Judges 19:2 vs Hosea 3:1: Unfaithful & Redeem
Compare Judges 19:2 with Hosea 3:1 on themes of unfaithfulness and redemption.

Primary Texts

Judges 19:2: “But his concubine was unfaithful to him. She left him and went to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah and stayed there four months.”

Hosea 3:1: “Again the LORD said to me: ‘Go, show love to a woman loved by another man and an adulteress, just as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes.’”


Setting the Scene

Judges 19 unfolds in the morally chaotic era when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

• Hosea prophesies two centuries later to a prosperous yet spiritually bankrupt northern Israel (2 Kings 14:23-27).

• Both passages use marital infidelity as a mirror of Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness.


Unfaithfulness Highlighted

Judges 19:2 shows a Levite’s concubine abandoning the safety of covenant commitment; her act triggers violence and civil war (Judges 20).

Hosea 3:1 spotlights Gomer’s serial adultery, an embodied parable of Israel’s idolatry (Hosea 1:2).

• Scripture repeatedly equates idolatry with adultery (Exodus 34:15-16; Jeremiah 3:1-9; James 4:4).

• Sin never stays private: in Judges it ignites national collapse; in Hosea it threatens exile (Hosea 11:5-6).


Redemption Unveiled

• The Levite eventually seeks out his concubine (Judges 19:3), but more to reclaim property than to restore relationship—an inadequate, human response.

• In stark contrast, God commands Hosea to pursue, purchase, and cherish his unfaithful wife (Hosea 3:2-3).

– The price (fifteen shekels plus barley) resembles a slave’s ransom (Exodus 21:32), hinting at redemption.

– Love precedes repentance: Hosea’s grace anticipates Israel’s future return (Hosea 3:4-5).

• God’s pattern: He confronts sin but moves toward sinners (Romans 5:8; Luke 15:20).

• Hosea foreshadows the ultimate Bridegroom who redeems with His own blood (Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Peter 1:18-19).


Connecting the Two Passages

• Both accounts begin with covenant betrayal, yet only Hosea ends with hope.

• Judges illustrates where unaddressed sin leads—fractured relationships, societal ruin.

• Hosea reveals God’s heart—He pays the cost Himself to reclaim, restore, and renew.

• Together they create a sobering-yet-hopeful picture: humanity’s faithlessness is met by heaven’s relentless faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).


Lessons for Today

• Sin’s first step is departure from covenant; its wages are destruction (Romans 6:23).

• Divine love doesn’t ignore sin; it pursues the sinner for restoration (Isaiah 1:18; 1 John 4:10).

• Believers are called to mirror that redemptive love within marriage, family, and church (Colossians 3:12-14).

• The cross is God’s ultimate “Hosea moment,” where justice and mercy kiss (Psalm 85:10) and the wandering heart finds its way home.

How does Judges 19:2 illustrate the consequences of unfaithfulness in relationships?
Top of Page
Top of Page