Introductory heading.
‘The word of YHWH which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.' The name Hosea means ‘he has delivered' and is probably intended to indicate ‘YHWH has delivered'. His father's name Beeri means ‘he is my well-spring', again indicating ‘YHWH is my well-spring'.
In true prophetic fashion Hosea receives ‘the word of YHWH', for that was the function of the prophets. It possibly came to him over a period of about sixty years (from around 758BC to 698 BC), although the majority of what is recorded, if not all, would appear to have been received in the first portion of that period prior to 722 BC, when Samaria was destroyed by the Assyrians. (If Hezekiah's co-regency with his father Ahaz is what is in mind his ministry may have ceased at the fall of Samaria, but it is unlikely that Hezekiah would have been mentioned if he had not at the time been sole-ruler. Hosea may well thus have taken refuge in Judah bringing his prophecies with him. But the ascription only requires his prophesying in the first years of Hezekiah).
The kings of Judah are mentioned first because in Hosea's eyes they were the true royal dynasty chosen by YHWH (Hosea 1:11 a; Hosea 3:5; Hosea 11:12). Indeed only one king of Israel is mentioned at all, and that is Jeroboam II. It is true that Jeroboam II also had Yahwistic credentials, with the head of his dynasty, Jehu, having been approved by Elisha's messenger (2 Kings 9:1-3), but the latter had forfeited their position as a result of their continuing the worship of the golden calf at Bethel. The idea is that none of the Israelite kings who followed Jeroboam, a motley collection succeeding in the most part via assassination (2 Kings 15:10; 2Ki 15:14; 2 Kings 15:25; 2 Kings 15:30), were to be seen as having any part in YHWH. So while YHWH had a ‘word' for Israel as a whole, He had no word for them.