Gomer

    Gomer is the wife of the prophet Hosea. Not much is known about her outside of her unfaithfulness, but like us, she is more than her flaws.

    Introduction

    Gomer is introduced in Hosea 1:3 as the unfaithful wife of Hosea. In my memory, Gomer was a prositute but when I re-read Hosea, I couldn't figure out where I got this from. After some research I realized that the confusion stems from differences in translation for Hosea 1:2—some translations say "promiscious" or "adulterous" woman while others say prostitute. The Hebrew word used could mean adulterous or idolatrous; it does not necessarily mean prostitute. Unfortunately, not much is told to us about Gomer outside of this, which means even what we do know about her is spotty at best. Nonetheless, there are lessons to be learned from her. For starters, we are explicitly told that she is given to Hosea as a wife to illustrate the Church.

    Etymology of the Name Gomer

    Gomer shares her name with a son of Japheth, so it appears more frequently in the Bible than in passages specifically referencing her. The name means "complete."[3]

    Genealogy

    Gomaer is the daughter of Diblaim. Strong's defines Diblaim as Gomer's father. When I saw "im" at the end, I was curious if this was actually a reference to a person or a tribe, since "im" is indicative of plural in Hebrew. Strong's Condcordance states that Diblaim is actually dual, and means two cakes.[2] Words like Cherubim (meaning more than one cherub) us a slighty different ending in Hebrew that differentiates between plural and dual. I studied Hebrew but my understanding of this is tenuous, so I can't explain in great detail but you can use any concordence to compare and verify. The point is: the dual nature of the word makes it more like that Diblaim is likely a person not a people group.

    We are not told of Gomer's tribe, nor is it confirmed that she is in fact an Israelite. However, the fact that she is not called out for not being Israelite seems to imply that she was. For Hosea's audience, identification with Diblaim must have been enough of a discription. We can think of it today as associating a person with someone famous (e.g., the daughter of Prnce Harry). Since Hosea was a prophet in the Northern kingdom of Israel, we can assume Gomer was part of one of the 10 tribes that stayed in the northern kingdom.

    Questions


    On the Passage(s)

    1. Was Gomer a prostitute?
    2. How did Hosea know she would be unfaithful?
      • Did she have a repuation?
      • Did she believe in marriage/monogamy?
      • Did she cheat before they were married?
    3. How did Gomer avoid stoning for infedility?
      • Was punishment contingent on a husband accusing the woman of guilt?
      • Does this mean Hosea never publically accussed Gomer of unfaithfulness (aside from the book of Hosea which could have been tucked away until after her death)
    4. Who is Diblaim
      • A group of people/tribe?
      • Mother or father?
      • Are they Israelites?
    5. What did Gomer think of the names chosen for her children?
    6. Did she trust/believe Hosea?
    7. Was she a good mother?
    8. Why was she unfaithful?
    9. What was her debt for?
    10. Did she love Hosea?
    11. Would she have loved Hosea if he hadn't paid her debt?
    12. How long did it take her to appreciate Hosea?
    13. Did she ever appreciate Hosea or was she unfaithful for their whole marriage?
    14. Where were her lovers when her debt needed to be paid?
    15. Did she run from motherhood?
      • Is this why she was unfaithful?
    16. Was Hosea the father of her children?
    17. What did her family and friends think of her behavior?
      • Did anyone try to intervene?

    If I Were Speaking to Gomer

    Society has always had a double standard for women and men when it comes to sex. There are many deragatory names for women who are promiscuous, and people generally look down upon such womne. Unless our understanding of ancient times is inverted, I can only imagine these standards were even worse in Gomer's day. As such, she would not have been seen as a respectable woman or a "catch." So, if I could sit and have a conversation with Gomer, I would want to talk to her about slef worth—

    Was Gomer shocked that a man like Hosea approached her? Did she cheat because she felt she was unworthy? Had she internalized negative comments about her previous mistakes and then barelled head first into that behavior because people had already written her off? How did she feel after Hosea redeemed her? Did she have trouble forgiving herself?

    Another topic I would want to bring up is motherhood. The timeline of events isn't really clear—Gomer could have cheated once or many times, before or after their children, we really can't say. We aren't told anything of her relationship with her children. I am curious if how she felt about her self had any bearings on how she saw her children. Was it difficult for her to raise them? Did she ever tell them that Hosea might not be their father (if that's even true?).

    Phototheology

    Phototheology is a way of learning the Bible taught by Ivor Myers.[4] I am employing this technique in my weekly Woman of God study journal. The following three pormpts are the ones I drew from the card deck while studying Gomer.

    What is the text literally saying

    Within the story we are told that God has orchestrated this situation for illustration of spiritual matters, so we know that there is more to it than the literal. However focussing on the literal did help me recognize more in the spiritual.

    The literal reading Gomer's story is about a woman who is unfaithful to her husband and the husband's attempt to grapple with that fact. This husband still redeems his wife, even though he is hurt and disappointed in her behavior. Gomer has three children —two sons and a daughter. I find this last bit interesting. 3 is a very symbolic number and from Abraham are three major families (Ishamel, Esau, and Jacob), as well as thre major religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam)

    Connect to the mathematics of Noah's 120 year prophecy

    120 years is the number of years between when God tells Noah the flood will happen and when the flood actually happens. The flood was God's judgment on the world for being overwhelmingly wicked. There are a few simlarities between the story surrounding Hosea and Gomer, and that of Noah and his family.

    While Hosea is married to Gomer, he is to prophesy to the people of Israel and each of their children is named after a prophetic message revealed by God. Similarly, Noah has children after receiving the message to go an build the ark. Both families have 3 children. Gomer is redemeed by Hosea the same way Noah's family is redemeed by God.

    How does the text relate to me?

    This is definitely a personal question for each person to reflect on. The whole reason God gives us Gomer's story because she represents His people—she represents us. I am not perfect and often fail in my faithfulness to the Most High. Yet, He redeemed me. Grace is a beautiful and wonderful gift He has given us.

    As I thought about how Gomer's story related to me personall, my focus narrowed to two specific things: (a) the fact that Gomer was chosen and (b) Gomer's feelings about herself.

    Gomer was chosen.

    A lot of talking points on dating make it seem like you have to be perfect to be "chosen" (or to become a wife). Women are blamed for everything from being fat to not interesting enough. Yet women like Gomer are often chosen in reality. Love is not about perfection. That doesn't mean it's OK to be unfaithful, unhealhy, rude, etc. However, it does mean it doesn't limit your right to be loved or the ability of a man of God to love you. It is likely that through Hosea's love that Gomer blossomed into a woman of God (we hope!).

    Gomer's feelings about herself.

    We aren't told how Gomer feels about any of this, before or after Hosea pays the redemption price, but woman to woman, I can guess. As a perfectionist, though my guesses trend toward the extreme. Once I find fault in myself—something I do often—I feel like my whole self is worthless. It can be hard to compartmentalize one flaw and still recognize the good parts of me. I can imagine Gomer felt unworthy of the love Hosea showed her. The truth is, every child of God is worthy of love. We are not defined by our failures, but how we handle them. Given a second chance like Gomer, how will I respond?

    Journal Pages

    Images from my journal study on Gomer.

    References & Footnotes

    1. "Introduction to Hosea". ESV.org. 2001; visited January 2025
    2. "Strong's H1691. דִּבְלַיִם". Blue Letter Bible; visited Februray 2025
    3. "Strong's H1586. גֹּמֶר". Blue Letter Bible; visited Februray 2025
    4. Pastor Ivor Myers' Phototheology Game Deck
    Published on Saturday, February 1, 2025
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