There is so little information provided in this verse to say with certainty what is being referred to here. The buying
of the woman could refer to cancelling Gomer's debt or giving his wife a bridal gift, but we think the most likely meaning of “buy” is the giving of a bride price (see Hosea 2:19–20). If this is the case, the ethics of purchasing another person is not in question. Hosea is repeating the customary process of acquiring a wife. Only this time he is reacquiring her as his wife, not legally, since they are still married, but by way of a customary gesture which signifies his costly commitment to her.
2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.