The marriage of Hosea in Hosea chapter 1 to 3 is a continuing problem among exegetes. In particular, the image of Yahweh as a despised, or scorned, lover, whose anger results in his wish for and execution of punishment for being despised, has been hard to understand and accept, not the least from an ethical point of view. In order to reach a more complete understanding of the figurative language involved, and in particular how that language is worked out on the basis of a certain cognitive process, the metaphor “Yahweh is a despised lover” will be analysed by means of cognitive metaphor theory, in particular blending theory.