Hosea 1:11

Children of Judah. Judah and Israel are spoken of together to indicate that God’s plan for His chosen people was that they should be united in one nation. Later prophets emphasized this same truth (see Jer. 3:18; 50:4, 5, 33; Eze. 37:16-22; etc.). Representatives from the tribes of Israel were among the exiles who returned after the captivity of Judah (see on Ezra 6:17).

Come up out of the land. Evidently a reference to the return from the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity.

Jezreel. Whereas in v. 4 Hosea uses the name “Jezreel” to represent the scattering of the people, here (as in ch. 2:22, 23) the prophet employs “Jezreel” to express the sowing of God’s love and mercy toward His people.

This chapter stresses the truth that “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). If we disobey Him, we cannot expect to escape the penalty for our transgressions. Hosea’s three children, representing the apostate children of Israel, declare by their names the successively severer punishments for this apostasy. However, divine mercy is here pictured as strongly as is divine judgment. God is a God of justice and love (see Ps. 85:10; 89:14).