The word of Yahweh that came to 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.
    God’s relationship to Old Testament Israel was frequently symbolized as a husband-wife relationship (Isaiah 62:5; Jeremiah 3:14). Thus it was appropriate to represent the nation’s sins-- especially idolatry-- as adultery (Hosea 4:13-19). 