Hos. 3 By the prophet taking unto him an adulteress is showed the desolation of Israel, and their restoration.

Then, or And, Heb. or Furthermore. Said the Lord; commanded. Unto me; Hosea. Go yet; again, or once more; so it implieth he had once already been commanded and done some such-like thing.

So I bought her; as I was commanded, I procured, or, as we read it, bought her: which exactly answers to the state of the Jews when in Egypt, tainted with Egyptian idolatry, and poor, without a portion; bought or redeemed to be affianced to God.

This verse is the form of contract, or the articles of agreement, between the prophet and this woman. Abide for me; dwell with me, and expect and wait in an unmarried condition, until I see it fit to espouse thee.

Now the parable is unfolded and made plain; it shall be with Israel much like as with such a woman, they and she guilty of adultery, both punished with a divorce, both punished long with such afflicted state, both made slaves, kept hardly, and valued meanly, yet in mercy at last pardoned,…

Afterward; after these long and sore troubles have broken their hearts and opened their eyes. Return; repent; it is not a promise of return into their own country.