Lo-ruhamah

Lo-ruhamah (Hebrew, meaning not having obtained mercy or not pitied) was the symbolic name given to Hosea's daughter by divine command (Hos. 1:6). The name expressed God's withdrawal of compassion from the northern kingdom of Israel: I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. Together with her brothers Jezreel and Lo-ammi, the three children of Hosea's troubled marriage to Gomer constituted a living prophetic sign to Israel of the consequences of spiritual unfaithfulness.

Like Lo-ammi, Lo-ruhamah's name is reversed in the subsequent promise of restoration: I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy (Hos. 2:23). Paul quotes this reversal in Romans 9:25–26 alongside Lo-ammi as Old Testament warrant for the unexpected inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God. Peter echoes the same language in 1 Peter 2:10, telling his readers: who once were not a people but now are God's people; who had not received mercy but now have received mercy. The name Lo-ruhamah thus belongs to the prophetic vocabulary of divine grace that the New Testament applies to the new covenant community.