Hosea 2:7

Hebrew Bible

5 For their mother has committed adultery; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will seek out my lovers; they are the ones who give me my bread and my water, my wool, my flax, my olive oil, and my wine.’ 6 “Therefore, I will soon fence her in with thorns; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. 7 Then she will pursue her lovers, but she will not catch them; she will seek them, but she will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my husband, because I was better off then than I am now.’ 8 “Yet until now she has refused to acknowledge that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil; and that it was I who lavished on her the silver and gold—that they used in worshiping Baal! 9 Therefore, I will take back my grain during the harvest time and my new wine when it ripens; I will take away my wool and my flax that I had provided in order to clothe her.

Song of Solomon 3:2

Song of Songs
Hebrew Bible

1 The Beloved about Her Lover: All night long on my bed I longed for my lover. I longed for him, but he never appeared. 2 “I will arise and look all around throughout the town, and throughout the streets and squares; I will search for my beloved.” I searched for him, but I did not find him. 3 The night watchmen found me—the ones who guard the city walls. “Have you seen my beloved?” 4 Scarcely had I passed them by when I found my beloved! I held onto him tightly and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother’s house, to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me.

 Notes and References

"... In a study of Hosea's language in vv 7-9, van Selms (1964-65) has compared the vocabulary with that in the Song of Songs, describing wholesome love, and that in Proverbs, dealing with prostitution. He finds no fewer than five features in which the language of Hosea 2:7-9 is erotic, and makes the intriguing suggestion that snatches of love songs might underlie some of the rhythms found here ..."

Andersen, Francis I. Hosea: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (p. 238) Doubleday, 1980

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