasty's failure to abandon the sin of Jeroboam (the worship of the golden calves).
• Whether he was Hosea's own son: The words "bare him," indicating that the child was born to Hosea, appear only in 1:3 and not in the accounts of the second and third children. On this basis some interpreters conjecture that the latter two children were not Hosea's. The text, however, does not state this explicitly.
• The nature of the marriage: Many regard Hosea's marriage and the births of his children as actual events. Nevertheless, some Jewish and Christian commentators are known to have read them as a vision or an allegory.

In Korean Churches

In Korean churches, Jezreel is seldom treated as a subject in his own right. He is more often introduced, together with his siblings' names, in sermons and Bible studies on the story of Hosea and Gomer, that is, on God's unfailing love for an unfaithful people. In such settings, emphasis usually falls on how the three children's names move from judgment to restoration.