And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah, [that] thou shalt call me, My husband, and shalt call me no more, Baali;
God speaks here to a people who had run after other gods. Instead of naming their punishment, He names the new word they will one day use for Him. The change is only one word. Commentators treat it as the difference between distance and intimacy, and they ask when that day comes.
The verse uses two Hebrew words for "husband." They carry very different weight. One writer traces the difference back to the making of man and woman.
Frederick W GrantThe change of title here is significant. So far they had known God only in the distant place of "master." They had not known the reality of His glorious nature, or the affectionate closeness He was seeking. So nothing kept them from being drawn away to "other lords" that had wrongly taken His place.
"Baal" was not an evil word in itself. God had used it of His own relationship to Israel — which makes His decision to drop it all the more striking.
Numerical Bible NotesBaal means "husband" and "lord," and its main idea is ownership... The word does not have to carry a bad sense. In the sense of "husband," God uses it of His own relationship to the people: "your Maker is your baal"; "though I was a baal to them." (Isa. 54:5; Jer. 31:32.) Still, in the end God rejects the word.
The reason follows: they used the same word for the idols they had served.
Morrish Bible DictionaryIsrael had credited the Baals with the blessings the LORD had given them. The LORD said He would strip them of those mercies to show them their folly... Israel will no longer call God 'my Master,' which is what the word Baali means, but 'Husband.' He will take away the names of their idol masters, the Baals, and they will not be remembered any more.
The new title is more than a change of words. It tells Israel something about the God who chose it.
Other AuthorsHosea 2 describes the restoration of Israel from the standpoint of the LORD's faithful love. He will be known to His people by a name that expresses that love... We must always bear in mind that the LORD of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New. And in this place He, the LORD Jesus known to us in grace, is addressed as Israel's Husband. After all her years of wandering and turning away, she will be brought to know the love that has followed her unfailingly.
The promise does not arrive out of nowhere. It follows the wilderness and the valley of Achor — a name that stands for trouble.
W T TurpinThat is, the very scene of judgment will be the very starting-point of recovery. It must be out of "Achor" — that is, out of trouble — that the deliverance comes; it cannot come in any other way. That is how He will work with Israel in the days to come, and how He works now in the souls of any who have wandered from Him.
Commentators say none of this has happened yet. They warn against reading it as already fulfilled.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinNone of these promises about Israel's future — her restoration and spiritual blessings — has come true yet. "It is folly to think that all this was fully accomplished when a remnant returned from the captivity... No; it is a brighter day, when the power of God will make a complete clearance from the world of disorder, misrule, man's violence and corruption."
- Master. "Baali" means lord or owner. It left Israel at a distance, knowing God's authority but not His affection.
- Husband. "Ishi" means "my man," a word reaching back to creation, and it names the intimacy God had always been seeking.
- Cleansing. God drops the old word because Israel used it for idols too. He takes the names of the false gods out of her mouth.
- Achor. The change comes only after the wilderness and the valley of trouble. The scene of judgment becomes the starting point of recovery — for Israel then, and for any wanderer now.
- That day. Commentators hold that this is still future. God will restore Israel, and she will know the LORD of the Old Testament as the Jesus of the New.
for I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.
Just before this, God promises that Israel will call Him her husband, not her master. This verse gives the result — the names of the false gods vanish from her speech — and it raises two questions: why does a change of address break the hold of idolatry, and when does this happen?
Verse 16 uses two Hebrew words for "husband." They do not carry the same weight, and the difference explains how the idols kept their hold.
Frederick William GrantThe change of title here matters. "Ishi" and "Baali" are both used for "husband." But "Baali" means strictly "lord, master," and implies only the wife's subjection. "Ishi" means "my man." Like similar words in other languages, it goes back to creation and to the basic fitting of man and woman to each other, so that the relationship should hold real fellowship or kinship. It is easy, then, to see the link between swapping one title for the other in speaking of the true God and the dropping of the very names of the "Baals," the false gods, out of Israel's mouth. Until then they had known God only in the far off place of "master." They had not known the reality of His glorious nature, or the affectionate closeness He was seeking. So nothing held them back from being drawn away to "other lords" that had seized His place.
The word was not evil in itself. Scripture even uses it of God's own bond with His people. Yet here He drops it for good.
Numerical Bible NotesBaal means "husband" and "lord," and its main idea is ownership. Even a bird is a "baal of wing," and a hairy man a "baal of hair." So it does not stand so much for the idea of one who rules; that word is rather adon, from din, to "discern," to "judge." Yet the word has no necessarily bad sense either. In the sense of "husband," God uses it of His own relation to the people: "your Maker is your baal"; "though I was a baal to them." (Isa. 54:5; Jer. 31:32.) Still, in the end God rejects the word.
Behind the refusal lies something God wants known about Himself.
Numerical Bible NotesHow gladly would God have us know that He has a heart!
God attaches the promise to a place with a bad history.
J. N. DarbyThe valley of Achor would be her door of hope. There the judgment of God first began to fall on the unfaithful people, after they entered the land, when God dealt with them according to their responsibility. There He would now show that grace overflowed all their sin. He would give them back the joy of their first deliverance and redemption. Their history would begin again in grace, and this time the blessing would be secure. The principle of Israel's relationship with Jehovah would change. He would not be a Master (Baal) she had to answer to, but a Husband who had married her. The Baals would be entirely forgotten.
Her heart changes first. She finally sees who had been giving her everything all along.
W. W. FeredayIn the past she was blind. She did not know who it was that really loved her, and gave her grain and wine and oil, and decked her with jewels. But when grace works in her heart, she will turn to Him in sorrow and repentance, so that He may take her to His heart once more.
So has any of this happened yet?
Arno Clemens GaebeleinAll these promises about Israel's future — her restoration and spiritual blessings — are still unfulfilled. "It is a delusion to think that all this was fully accomplished when a remnant returned from captivity."
And the promise is certain, not conditional.
Numerical Bible NotesThis gives absolute assurance that God will bring them back into relationship with Himself, and that the relationship will last. It will be closer than any they have ever known.
- Distance — Israel knew God only as owner and master. That far-off place left room for other lords.
- Nearness — He asks for the name "my husband." It goes back to creation and means real fellowship, not just subjection.
- Removal — He does not ask her to drop the idol names; He takes them away, so the Baals are entirely forgotten.
- Doorway — At Achor, judgment first fell on Israel. There grace now overflows all their sin, and the place becomes her door of hope.
- Permanence — No return from captivity fulfilled this. It is still ahead, and it brings Israel closer to God than she has ever been.