Chapter 16
Getting Wise to the Connivers: Biblical Femme Fatales
In This Chapter
Seeing how Delilah’s deception ruins Samson
Looking at the good and the bad sides of Queen Bathsheba
Considering unanswered questions about the witch of Endor
Watching as Jezebel manipulates a nation
Drawing a parallel between Gomer and Israel
S everal notorious women in the Bible are shrouded in intrigue and mystery. Whereas the women of the previous three chapters are powerful and faithful, these women are influential and often dangerous. These women portray the dark side of human nature, displaying traits like lust, misguided ambition, political intrigue, and more. Although not all these women are entirely bad or morally evil, they show the same vulnerability as their male counterparts who often equally share the blame.
In this chapter, we discuss two-faced Delilah, adulterous Bathsheba, the notorious witch of Endor, blasphemous and manipulative Jezebel, and the unfaithful and weak Gomer.
Double Agent Delilah: Sapping Sampson’s Strength
Delilah, who lived in the thirteenth century BC, breaks the heart of her lover, Samson, a man who devoted his life to fighting the enemies of the Israelites. In fact, she even betrays him to these enemies, the Philistines. She is the poster child of femme fatales for her intrigue, seductiveness, and treachery toward her lover, the iron man of the ancient world. In her story, she is the only woman in a numerous cast of characters who is identified by name.
Delilah is perceived by many as the Mata Hari of her day — a double agent who worked both sides of the fence. (Mata Hari was accused of being a double-agent spy for both the French and the Germans during World War I.) Because of her behavior, Delilah is now a name used to refer to any treacherous and cunning woman.
Playing Samson
Samson, Delilah’s “prey,” is one of the Judges of Israel, a ruler who led the nation before the monarchy. Like Deborah, who had also been a Judge (see Chapter 10 for more on her), Samson guides and governs the Hebrew people. Unlike Deborah, though, he is a bit of a loose cannon. He often loses his temper and shows a similar lack of control over his passions. Shortly before he meets Delilah, Samson visits a prostitute — a reward, perhaps, for slaying a thousand Philistines, his sworn enemies (Judges 16:1).
Delilah herself is a Philistine, the last in a string of Philistine women whom Samson seemingly can’t resist. The Philistines were traditional rivals and enemies of the Hebrews for centuries. Although Samson is blessed with extraordinary physical strength, he suffers great weakness when it comes to Delilah. His first wife, also a Philistine, had perished as a result of Samson’s conflict with these people. (See more on Samson’s first wife in Chapter 18.)
When he meets Delilah, it’s clear he hasn’t learned from his previous mistake. Samson has a thing for Philistine women — and usually for women who are not totally devoted to him, either. His first wife was killed when, at the prenuptial party, a silly bet is made that no one can answer his famous riddles. The Philistine guests get Samson’s Philistine wife to trick the answer out of him. She tells her countrymen the answer, and Samson loses the bet. In a rage to pay his debt, Samson slays 30 Philistines and takes their garments. The result is that his wife-to-be is given by her father to Samson’s best man. He angrily goes out and destroys the grain fields of the Philistines, and they retaliate by burning his home with his former betrothed and her father inside.
Although he is physically the strongest man on earth, when it comes to Philistine women, Samson has weak knees. He acts impetuously and blabs secrets to them. He fails to learn from his experience with the first wife, and he soon makes a similar mistake with his lover, Delilah.
Understanding Samson’s strength
Samson kills a lion with his bare hands and slays a thousand Philistines with just the jawbone of an ass that had been lying on the ground. His very name intimidates and infuriates the Philistine men.
Soon after Samson and Delilah meet, the Philistine overlords ask Delilah to discover the enigma of Samson’s strength, unbeknownst to Samson. Being superstitious pagans, they suspect the secret to his strength is some magic amulet or talisman or perhaps some potion or spell. Whatever it is, they need to know so they can capture and destroy their archnemesis.
But Samson’s strength comes from God, and it will remain only as long as Samson stays faithful to his Nazirite vow, one part of which means never cutting his hair. No one knows this source of his strength except the man of steel himself. The Nazirite (from the Hebrew word Nazir, meaning “dedicated one”) vow was made first for Samson by his mother and then by Samson himself. Taking the vow means that he won’t consume strong drink (wine with high alcohol content), won’t contaminate himself by touching a dead body (animal or human), and won’t ever cut the hair on his head. These external signs represent a special relationship of the person with the Lord God.
Delilah was to be Samson’s ultimate downfall. For 1,100 pieces of silver she agrees to spy on her boyfriend and learn his secret, going to work as an undercover agent for her people.
Finding Samson’s Achilles’ heel
The Bible recounts three occasions when Delilah unsuccessfully attempts to learn the mystery of Samson’s strength.
“If you really loved me. . . .” How many times has that line been spoken by women and men throughout history in an effort to get their beloved to do, show, or prove something? Delilah is no different. She comes right out and asks Samson: “Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and how you could be bound, so that one could subdue you” (Judges 16:6). No secrets between lovers, right?
Her tactic was simple but brilliant. Instead of plying him with booze to get him to tell all, and knowing she was no physical match for his strength, she takes the direct approach, which seems most logical. By explicitly asking him, Delilah thinks that it seems too obvious that she wants nothing more than a demonstration that he loves and trusts her.
Samson, for his part, must see through her wily ruse — at least at first. So he tells her that the only way to subdue him is to bind his hands with seven green bowstrings. She relays the secret to the Philistines, who obtain some of these ripe vines, and she ties Samson’s hands while he sleeps. When the soldiers come to capture him, she yells and wakes him, “The Philistines are here!” But he easily snaps the chords. Obviously, he hadn’t divulged the correct answer (Judges 16:6–9).
Delilah rebukes him for lying to her and asks him again. He gives her another answer, telling her that only unused rope can restrain him. She believes him and tells the Philistines, and once again an ambush is staged. And once again, Samson snaps the ropes as if they were a single thread (Judges 16:10–12).
Third time’s the charm, right? Delilah thinks so. One more time she harangues Samson for mocking her. He never inquires as to why she keeps tying him up or how the Philistines keep popping up in his bedroom. Instead, he again answers her. The third reply gets closest to the truth. He tells Delilah that his capture requires seven locks of his hair to be woven together and fashioned into bands to bind his hands and feet (Judges 16:13–14).
For a third time, however, Samson breaks free and foils his attempted capture. Delilah resorts to nagging him incessantly until he relents and spills the beans.
Ensuring his capture
Was it the nagging that caused Samson to tell the truth, or did the game master enjoy the game too much, raising the stakes higher than he could handle? In any event, Samson finally reveals his secret to Delilah — that God is the source of his strength and that violating his Nazirite vow by shaving his head would be the cause of his downfall (Judges 16:15–17).
Delilah uses this information and takes matters into her own hands. She lulls him to sleep in her lap, and a servant cuts his hair. The hair wasn’t the true source of his power, but it was a sign of his personal covenant with God as a Nazirite. For violating the confidentiality and thus allowing his vow to be broken, God takes away Samson’s Herculean strength.
The Philistines, in turn, bind Samson and gouge out his eyes — both to ensure that his power is gone (there’s nothing weaker than a man who can’t see) and to engage in some personal sport (taunting him like a sick child would torment a fly by pulling off its wings). Humiliated, betrayed, and captured like an animal, he is dragged away in shame. Because they know his superhuman strength is no longer with him, the Philistines do to him what they never could do before — sort of like Lex Luthor beating up Superman after exposing him to kryptonite. Delilah is paid her betrayal money (Judges 16:18–21).
Although the Bible makes no more mention of Delilah after this treacherous betrayal, many scripture scholars suspect she went to the Philistine temple of Dagon, where Samson had been put on display before 3,000 people. Samson, in the meantime, repents and asks God’s forgiveness. His last prayer is for enough strength to punish the Philistines, even if it means his own death (Judges 16:28).
As his hair begins to grow back and God answers his final prayer, Samson secretly pushes on the pillars to which he is chained. Unfortunately for the Philistines, these columns hold up the ceiling. Samson regains enough strength to tear down the entire building, killing himself and all 3,000 Philistines (Judges 16:30). We don’t know whether Delilah was there too, but some people speculate that she may have been killed along with the Philistines.
Bathing Bathsheba: King David’s Secret Lover
Bathsheba is the wife of Uriah, a loyal soldier in King David’s army. She is first discussed in the Bible when she has an adulterous affair with King David.
Although Bathsheba gets a bad reputation because of this affair, David is the one who pursues her. She may have willingly cooperated in the adultery, but this is the worst of her sins, and some people question whether it was truly a sin. She lived, after all, in a time when women were expected to obey the commands of the king. She later suffers because of the king’s actions, as well: King David ultimately has her husband killed, and she loses her first child as punishment for David’s sin.
Lying begets lying
One day King David wakes from a nap and takes a walk on the roof of his palace, an imperial penthouse of sorts, which overlooks the city of Jerusalem. He sees Bathsheba bathing on her roof. Noticing how lovely she looks, he inquires into her identity and summons her to the royal residence (2 Samuel 11:2–3).
While her husband is busy fighting for the kingdom, the king seduces Bathsheba. She becomes pregnant and sends word to David that he is the father of the unborn child. The king acts quickly to cover up his tracks and prevent a scandal. He commands his general, Joab, to order Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to take a leave and come home.
David meets Bathsheba’s husband and pretends to be interested in the progress of the war. He then sends him to his home in the hopes that he will have relations with his wife. David wants people to see Uriah visiting so that, when it becomes obvious that Bathsheba is pregnant, people will conclude that the child was conceived when Uriah was home on leave (2 Samuel 11:6–8).
Uriah, however, is uncomfortable about enjoying his wife’s intimacy while his brave men suffer hardship during a war. He decides to sleep at the entrance of the palace with the other servants instead. When David learns of this, he summons Uriah and invites him to dinner. The king liquors him up, hoping that he’ll finally weaken and go home for a conjugal visit with his wife. Even inebriated, though, Uriah thinks of his comrades in arms and can’t indulge in this legitimate pleasure while his pals are battling for their lives.
Disgusted with such a display of integrity, King David resorts to plan B. He issues secret written orders to his general, Joab, to be hand delivered by Uriah. In those orders, David instructs Joab to send Uriah to the front lines of the fighting, thereby ensuring that the enemy kills Uriah. Thus, this honorable soldier delivers his own death sentence to General Joab, who obeys the king’s immoral command. After Uriah is dead, King David knows that Uriah can never dispute the paternity of Bathsheba’s baby.
Sure enough, Uriah is killed. At this point, King David has broken three commandments: Thou shall not kill, thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife, and thou shall not commit adultery. After Bathsheba observes the normal period of mourning as a widow, King David takes her into the palace as his wife, and she gives birth to their son (2 Samuel 11:26–27).
Repenting for sin
After David’s machinations, the prophet Nathan confronts him with a story. Nathan tells of a rich man and a poor man. The rich man has lots of money, land, and livestock. The poor man has but one lamb, which he cares for and becomes attached to — it’s like one of the family. When a visitor comes to the rich man, he kills the one and only lamb of the poor man rather than one from his large flock, serving it for dinner to his out-of-town guest (2 Samuel 12:1–6).
Outraged, David says that whoever did such a dastardly deed deserves death. “You are the man!” responds Nathan. He then reveals that he knows David’s dirty secrets. Consequently, Nathan prophesies that their infant son will die for his father’s sins.
Despite the seven days that King David spent in extreme penance, prayer, and fasting, the baby dies. King David realizes he is totally responsible. He consoles Bathsheba, and she conceives another child through David, this time legitimately. The child is Solomon, whom the prophet Nathan names Jedidiah, which means “beloved of the LORD .” (You can read this story in 2 Samuel 12:7–25.)
Living the royal life
As the eighth wife of King David, Bathsheba becomes the queen and the mother of the future king (Solomon). As such, she will also deal with the further machinations of the royal family.
Bathsheba reappears in the first Book of Kings. When David is old and ready to cash in his chips, his fourth son, Adonijah (whose mother was Haggith), assumes the throne after the death of his older brothers (Amnon, the eldest son, whose mother was Ahinoam, and Absalom, whose mother was Maacah). King David, however, indicates that he wants Solomon — Adonijah’s younger brother — to become king (1 Kings 1:1–8).
So the prophet Nathan goes to Queen Bathsheba and convinces her to approach her dying husband, David. Bathsheba informs David of Adonijah’s actions and explains that she fears his next move will be to kill her and Solomon. The prophet Nathan then joins Bathsheba and encourages King David to send for Zadok the priest to anoint Solomon king. Bathsheba, with the assistance of Nathan, is able to secure the throne for her son, Solomon (1 Kings 1:11–31).
The queen is accorded all the honors and dignities befitting her office as Queen Mother of the reigning King Solomon. The next and last time she appears in the Bible is in a peculiar encounter with the now-estranged Adonijah. He asks Bathsheba to approach King Solomon with a special request. “Please ask King Solomon — he will not refuse you —to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife” (1 Kings 2:17).
Solomon, however, isn’t tricked by Adonijah’s request. Although Bathsheba sees no harm in asking, the wise king can smell a plot a mile away. Abishag had been a concubine of King David and was part of his harem. Marrying her would give Adonijah the legal right to lay claim to the throne.
Solomon orders the execution of his treasonous brother, and we hear no more of his mother, Bathsheba, until the New Testament, when Matthew 1:6 gives the genealogy of Jesus. Listing his ancestors, the Gospel writer mentions that David was the father of Solomon by “the wife of Uriah” (but doesn’t refer to her by her proper name of Bathsheba). With this verbiage, her indiscretion is made clear. Yet it also shows that the fruit of her union and love with David was Solomon, who continued the Davidic lineage and thus ensured the ancestry of the Messiah.
Witch of Endor: Summoning the Dead
The woman of Endor is another woman whose story poses more questions than it answers. While the Bible leaves her nameless, rabbinical midrash (commentaries on scripture) suggests that she was Zephaniah. She lived in the eleventh century B.C. four miles south of Mount Tabor in a town called Endor. This woman is described in 1 Samuel 28.
She is a fortuneteller, which is a profession that the Bible certainly refuses to endorse, yet she isn’t personally condemned for it either. King Saul approaches her in desperation, looking for insight into his future, and she helps him not only by summoning the dead but also by caring for him when he becomes ill.
Although the Bible doesn’t condone her day job, neither is the woman of Endor punished for violating the law of the Lord. Some scholars believe it is because she is not a Hebrew and that her talents are in actuality a misreading of the real work of the divine — she had erroneously concluded that her premonitions were of her own making instead of originating from the Lord God.
Advising Saul
King Saul must have been desperate to seek out this woman. But Samuel, the prophet upon whose advice he relied, had recently died. There was only one way to communicate with the dead (a practice called necromancy), which was forbidden by the Ten Commandments. Ironically, before Samuel died, “Saul had expelled the mediums and the wizards from the land” (1 Samuel 28:3).” But now, ironically, he needed one to communicate with Samuel. Saul is desperate for Samuel’s advice, even if it means breaking the holiest commandment (no idolatry, false religion, or occult practices practi ) — and his own previous laws — to do it.
Seeing an approaching army of Philistine troops, King Saul becomes very nervous. He prays to God but gets no answer. He then instructs his soldiers to fetch him a fortuneteller. One of the troopers reveals that he has heard of medium in Endor. (See 1 Samuel 28:1–7).
Saul takes the information, disguises himself, and travels to Endor to see her. When he asks her to summon the dead, she replies, “Surely you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off the mediums and the wizards from the land. Why then are you laying a snare for my life to bring about my death?” (1 Samuel 28:9). He assures her that no harm will come to her, so she begins her trance to speak to the netherworld. When she asks Saul whom to invoke, he answers, Samuel the prophet.
As soon as Saul asks for Samuel, the woman screeches with horror and asks Saul by name why he has deceived her by disguising his appearance. The Bible doesn’t explain how she knows it’s Saul, though readers can guess that she has figured it out because of his request (and his well-known previous friendship with Samuel), or perhaps through some information she was receiving from Samuel. Saul doesn’t answer her question as to why he is incognito. Samuel appears and has a conversation with King Saul through the woman.
What happens next is described in 1 Samuel 28:15–19. The deceased prophet asks why his eternal rest is being disturbed. Saul starts whining about the Philistines and how God no longer listens to his prayers. Samuel rebukes him, telling him bad news — that Saul will lose his kingdom, his throne, and his life for his disobedience to God. He will be punished for disobeying God’s request to completely destroy a former enemy; Saul had kept the best sheep, oxen, and booty as plunder even though he was told not to do so.
Caring for Saul
Overcome with fear, stress, and hunger, Saul falls to the ground. The witch of Endor tells the demoralized king that up to now she has obeyed him, so now he must obey her and take some nourishment. She slaughters a fatted calf and cooks it with some unleavened cakes. Although not asked to, the woman shows hospitality to a man she knows is doomed (1 Samuel 28:20–25). Saul dies the next day in battle against the Philistines. While retreating, he is wounded by an arrow and begs his aide to end his misery with his sword lest the enemy make sport of him, but the soldier can’t do it. So Saul falls on his own sword to prevent himself from being tortured and toyed with by the Philistine enemy.
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Infamous Jezebel: Cunning and Unholy
Jezebel lived in Phoenicia (circa 874–853 BC) and first appears in the Bible in 1 Kings 16:31. She was the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, a people who worshiped false gods. Nevertheless, she married King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel. This unholy alliance between the Israelites and the Phoenicians (or Sidonians) proves disastrous in the end. Time and time again, God warned Hebrew leaders to avoid marrying foreigners, lest they introduce their pagan ways to the people.
As queen, Jezebel serves as a strong-willed and independent woman who co-rules with the king and shares in the power and decision making. Queen Jezebel seeks to establish an absolute monarchy, which was in stark contrast to the beliefs of the Chosen People: bound by sacred oath to one another and to the Lord. The covenant (a sacred oath that united people) meant that only God was supreme and absolute and that the law of the Lord — not the king or queen’s whim or will alone — was to be the final word.
To this day, call a woman “Jezebel,” and you won’t get a pretty reaction. Her name has become synonymous with impudent, shameless, and morally reprehensible women. No girls are being baptized Jezebel these days, any more than boys are being given the name Judas. Not only does she worship Baal, a false god, but while serving as queen, she also promotes this worship among her people. And when things don’t go her way, she resorts to lying and murder to achieve material ends. Eventually, she is punished and comes to a grisly end. Through Jezebel, we learn what not to do.
Worshiping pagan idols
Jezebel worships the pagan god Baal and convinces her Jewish husband, Ahab, to do likewise, turning his back on his Hebrew faith. Although he doesn’t completely surrender to the pagan religion, King Ahab does allow Baal worship to be protected and encouraged in the northern kingdom. Because of this, pagan idols and rituals often appeared alongside holy places where Jewish ceremonies were celebrated in the name of the one true God.
As queen, Jezebel brings 450 priests of Baal into the northern kingdom of Israel with King Ahab’s full consent. She was responsible for the murder of many prophets of the Lord during her infamous reign (1 Kings 18:4). This bad apple does anything she can to slowly but surely eradicate the Hebrew religion, which she detests. Her goal is to replace it with her own Baal worship.
Standing up for Baal
God soon punishes Ahab for his reliance on pagan fertility rites by inflicting a three-year drought and famine in the land — what better way to expose the false religion than by showing it has no power. Not only are the priests of Baal unable to end the agricultural desolation, but the Lord and his prophet are going to show who’s boss.
God sends the prophet Elijah, who had survived Jezebel’s former bloodbath against prophets, to King Ahab. He admonishes the monarch for his idolatry and blames him for the plight of the nation. Elijah infuriates Jezebel by demanding a contest between Baal and the Lord God. The 450 priests whom the queen has been keeping in the palace are asked to meet Elijah at Mount Carmel for the match of the ages. (See 1 Kings 18:17–19 for this information.)
Elijah instructs the people to get two bulls, slaughter them, and place them on a pile of wood. The competition goes like this: The 450 priests of Baal invoke their deity to ignite the fire by supernatural means, and Elijah prays to the Lord God to do the same. Whoever is able to burn the bull completely without a human lighting the fire is the winner and follower of the true God.
Jezebel is confident that her pagan god and priests of that god can easily win this contest. From morning to noon the pagan priests chant and pray, “O Baal, answer us!” At midday Elijah taunts them to cry louder because their god must be meditating, on a journey, or possibly asleep. These Baal worshipers even slash themselves with swords and lances, drawing their own blood. But it’s all to no avail. (See 1 Kings 18:20–29 for the details.)
Finally, at the end of the afternoon, Elijah places 12 stones around his bull to represent the tribes of Israel. He digs a trench around the altar of sacrifice and has water poured three times over the bull, the wood, and ground, soaking the bull and the wood. Then the prophet invokes the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — the one true God, the Lord.
Suddenly, out of heaven comes a fire that descends upon the earth and consumes the bull, the wood, the dirt, and the water in the trench. The people realize that the Lord is God, and Baal is a fake. Elijah orders the execution of the 450 priests of Baal. This is the final straw for Jezebel, who vows to see Elijah die for his actions. (Check out 1 Kings 18:30–40.)
Manipulating murder
After her 450 pagan priests are killed, Jezebel still clings to her false religion, and her hatred for Elijah and his Hebrew faith only intensifies. The next incident involving Jezebel concerns a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth. Her husband, Ahab, wants to plant a garden there and offers Naboth a parcel of his own land or money in exchange for it. But Naboth refuses because when he dies his sons will inherit what he himself inherited from his ancestors before him (1 Kings 21:1–4).
Dejected, Ahab goes home and sulks until Jezebel sticks her nose into the matter. She tells her husband that as king he should do as he pleases. Then she conspires to have Naboth wrongly accused of blasphemy by two false witnesses, a crime for which he is then stoned to death. After he is dead, Queen Jezebel tells her husband to go take his vineyard, which he does. (See 1 Kings 21:5–16 for this story.)
For this heinous crime and gross injustice, Elijah prophesies to Ahab that the Lord will punish him. He also tells Ahab that dogs will eat Jezebel. Ahab is so overwhelmed by the news that he puts on sackcloth and ashes and fasts. God is pleased to see him repent, so he tells Elijah that he will not bring disaster on Ahab’s house until after his death. Instead, God’s punishment will arrive upon his sons. (You can read this account in 1 Kings 21:20–29.)
When Ahab dies bravely and honorably in battle, he is succeeded by Ahaziah, his son from Jezebel. Ahaziah soon dies and is succeeded by brother Jehoram, another of Jezebel’s sons. When Jehoram is killed by Jehu, who seeks the throne for himself, Jezebel goes on the lam.
When Jehu arrives at the capital to be crowned king after the prophet Elisha (the successor to Elijah) anoints him, Jezebel heckles Jehu from a window. Jehu commands two eunuchs to throw her out of it. She falls to her death, only to have her dead corpse devoured by dogs, as Elijah had foretold — an ignominious death for a horrible and despicable woman. (Check out the story in 2 Kings 9:28–37.)
The last biblical reference to Jezebel comes in Revelation (also known as the Apocalypse) 2:20, when the name Jezebel is used as a synonym for a wicked woman.
Old Habits Are Hard to Break: Gomer
Although her name doesn’t sound very feminine, Gomer is indeed a biblical woman, described in the Book of Hosea (Osee is the Greek spelling). In fact, she is a harlot who becomes the wife of the prophet Hosea. They lived around 790–686 BC in the northern kingdom of Israel. God instructs Hosea to marry this woman (Hosea 1:2). Their marriage is meant to personify the relationship between God and Israel. Hosea is the God-like figure: the ever faithful husband who is always ready to forgive. Gomer symbolizes Israel, who, despite being loved, keeps prostituting herself.
Gomer has three children: two sons, Jezreel and Lo-ammi, and one daughter, Lo-ruhamah. Hosea is identified as the father of Jezreel, but the other two are never confirmed as being his, so they may be the offspring resulting from Gomer’s nighttime activities.
Israel prostitutes the faith by assimilating idolatry, especially Baal worship, from the king down to the ordinary person. As the kingdom becomes economically prosperous and makes political alliances, the Hebrew faith becomes more and more compromised, diluted, and violated. Each time the people are unfaithful to the covenant, it is like a spouse being unfaithful to his or her mate.
The infidelity of the northern kingdom of Israel was eventually punished by the collapse and conquest by the Assyrians in the eighth century BC. The southern kingdom of Judah fared only slightly better, lasting until the Babylonians conquered it in the sixth century BC.
Gomer wants to be faithful, but old habits are hard to break. Despite her best efforts, she keeps slipping back into her old ways (prostitution). Similarly, Israel wants to be faithful. But, like Gomer, the people keep giving in to weakness and continue flirting with phony ideologies and false religions.
Instead of casually ignoring her repeated infidelity, Hosea challenges his wife to better herself and return to a faithful relationship. He never gives up on her, but neither does he give her a green light to pursue a promiscuous and adulterous lifestyle. Similarly, God never gives up on Israel, his beloved spouse, no matter how many times she gives in to the temptation of idolatry. (See Hosea 2:1–23.)
Whenever Gomer misbehaves and falls back into her old lifestyle, Hosea patiently waits for her to return, forgiving her and taking her back. At one point she leaves and ends up the slave of one of her paramours, and Hosea has to buy her back with pieces of silver. But to Hosea, she is worth it, in the same way that God shows unfaithful Israel he will ransom her and pay to get her back. (See Hosea 3:1–5.) Hosea’s action can be seen as a foreshadowing of the price of redemption that Jesus offered on behalf of the whole human race.
Gomer is not the model wife, but her willingness to try to do better — as well as Hosea’s constant love and willingness to take her back — represents the relationship between the Lord and his people. Weak and vulnerable, Gomer doesn’t make excuses or rationalize or glamorize her infidelity. No matter how often she falls, she keeps getting back up.