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As a symbol of God’s love, Hosea is commanded to do something that the law forbade: live again with an adulterous former wife (see Dt 24:1-4). It might be argued that there is no indication that Hosea had ever divorced Gomer, which is central to the Deuteronomic prohibition. Nevertheless, it is plain that, at the least, what Hosea is commanded to do is irregular and distasteful, not to mention humiliating. If this was true for Hosea, how much more so for God. But his love impels him to “remarry” Israel.
The total price paid for Gomer was about thirty shekels, the value of a slave according to Ex 21:32. V.3 suggests that she was to be deprived even of marital relations for a time, corresponding to the coming exile when Israel, deprived of the temple, could not worship her true Husband even if she wanted to. But this deprivation is temporary, and Hosea looks forward to the day when Israel will have renewed intimacy with God under a Davidic monarch (v.5). This last comment is a telling one because it confirms that there were people from the northern kingdom who realized that there was only one true ruling family for Israel. The only complete fulfillment of this prophecy is through Jesus, since no Davidic monarch ruled Israel or Judah after their exiles.