Jezreel, Day of

The Day of Jezreel refers to the eschatological promise in Hosea 1:5 and 2:22-23, where the name Jezreel (God sows) is reinterpreted from a sign of judgment to a sign of restoration. After the oracle of judgment — God will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel (Hosea 1:5) — Hosea pivots dramatically: "In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'children of the living God'" (Hosea 1:10).

The Day of Jezreel is the eschatological day when God will replant and resow his people in the land — the negative meaning of the judgment name transformed into the positive meaning of the name itself ("God sows"). Hosea 2:22-23 develops this: God will sow Jezreel in the land, and "I will say to those called 'Not my people,' 'You are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'" Paul quotes this passage in Romans 9:25-26 as scriptural support for the calling of Gentiles into the people of God — the "Day of Jezreel" fulfillment extending to all who were once "not a people."