《Coffman Commentaries on the Bible – Hosea》(James B. Coffman)

Commentator

James Burton Coffman was a prolific author, preacher, teacher and leader among churches of Christ in the 20th century.

He was born May 24, 1905, in Taylor County to pioneer West Texans "so far out in the country it took two days to go to town and back." He became a Christian in 1923.

In Texas, Coffman graduated from Abilene High School and enrolled in Abilene Christian College (now University), graduating in 1927 with a B.A. in history and music.

After earning his degree, Coffman served as a high school principal for two years in Callahan County, then taught history and English at Abilene High School.

In 1930, he was offered a position as associate minister and song leader in Wichita Falls, the beginning of his career as a minister. Then, he married Thelma "Sissy" Bradford in 1931. Coffman preached for congregations in Texas; Oklahoma; Washington, D.C.; and New York City. In his lifetime, Coffman received 3 honorary doctorates.

While in Washington, he was offered the opportunity to serve as guest chaplain for the U.S. Armed Forces in Japan and Korea and served 90 days, holding Gospel meetings throughout both countries.

Coffman conducted hundreds of gospel meetings throughout the U.S. and, at one count, baptized more than 3,000 souls.

Retiring in 1971, he returned to Houston. One of his most notable accomplishments was writing a 37-volume commentary of the entire Bible, verse by verse, which was finished in 1992. This commentary is being sold all over the world. Many people consider the Coffman series to be one of the finest modern, conservative commentary sets written.

Coffman's conservative interpretations affirm the inerrancy of the Bible and clearly point readers toward Scripture as the final basis for Christian belief and practice. This series was written with the thorough care of a research scholar, yet it is easy to read. The series includes every book of the Old and New Testaments.

After being married to Sissy for 64 years, she passed away. Coffman then married June Bristow Coffman. James Burton Coffman died on Friday, June 30, 2006, at the age of 101.

01 Chapter 1

Verse 1

This chapter details the prophecy of the doom of Israel as typically enacted in the tragic marital experience of the prophet himself. The infidelity of Hosea's wife, Gomer, portrayed the apostasy of Israel; and Hosea's altruistic and unfailing love depicted the unmerited love and favor of God which continued to be lavished upon faithless Israel. The names given through inspiration to the three children also foreshadowed the ultimate rejection and destruction of the once "chosen people." Thus, the word of the prophet took on new power and validity because, "It was a word spoken by one whose life authenticated the word."[1] Overwhelming interest in this chapter and in the two succeeding chapters focuses upon the enigma of Hosea's marriage, which was contracted according to the "commandment of the Lord." Ward was of the opinion that the mystery is insoluble; and he suggested that, "The scholarly preoccupation with the enigma of Gomer has distracted from the primary task of interpreting what these chapters actually say."[2] Regarding the reason why Gomer's marriage to Hosea is regarded here as historical fact, rather than as an allegory or vision, see the introduction, above.

Hosea 1:1

"The word of Jehovah that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel."

"Word of Jehovah unto Hosea ..." It would be far better to translate through Hosea here, instead of unto Hosea. Of course, scholars are divided on this; but, as Ward pointed out, "Through Hosea is the correct meaning of the preposition,"[3] thus making it clear that the word given in this prophecy is the Word of God, and not merely the word of Hosea.

Nothing is known either of Hosea or his father Beeri, except the information that may be derived from the prophecy itself.

"Uzziah, Jotham, etc .... kings of Judah ..." It has seemed strange to some that a prophet of the northern kingdom should have dated his prophecy primarily by the kings of Israel; but all of the prophets realized that Israel's doom was imminent and that the true seat of the theocracy was in Jerusalem, not in Samaria. The minimum and maximum dates indicated by this whole list of kings Isaiah 27 years (742-715 B.C.) and 96 years (783-687 B.C.). Homer Hailey's assumption of a date from 750 B.C. and for some indefinite period afterwards[4] is as practical as any that may be assigned.

"Jeroboam the son of Joash ..." "is the same as Jeroboam II.

"Hosea ..." This name means "deliverance," or "salvation,"[5] indicating that Hosea himself stands in the prophecy as a type of God Himself, especially in the matter of his unselfish and constant love for his sinful wife.

The historical background indicated in this first verse was one of great turbulence and instability. Following the long and prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (in the northern kingdom), no other really strong monarch appeared. He was succeeded by his son Zechariah who was murdered after only six months by Shallum who took the throne, thus ending the dynasty of Jehu; but Shallum was murdered and succeeded by Menahem after only one month. Menahem reigned ten years and was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who after two years was murdered and succeeded by Pekah; he was murdered and succeeded by Hosea whose nine year reign ended in the disastrous overthrow of Israel in 722 B.C. when the nation was destroyed and carried into Assyrian captivity. Details of all these things are found in 2 Kings 15-17 and related passages of the Old Testament. "Although Hosea predicted the defeat and captivity of Israel, he still may have lived through that event. He would have been very old."[6]

Verse 2
"When Jehovah spoke at the first by Hosea, Jehovah said unto Hosea, Go take unto thee a wife of whoredom and children of whoredom; for the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from Jehovah."

There can be no doubt from this verse that God actually commanded Hosea to marry a "woman of whoredom"; but it is definitely not stated that he was commanded to marry a harlot, a widespread assumption which appears to be unjustified. As more thoroughly discussed in the introduction, our viewpoint is that Gomer was at first innocent. Her representation of Israel in the analogy would appear to demand this, for Israel "fell away" from God; they were not apostates already, a truth cited by Hosea himself in Hosea 9:10; 11:1; and Hosea 13:1. We believe, therefore, with Polkinghorne that, "At the time of the wedding, Gomer was a virgin but later proved unfaithful."[7] This, of course, does not remove what some are pleased to call the "moral problem" of God's commanding Hosea to marry a woman whom God certainly knew would prove to be faithless; but, actually, there is no problem at all. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Hosea's marrying a known harlot (if God had commanded it). Rahab the famous harlot of Jericho married a prince of Israel and stands with honor in the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only the priests were commended not to marry a harlot, as pointed out by Butler.[8] See Leviticus 21:7. There is not a word in Hosea to sustain the notion that Hosea was a priest. He was a prophet of God.

We refuse, therefore, to allegorize the factual narrative given in these chapters or to engage in any other of the gymnastics calculated to remove this alleged "difficulty." Keil, for example, took the view that the children of whoredom, mentioned here, were Gomer's already at the time of the marriage; but, as their names were given to them in succession by Hosea, such a view seems to be untenable. If we accept the view that God by some specific commandment told Hosea to marry a woman of the pagan culture where he lived, that Hosea chose to marry Gomer, and that she quickly fell into the excesses of the environment in which she was reared, all of the requirements of this passage are fully met. God's knowing in advance what would happen is no more of an impediment than may be found in Jesus' choice of Judas to be numbered with the Twelve, which was done after an entire night of prayer. Despite our own preference for the view that considers Gomer a virgin at the time of her marriage, we find no difficulty at all in the possibility that God might have commanded him to marry one of the religious prostitutes associated with the worship of Baal. This is surely one of the great mysteries of God's Word; and almost any view of it that may be accepted is subject to question. Hosea's experience in these chapters is "a portrait in miniature of Israel's relationship to the Lord."[9] Thus, some light may be derived from what happened in Israel, the antitype, to illuminate some of the events in the type. It is principally upon this that we base the idea of Gomer's innocence at first.

Great as was Hosea's love and unwavering affection for unfaithful Gomer, in spite of her sins, even such great love as that is but a dim and feeble type of God's great love for his children. As Ironside expressed it: "His all-conquering love is but a faint picture of God's affection for Israel, his earthly bride, for the cross was where the purchase-price was paid for both the earthly and the heavenly people."[10]

"When Jehovah spake at the first ..." "This resists the attempt of some to place Hosea 3 before Hosea 1."[11] Clearly, the events narrated in this chapter stand first chronologically in Hosea's remarkable marriage.

"Wife of whoredom ... children of whoredom ... the land doth commit great whoredom, departing from Jehovah ..." The triple use of "whoredom" in this passage is instructive, because in the third instance it is defined as "departing from Jehovah." What it certainly means in the last instance, therefore, it may very well mean the same in the first two instances, strongly supporting the conclusion of Haley: "The word in the first part of this verse may mean, as it certainly does in the last part, simply spiritual whoredom, or idolatry."[12] This kind of "whoredom" is therefore very widespread even now. As Morgan put it:

"The harlotry of worldliness is in all the churches at this present moment. Thousands who name the name of Christ are taking possessions bestowed upon them by God and spending them in the pursuit of worldly ambitions and pleasures.[13]

Verse 3
"So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived and bare him a son."

"Gomer ..." This is one of a number of names in the Bible that were given to both men and women. Gomer was the firstborn son of Japheth and the head of many families (Genesis 10:2-3; 1 Chronicles 1:5-6; and Ezekiel 38:6). The name Crimea, familiar in English history, is derived from Gomer whose descendants conquered and settled Cappadocia by the time of the seventh century.[14] "Diblaim" is said to mean "daughter of fig-cakes," or "daughter of embraces."[15] From this, some have alleged that Gomer was a Baal prostitute whose favors were bought with a couple of fig-cakes; but this is by no means certain. "Gomer" means "completion," "completed whoredom."[16] However, "There is not the slightest indication from the text that these two names were to have any symbolical significance. We have here a simple statement of historical facts."[17] In fact, the impression of simple, factual narrative throughout the passage is overwhelming. Mays emphasized this thus:

"Gomer and Diblaim are personal names, not sign-language for some reality other than a person. The story is laconic and matter-of-fact. The children came in the irregular order of son-daughter-son. The third child was conceived just after the second was weaned. The story reports the real."[18]

George DeHoff gave the meaning of this verse as, "He married an Israelite who had doubtless worshipped the golden calves at Bethel."[19]; "And she conceived and bare him a son ..." This explodes the notion that the children were already Gomer's at the time of the marriage. The first of the three children named was most certainly Hosea's.

Verse 4
"And Jehovah said unto him, 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 the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease."

"Call his name Jezreel ..." This town gave its name to the eastern portion of the great plain between Galilee and Samaria, the western part being called Esdraelon. Megiddo, the ancient stronghold of the pre-Israelite Canaanites, from which is derived the name Har-Megiddo, or Armageddon, was also on this plain. The town of Jezreel was where Ahab and Jezebel established their summer residence, and there the shameful murder of Naboth occurred. The place was especially associated with the massacre of Ahab's seventy sons by Jehu who replaced Ahab's dynasty with his own. It was in Jezreel that the dogs licked the blood of Ahab and Jezebel's body was dishonored and eaten by the dogs. What a horrible name to give an innocent little child! But God had a purpose in this. It was the signal that the atrocities of Jezreel were not forgotten and that the divine vengeance was soon to fall upon the whole nation.

"I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu ..." The blood of Jezreel probably refers to all of the many vicious and godless crimes perpetrated there, but the particular application would seem to be to Jehu's inhumane and ruthless murder of the house of Ahab, in which one of the kings of Judah, Ahaziah, was also slain. God, through one of his prophets, had commanded Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab; but the brutal and inhuman manner in which he did it showed that: