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Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God.
Hosea 1:9 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB He said, “Call his name Lo-Ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours.
  • KJV Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
  • BSB And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.
  • NASB And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, because you are not My people, and I am not your God.”
  • NLT And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The third child is named Lo-Ammi, 'not my people,' as God declares the covenant relationship severed. It is the gravest of the three names.

Overview

This name reverses the heart of the covenant promise, 'I will be your God and you will be my people.' For Israel to be told 'you are not my people' is to hear that the bond of belonging has been suspended in judgment. The phrasing echoes God's covenant name revealed to Moses, making the rupture all the more solemn. Yet the very next verses promise reversal, and the New Testament cites this passage to show how Gentiles and unbelieving Israel alike are made God's people through Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 1

  • Jer 15:1Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out!

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Hosea videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Hosea 1:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on HoseaMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.

How Hosea 1:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.