“However, behold, I will persuade her, and I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart.
But lo and behold. Isaiah 30:18; Jer 16:14.
I will attract her. Sing 1:4; Joh 6:44; Joh 12:32.
and I will take her to the desert. Hos 2:3; Jer 2:2; Eze 20:10, Eze 20:35, Eze 20:36; Rev 12:6, Rev 12:14.
and I will talk to him. Isaiah 35:3, Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 40:1, Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 49:13-26; Isaiah 51:3-23; Jer 3:12-24; Jer 30:18-22; Jer 31:1-37; Jer 32:36-41; Jer 33:6-26; Eze 34:22-31; Eze 36:8-15; Eze 37:11-28; Eze 39:25-29; loved 9:11-15; Mic 7:14-20; Zep 3:9-20; Zech 1:12-17; Zech 8:19-23; Romans 11:26, Romans 11:27.
to your heart Gen 34:3; Thurs 19:3.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
After separating Israel from her lovers, the Lord would try to win her back with romantic proposals and tender words of love.
desert: the future exile is compared to the wandering in the desert at the time of Moses.
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
BUT… I WILL DRAW HER. Hosea alternates between warnings of judgment and promises of hope and restoration. The two previous “therefore” (Heb. lakerí) (vv. Hos 2:6; Hos 2:9) referred to the trial. Now, starting with another laken (translated “but” in the King James version to point out the contrast), God reveals a great and wonderful contrast. In his grace He would still call Israel back. As in the exodus when God took his people out of Egypt to take them to the desert in order to give them his law and guide them to the promised land, so he would take them out of the Egypt of their sin again to take them to a new desert, where he would guide them , would teach and restore.
Source: Full Life Study Bible
I will speak to your heart. A phrase that alludes to the process of courtship and falling in love (Gen 34:3; Thurs 19:3; Ruth 2:13). God will restore Israel to be with Him again.
Source: MacArthur Study Bible
— I will take her to the desert: Evocation of the crossing of the desert described in Exodus and Numbers and that Hosea understands as a time of fidelity and loving intimacy between Israel and the Lord, their God, (see also Jer 2:2), since Israel had not yet known or worshiped the Canaanite gods and goddesses.
Source: Hispano-American Interdenominational Translation
Promise Following Judgment: Courting Cheating Wife Back
In the previous verses God acted in judgment on his unfaithful people, to bring them to reason that they might return to him. Here the figure is that of a lover luring her beloved back from her, speaking tenderly to her and giving her gifts (14, 15, 22), and protecting her from attack by wild animals or humans (18). It is a new beginning: Israel and her husband in the desert again, without distractions, married forever…in justice and right, in loyalty and compassion. And Israel will acknowledge Jehovah. This word often carries a sense of intimacy, and may include “recognition” (cf. 6:3,6; see also 4:6; 13:4,5).
I will answer (21) must be understood in light of Israel’s response to God in v. 15, where the same verb is used and should be translated “There he will answer…” In fact, vv. 16-20 can be bracketed and viewed as an expansion of Israel’s response to God. They are not easy to translate lit., but they mean that God responds with his grace by speaking to the heavens that have been closed so as not to send rain on the earth. This establishes the chain: the heavens send rain to the earth, which then gives grain, new wine, and oil, which in turn satisfies Jezreel (Israel represented by the name “God sows”). The play on words continues in v. 23: “I will sow it.” All the names of Hosea’s sons are now remembered and given a positive meaning. The most serious judgment, “not-my-people” becomes My people are you, and the promise of the covenant is completed by the cry of Israel, my God.
Source: New Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary
CROSS-REFERENCES
or 70 Eze 20:35
p71 Isaiah 40:2
Source: New World Translation
Lit., about his