Bible Strands
Hosea 1:6
Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to Hosea at the moment his wife Gomer bears a daughter, immediately following the prophecy concerning the Valley of Jezreel and preceding the declaration of mercy on Judah. The text records the birth event before delivering the divine command to assign a specific name.
The words — The Hebrew קְרָא (qara') means "call" or "name," and לֹא (lo') functions as the negation "not" or "no." Combined in the command to name her Lo-ruhamah, the literal sense is "call her No-Compassion" or "not pitied."
The thread — The text explicitly links this withdrawal of pity to Hosea 2:23, where God promises to reverse the name and restore compassion. 1 Peter 2:10 applies the same trajectory from "not receiving mercy" to "having received mercy" to the people of God.
Why it lands — The text states that God will no longer show compassion or forgive the house of Israel, establishing a hard boundary on covenant mercy. It requires the reader to acknowledge that forgiveness is contingent on divine decree rather than national identity or human action.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo–ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.
Cross-references
- 1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- Hosea 2:23 And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”
- 2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- Isaiah 27:11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- Hosea 2:4 I will have no compassion on her children, because they are the children of adultery.
- 2 Kings 17:23 Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.
- Hosea 9:15 All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I hated them. I will drive them from My house for the wickedness of their deeds. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.