So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley.
This price may not be regarded as the money paid at the very first when Hosea took Gomer from her parents, "For it cannot be shown that the custom of purchasing a bride from her parents had any existence among the Israelites."[13]  Furthermore, if Gomer was not a slave, it would not have been necessary for Hosea to purchase her, because she was his already. Also, Gomer was not married to another subsequently to her marriage to Hosea; for, if that had been the case, it would have been contrary to God's law for him to take her back.  It is clear that he bought her out of slavery.