Wombless

Hosea’s daughter is named Lo-ruhamah (1:6), and the Lord explains that her name signifies that He “will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel.” Lo-ruhamah means “no compassion.”

But the word ruhamah is linked to the Hebrew word for “womb”; as many have pointed out, Yahweh’s compassion is “wombliness,” the compassion of a mother for a child she has birthed. Yahweh removes His motherly compassion from Israel, and Hosea’s daughter is a sign of that.

Hosea 1:6 might also indicate some connection between the Lord’s withdrawal of compassion and Israel’s infertility. Yahweh’s compassion for Israel is shown when He opens the wombs of the daughters of Zion; His withdrawal of wombliness means that Israel will cease to be a mother with children; after the exile, the return of His compassion is signified by the multiplication of the children of Israel: “Rejoice, barren woman.” The great signifier of Yahweh’s wombly compassion for His people is that the wombs of the daughters of Israel and Judah are fertile like gardens.