Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
” This was the longest of the prophetic books written before the Captivity. Hosea prophesied in a dark and melancholy period of Israel’s history, the period of Israel’s decline and fall. Their sins had brought upon them great national disasters. ” He was a contemporary of Isaiah. The book may be divided into two parts, the first containing chapters 1-3, and symbolically representing the idolatry of Israel under imagery borrowed from the matrimonial relation.
The figures of marriage and adultery are common in the Old Testament writings to represent the spiritual relations between Jehovah and the people of Israel. Here we see the apostasy of Israel and their punishment, with their future repentance, forgiveness, and restoration. The second part, containing 4-14, is a summary of Hosea’s discourses, filled with denunciations, threatenings, exhortations, promises, and revelations of mercy. Quotations from Hosea are found in Matt. 2:15; 9:15; 12:7; Rom. 9:25, 26.
There are, in addition, various allusions to it in other places (Luke 23:30; Rev. 6:16, comp. Hos. 10:8; Rom. 9:25, 26; 1 Pet. 2:10, comp. Hos. 1:10, etc.).
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
This book consists of fourteen chapters. It is easy to recognize two great divisions in the book: (1) ch. 1 to 3; (2) ch. 4 to end.