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Dear catholic.com visitors: This Catholic Answers website, with all its free resources, is the world’s largest source of explanations for Catholic beliefs and practices. We receive no funding from the institutional Church and rely entirely on your generosity to sustain this website with trustworthy, accessible content. If every visitor this month donated $1, catholic.com would be fully funded for an entire year. If you’ve never made a gift, now is the time. Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar this week only. Thanks and God bless.

Why did the prophet Hosea marry a prostitute?

Question:

Why did the prophet Hosea marry a prostitute?

Answer:

The Book of Hosea says that Hosea married a prostitute named Gomer at the Lord’s command (Hos 1:2-3). It is generally thought that Hosea’s relationship with Gomer was an image of God’s relationship with Israel, which often betrayed its spousal covenant with the one true God by worshipping the false gods of the pagans.

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