Bible fact · Translation-dependent observation
Hosea's children had message names
Hosea's children were named Jezreel, Lo-Ruhamah ("not pitied") and Lo-Ammi ("not my people") as signs to Israel. Hosea 1:4–10
Discover why
God told Hosea to name his children as signs: Jezreel; Lo-Ruhamah, "for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel"; and Lo-Ammi, "for you are not my people". Hosea 1:3–9
Yet the prophecy turns to hope: "In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'the sons of the living God.'" Hosea 1:10Romans 9:25–26
How this was worked out
Name meanings as explained within Hosea 1:6 and 1:9 in the World English Bible.
Counts and numbers that depend on an edition, canon or verse numbering can differ in other Bibles.
Read the passage
Hosea 1:4–10 WEB
4The LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. 5It will happen in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.” 6She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them. 7But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.” 8Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son. 9He said, “Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I will not be yours. 10Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured or counted; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’