1:1 The Word of the LORD. Cf. 6:5. This kind of introduction, expressing the prophet’s divine authority and message source, appears also in Joel 1:1; Mic. 1:1; Zeph. 1:1; Zech. 1:1; Mal. 1:1. Similar statements appear in Amos 1:3; Obad. 1; Jon. 1:1; Hag. 1:2. 1:2 wife of harlotry. See Introduction: Interpretive Challenges. children of harlotry. This points to the future unfaithfulness of their mother. The children were possibly not fathered by Hosea. That Hosea’s marriage to Gomer was to depict God’s