The Divine Lamp

Having indicted the priests for their guilt (4:4-14); and the people as well (4:15-19); the prophet now prepares to announce the consequences of their guilt. Before he does this however, he (speaking on behalf of God) calls for the attention of the ruling classes (5:1-2a). God, speaking through the prophet states that he will punish them (5:2b), and follows this up with the reasons why (5:3-7a). The passage ends with an announced consequence for their sinfulness (5:7b), which provides a transition to the block of material in (5:8-7:16).

5:1  Hear this, O priests, and attend, O house of Israel, and, O house of the king, give ear for the judgment is for you; for you have become a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread out over Tabor,  5:2 and a pit dug deep at Shittim; but I will chastise all of them

Hear…attend…give ear- Notice that the call to attention contains 3 imperatives directed to 3 different classes.  The first two imperatives precede the class to whom they are directed (priests, house [i.e. the people] of Israel), while the last imperative comes after the class it is directed to is named (the house of the king; i.e. the royal family).  Perhaps this switch is meant to call more attention to, or focus more attention upon, the house of the king.  In what follows, in 5:8-7:16 the dominant theme is the sins and failure of the monarchy.

the judgment is for you- Priests, people, and royalty are all under the judgment of God.  The Hebrew word mishpat  (judgment) has legal connotations and reminds us of god’s rib or covenant lawsuit against Israel.   The reason for a judgment being leveled against them is given in the words:

for you have become a snare at Mizpah, and a net spread out over Tabor, and a pit dug deep at Shittim-  The word snare in Hebrew is pah, and it provides a word play with the place-name Mizpah.  Snares, nets, and pits were instruments used for capturing animals.  Because of their sins the people have entrapped themselves (see Psalm 7:15-17).

Mizpah was the place where Saul was chosen to be the first king of the twelve tribes (1 Sam 10:17-24).  It was not forbidden for the people to ask for a king, so long as they understood that he was not to be a pagan-like king, but one dedicated to God’s law (see Deut 17:14-20).  When the people asked for a king, they asked specifically for a king “like the other nations have” and for the same reasons for which they had them (see 1 Sam 8, especially vss 19-20), this was seen as a rejection of God.  Saul ended up being a real stinker and so God replaced him with David.

The kings business was to ensure right worship and the upkeep of the temple, something none of the Northern kings did, thus they imitated Saul (1 Sam 13:2-14), apparently with the consent of both the people and the priests (see Amos 7:10-12).  This was the snare they set for themselves at Mizpah.

Tabor is a reference to Mount Tabor where a famous battle took place between certain of the Tribes of Israel under the Judge Deborah, Against King Jabin of Hazor and Sisera (see Judges 4:4-6).  In her victory song after the battle Deborah condemns certain tribes for not helping in the battle (see Judges 5:14-18).  A penchant for a lack of unity was the “net spread on Tabor.”

Shittim was located in the trans-Jordan region, and it was there that the men of Israel sinned by worshiping the Baal of Peor (Numbers 25).

A corrupt monarchy, disunity among the covenant people, and a penchant for pagan fertility rites, these are the traps the people of the Northern Kingdom have laid for themselves.  For this reason God says I will chastise all of them.

5:3 Ephraim , I know, and Israel is not hidden from me; for now, O Ephraim, you have gone a-whoring, Israel has defiled herself. 5:4  the things they do will not let them turn back to their God.  For their is a spirit of harlotry within them, and they have no knowledge of the Lord.

Ephraim was the largest of the Northern tribes, and the name is often used to designate the Northern Kingdom as a whole; such is the case here.  The verse exhibits typical Hebrew parallelism, with Ephraim paralleling Israel, and gone a-whoring paralleling defiled herself.  Again the theme of harlotry and sexual defilement come up, reminding us of the opening chapters of the book and of the fact that the covenant was often portrayed and spoken of as a marriage.  Since the word know (knew, knowledge) has sexual overtones in the Bible (see Gen 4:1) the statement that the people have no knowledge of God also should be seen in relation to the covenant.   The people are portrayed as having no real desire to return to God, like the harlot wife before her punishment (see 2:6-7), they are still in lust with their false lover-gods.

5:5  To his own face Israel’s pride testifies; Israel and Ephraim trip over their perversity; and Judah tumbles with them.

to his own face- face is a Hebrew idiom meaning “presence”.  Israel’s pride is know to Israel and testifies against Israel (guilty conscience?) but Israel’s pride will not allow repentance (see previous verse).

Israel and Ephraim trip over their perversity-  Like someone tripping over a snare (5:1)?  Perversity in Hebrew is avon, a word related to aven, which we saw was applied contemptuously to Bethel (Beth-Aven)  in 4:15.

Judah tumbles with them- Apparently, the prophet sees the continuing existence of the Northern Kingdom of Israel as a temptation to Judah (see 4:15).

5:6  With their flocks and their herds they shall go and seek out the Lord, but they shall not find him, for from them he has withdrawn himself.  5:7  For against the Lord they have acted deceitfully; for they have brought forth alien children.  Now the new moon shall consume them, along with their fields.

   they shall go and seek out the Lord- taking their herds and flocks they will seek the Lord in sacrifice.  This is the meaning of the word seek (baqash See Exodus 33:7).  As will become clear in the next post, the Lord withdraws from this search for it is not done rightly (see 5:15-6:6).  The statement brings up an idea already mentioned in 3:3: “You shall wait for me many days; and you shall not play the harlot, or belong to another; for myself, I will wait for you.”  God wants a right repentance, not a false show.  Such a show is the “spirit of harlotry which made Israel unable to turn back to God (see 5:3).

they have brought forth alien children- we are once again reminded of the programmatic narrative of chapters 1-3.

the new moon shall consume them-  the pagan fertility rites they were trusting in to make their field full and themselves fat will consume them; i.e. because of them, God will bring an end to abundant harvests which were his blessings, not the Baal’s (see 2:4-13).

In chapter 4:1-3 God, through his prophet, announced a rib (reeb), a covenant controversy with the Northern Kingdom of Israel for its bloodshed, faithlessness, lying, adultery-in other words, its breaking of the commandments.  In 4:4-14 an indictment of the priests of the kingdom was issued for not teaching the people rightly (vss4-10a).  It was this which was at the root of the peoples failings, including the failings of the children of the priests (vss 10b-14).  This chapter ends by confirming the North’s idolatry, and appealing to them to end it.

4:15  Though you, Israel, play the whore, let not Judah trespass, and do not pass into Gilgal, or go up to Beth-Aven, and do not swear, “as the Lord lives.”   

Let not Judah trespass-   The word asham refers to carelessness, neglect, or failure to perform a duty.   It is often used of  stubborn or out of control  animals and the description of Israel in verse 16 may have influenced the use of the word here.  The word is sometimes used for the incurring of cultic guilt; probably the intended meaning here.

Do not pass into Gigal, or go up to Beth-Aven-  The exact location of Gilgal is unknown, and, complicating things seems to be the fact that several places bore this name.  Almost certainly, the one referred to here is that which Joshua made his base of operation in Josh 4.  This was the place where the people of God crossed the Jordan to begin the conquest of the land.  As a memorial of the crossings of the twelve tribes into the land, 12 stones were set up at Gilgal, possibly giving the site its name.  In Samuel’s day, before the building of the temple of Jerusalem (see Dt 12:2-7), the site seems to have been considered a holy place.  With the advent of the Northern Kingdom, and its false worship (see 1Kings 11-13) the site seems to have become a rival to Jerusalem (see Amos 4:4; 5:5; Hos 9:15; 12:12).

Beth-Aven means “House of Iniquity” and is a pejorative term for Bethel, meaning “House of God.”  Bethel, which was originally called Luz, was located about 14 miles north of Jerusalem.  It is mentioned several times in the history of the Patriarchs, especially Jacob.  Abraham built an altar there (Gen 12:8), and it is the place where Jacob had his famous vision (Gen 28).  Like Gilgal, Bethel was a place where Samuel acted as a judge, suggesting that it was considered a holy place.  Jeroboam’s establishment of the post Jerusalem temple shrine there was seen as a sin against the cult (1 Kings 12:25-13:3).   It was maintained as a cult center throughout the history of the Northern Kingdom and was one of the motivations for  God bringing the Northern Kingdom to an end  (see Amos 3:13-5:9).

Do not swear, “as the lord lives”-  The symbolic name given to on of the illigitimate children in 1:8-9 was “Lo Ammi,” “not my people”.  This name was symbolic of the fact that Israel had broken its covenant relations with God.  Only with the action of God in re-establishing relations would “Not my people” come to be called “children of the living God” (see 1:10-11, and note the reunion with Judah).  As long as Israel is seperated from God, and stands as an enticement to sin for Judah, it has no right to swear by the living God.

4:16  Like a rebellious heifer Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like lambs in a large field? 

The Living Lord God is the source of life, but, since they have separated from him, they have separated themselves from his care.

4:17  Ephraim keeps company with idols-leave him to himself.

Forsaking the company of the living God they have attached themselves to dead idols (Hos 8:4b-6); in effect, they have left themselves alone (without gods) and so will be left alone by the one true God.

4:18  When their drinking comes to an end, they  then go a-whoring; they love their perversity more than their glory.

The text is uncertain and variously translated.  Drinking probably refers to libations to pagan gods, followed by sexual rituals.  This perversity stands in opposition to their glory.  Glory is a word often used to denote the Lord’s presence (see note on 4:7).  According to Isaiah 43:7 the people of God were created for his glory. The text goes on to say ‘Lead out the people who are blind though they have eyes, and those who are deaf, though they have ears.”  This was how the people who gave themselves over to idolatry were described in Isaiah 42:17-20.

4:19  The wind has lifted up her skirts, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

Almost all translations I looked at translated biknapeha as “Its wings”; the word is derived from kanaph and can have both meanings.  In keeping with the sexual overtones symbolic of idolatry, I think skirts is the right translation  (Go here and see footnote 2).

4:1 Hear this word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy against the inhabitants of the land; for there is no truth, no Mercy (fidelity), no knowledge of God in the land. 4:2 Swearing, lying, murdering, stealing and adultery multiplied, and bloodshed follows on bloodshed. 4:3 For this reason the land withers, and all its inhabitants mourn. The beasts of the field, the birds in the heavens, and the fishes in the sea perish.Verse 1a represents a standard call to attention formula found throughout the Bible; usually, but not always in prophetic contexts. Verse 1b tells us what the call to attention concerns: the Lord has a controversy against the inhabitants of the land. The word controversy is rib (reeb), and is a word sometimes used to describe a disagreement (Gen 26:20-22). Often it is used in legal cases to denote a lawsuit (Dt 21:5). As will become clear, God has a covenant contention against his people, for they have broken the covenant they agreed to accept. The remainder of verse 1 supplies the reasons for this contention: for there is no truth, no fidelity, no knowledge of God in the land. These three failing are manifest in the sins mentioned in verse 2: Swearing, lying , murdering, stealing and adultery are multiplied, and bloodshed follows on bloodshed. The first two sins show a lack of truth manifesting itself in speech. The remaining sins (note murder is mentioned twice) manifest a lack of mercy, in the Biblical sense of hesed. Besides meaning mercy, it can also denote fidelity to a relationship (note the reference to adultery. See Jer 2:2). All of this can be summed up as a lack of knowledge of God. Knowledge is a word often used by Hosea and, as often in the Bible, it denotes a close personal relationship seen in the fact that when used of male/female relations it refers to sexual relations. At this point we should recall the marital image of the first three chapters of this book. The result of these sins, which show themselves as a lack of the knowledge of God is that: the land withers and all its inhabitants mourn; the beasts of the field, the birds in the heavens, and the fishes in the sea perish. Once again the theme of the Covenant curses of Dt 28 comes up.

PROPHETIC JUDGMENT AGAINST THE PRIESTS 4:4-14

4:4 Let no man contend, and let no man rebuke, for your people are like those who contend with the priest.

The Lord’s complaint against the priests is a difficult passage, as the varying translations show.  As the next verse shows the words are being directed to the priests, the “man” mentioned in this passage.  The priests cannot contend with the Lord for they are without excuse; for they are no better than the lawbreakers (those who contend with the priest) it was their duty to keep out of the temple.  (Note the use of the word contention, rib, used also in verse 1).

4:5  For this reason you shall stumble by day, and the prophets along with you will stumble in the night; I will destroy your mother.

The first consequences from the Lord’s complaint.  Both priest and prophet will fall, apparently meaning they will be rejected from further ministry to the people (see vs 6b).  This is a very Johnnine sounding passage (see John 12:35-36).

If I was correct in interpreting the harlot mother of the previous chapters as the political and religious Rulers of Israel, then that image has changed slightly.  Here the mother stands for the kingdom itself, which the priests were meant to serve.  Perhaps this was the meaning of the mother figure all along.

4:6a  My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.

The Lord’s second complaint.  Note that the word destroyed used here is the same word used of the mother in the previous verse.  Also, note that the word people is, in Hebrew am.  This word formed the root of the name for the illegitimate child Lo Ammi in 1:8-9.  Recall also that in 2:2-4 both mother and children were threatened with punishment.  Here one is threatened (the mother vs 5) and one is being destroyed (am, the people).  The lack of knowledge seems to be attributed not to the people, but to the priests (see vs 6b).  Certainly the people lack knowledge too, but it is rooted in the priest’s rejection of it (see Mal 2:7-8)

4:6b   Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from being a priest to me; and since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will forget your sons.

A consequence flowing from what was said in vs 6a.  Note it parallels the consequence of vs 5 (stumble=reject).  I will forget your sons- the Hebrew word ben, can mean simply “sons”, however, when used in the plural it can mean children of either gender, however the priesthood was hereditary only through the males.

4:7-11a  The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against me; their glory I will turn into shame.  They consume the sin of my people, they desire their iniquity.   And so it will be like people, like priest,  and I will attend to their ways, and requite them for the deeds they have done.   Though they eat, they will not be satisfied, though they go a-whoring, they will not multiply; for they have failed to give heed to the Lord and gone a-whoring. 

Note how the content of these verse alternate between sin (the reason for their stumbling), and the consequences.  An abundance of children was considered a blessing, but this blessing they have perverted; thus their glory God will turn into shame.  This apparently refers to verse 6b: I will forget your sons. The priesthood will be taken form their lineage.  On this see the Doom  of the House of Eli in 1 Sam 2:27-36.  Note especially verse 30 which speaks of honor (literally, glory).
they consume the sin of my people- The word for sin was also used to mean the sin offering which had to be made by people who had transgressed the law (see Lev 4).  The priest was to be given a share of that offering as a payment for their service (see Lev 6:17-20 NAB; or 6:24-26 NRSV).  they desire their iniquity- the word iniquity could also be translated as guilt, or guilt offering.  The two phrases serve to highlight the hypocrisy of the priests.  They have helped cause the sins they are living off of; and So it shall be like priests, like people,  which means God will attend to their ways, and requite them for the deeds they have done, just as they have demanded the people give satisfaction for their sins.  As a result, they will eat and not be satisfied.  Since they are to be taken out of the priestly service, this may mean that they will have to beg for food.  Again, recall the punishment of Eli’s family (see 1 Sam 2:36).  All of this is the result of their failing to give heed to the Lord,so that they might go a-whoring.  The word translated here as “give heed” is shamar.  This word is often used to denote priestly service (Num 3:7-8; 8:26; 18:5-6).  It is also used of Adam’s care of the garden in genesis 2:15.  Recall that Adam was a priest who got himself into trouble by eating.    

4:11b-14  Old wine and new wine steal away the understanding of my people.  My people ask a staff for counsel, from a divining rod they seek an oracle.  For a spirit of harlotry has led them astray, they have played the whore and forsaken their God.  They sacrifice on the top of the mountains, and kindle incense upon the hills, under the oak, poplar, and terebinth because the shade is good there.  For this reason your daughters go a-whoring, and your daughter-in-laws practice adultery.  I will not strike your daughters for playing harlots, nor your daughter-in-laws for their adulteries; For you yourselves go after  whores, and offer sacrifice with prostitutes; so a people lacking understanding comes to ruin.

 Old wine and new wine steal away the understanding of my people- probably not a reference to drunkenness, but rather to the libation rites of wine used to worship Canaanite gods.

My people ask a staff for counsel, from a divining rod they seek an oracle- “Staff” reads literally as “wood”.  This is probably a reference to Asherah, the consort goddess of Baal (see footnote 1 to Ex 34:13 in the NAB).  These devices of pagan idolatry  are  a spirit of harlotry that has led the people astray, to play the whore and forsake their God.  Further manifestations of this are the worship on the mountaintops and in the tree groves on the hills (see 1 Kings 14:23).

I will not strike your daughters for playing harlots, nor your daughter-in-laws for their adulteries; For you yourselves go after  whores, and offer sacrifice with prostitutes; so a people lacking understanding comes to ruin-  “Because of the fertility cults, licentiousness flourishes among the people; however the priests have the greater guilt because they lead the people to sin by consorting with hierodules (temple prostitutes) as part of religious functions.  To get the full force here we must remember that unchastity was severely punished in women, not in men; Hosea reverses the idea.” (The Jerome Biblical Commentary)

So a people lacking understanding comes to ruin-  All because the priests rejected their knowledge of God (vs 6).
 
 

Please Vote For This Post On Pickafig

Introduction and Outline
Note: Unless otherwise noted I will be using my own translation of Hosea. This translation should in no way be considered authoritative. It is done by me as a personal exercise. For this reason I also provide links to the RSV. Please also note that some translations of Hosea employ different chapter and verse divisions. I’ll be following the RSV numbering.

My last post on Hosea looked at 1:2-2:1 as a structural unit. Here it should be noted that there are very good reasons for not connecting 2:1 with the verses which precede it, but, rather, with those that follow. For this reason I will look again at 2:1, now in the context of 2:1-3:5. First, however, let me try to outline the passage.

2:1-2 A call to the children to plead (contend) with their mother.

• 2:3-4 Purpose of the plea.

1. So their mother can avoid punishment (vs 3)

2. So the children can avoid punishment (vs 4).

2:5 Reason for the plea being needed

2:6-23 Consequences if the plea is not heeded

• She will be blocked from pursuing the Baals (Vss 6-8)
• The blessings she thought were from the Baals will be removed (Vss 9-13)
• Ultimate consequence and purpose of the previous 2 consequences-reunion with God (Vss 14-23)

1. God will seduce her (vss 14-15)

2. She will respond and be blessed (vss 16-20)

3. God’s relation to the children will be restored (vss 21-23)

3:1-5 Explains the purpose of Hosea’s marriage and its troubles. They symbolize God’s relation with Israel

(Note: As you read through the first three chapters of Hosea, it is important to keep in mind that both the mother and the children are figures which symbolize-each in its own way-the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel; or, perhaps, the mother is meant to symbolize the priestly and political authorities, while the children symbolize the average Israelite)

NOTES ON HOSEA 2:1-3:5
2:1 To your brothers say, “Ammi,” and to your sisters say, “Ruhamah.” (note the plural “brothers/sisters”)
In chapter one we saw that 3 children were born to the prophet’s wife. One was clearly fathered by the prophet, while the other two were probably not his. Their dubious status was indicated by the names given them. The son was named Lo Ammi, meaning not my people; while the daughter was named Lo Ruhamah, meaning not pitied. These were individual children of the prophet’s wife, but they were given plural names. Here, it appears that the legitimate son is being told to reverse the names of his bastard siblings by dropping the prefix “Lo” from their names, for Ammi means, my people, and Ruhamah means pitied. The plural names of the illegitimate children, coupled with the use of the plural “brothers” and “sisters” suggest that, while the text appears to be dealing with prophets situation, it is symbolic of something else. As will become clear, the text is really about God’s relation with his wife Israel (the priestly and political authorities ?), and his children, the rank and file of the kingdom. I would suggest that perhaps we are to see the legitimate child, symbolized by Jezreel (see1:4), as a righteous Israelite, who is being told to make his bastard siblings (unrighteous Israelites) legitimate by seeking to make their mother (the powers in the kingdom) an honest woman. Thus Jezreel is told to say to his siblings:

2:2 Contend with your mother, contend-for she is not my wife, and neither am I her husband-that she may put aside the whoring that is on her face, and the adultery that is on her breasts, 2:3 or I will strip her naked, exhibiting her as on the day of her birth, and transform her into a desert, turn her into a drought-plagued land, and slay her with thirst.
2:4 To her children I will show no pity, for they are the children of harlotry.

If the unrighteous Israelites (vs 1) want to get themselves right with God they must confront the “powers that be” in mother Israel (vs 2). Jeroboam I, the first king of the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel, usurped the temple in Jerusalem by establishing temples of his own. He likewise established a priesthood not in accord with the law of Moses. No king in the entire history of the Northern Kingdom ever attempted to rectify this, and by and large the people accepted it. This became the “original sin” of Israel, and it soon led to other sins, such as the worship of Baal; something Hosea is very much concerned with.

In calling the unrighteous Israelites to contend with their mother, the prophet is calling them to repent of the false worship which they were engaging in and which had been instituted by the political and religious authorities in the kingdom. This would save both the kingdom and themselves. The verb contend (ribu) was not lightly chosen by the prophet. This masculine plural imperative is derived from the Hebrew rib; a word often used to denote a lawsuit for covenant violations. The word is used a number of times in reference to God “contending” with his people (see Is 3:13-15; Mic 7:9).

that she may put aside the whoring that is on her face, and the adultery that is on her breasts- In ancient times it was common for an engaged or married woman to show what her status was by wearing jewelry. This often consisted of a nose ring (on her face), and/or a necklace which hung around her neck and rested on her breasts. Since the husband (God) wants to maintain and strengthen the relationship, it makes no sense for him to insist that these signs be taken off, unless they have (or, at least the wife thinks they have) come from her lovers (see vs 8).

and transform her into a desert, turn her into a drought-plagued land, and slay her with thirst- Moses had told the Chosen People as the stood on the plains of Moab about to enter the promised land, that if they obeyed the Lord and kept his covenant, he would bless them. Among the blessings we read: “The Lord will be abundant to you in goodness, in the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of the ground which the Lord swore to the fathers he would give to you. The Lord will open for you his rich treasures, the heavens, to put rain upon your land in its season, to bless the work of your hands” (Dt 28:11-12). But he also told them that if they did not obey the covenant, then blessings would turn to curses: The Lord will strike thee with consumption, fever, and inflammation; and with the scorching heat of drought, withering and mildew. These shall chase after you until you perish. The heavens above you shall become like brass, and the earth under your feet as iron. The Lord will put upon your land a rain of fine dust, only dust shall come upon you until you are destroyed (Dt 28:22-24). In the OT drought becomes one of the great signs of God’s displeasure with his people. Elijah was empowered to shut up the heavens so no rain fell on the Northern Kingdom of Israel (see 1 Kings 17:1-6). The prophet Amos, who also ministered to the Northern Kingdom, made it clear that drought was a sign of God’s anger: “The Lord roars from Zion, gives out his voice from Jerusalem: the pastures of the shepherds mourn, the top of Carmel withers (Am 1:2; see also Amos 4:6-10; and see my post on Amos 1:2)

2:4 To her children I will show no pity, for they are the children of harlotry.- Ample reason for the children to seek the reconciliation of their mother.

2:5 Reason for the plea being needed:

For your mother has gone a-whoring, the one who conceived you has acted shamefully. For she said, “I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”

The goods the mother lists here are being attributed to her “lovers”, the Baals. Baal was a fertility and rain god who was thought to give the land its produce. The land was conceived of as his wife whom he impregnated by sending rain. Worship of Baal included sexual fertility rites, which apparently the prophets wife engaged in. But as noted, this is really about Israel. Notice that all the goods listed were basic necessities of life at this time. Notice too that all are the products of a fruitful land.

2:6-23 Consequences of the plea not being heeded

2:6-8 She will be blocked from pursuing her lovers, the Baals.

2:6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, and surround her with a wall, so she cannot find her way. 2:7 Thus she shall go after her lovers, but not catch them; though she seeks them out, she will not find them. Then she will say, “I will go and turn back to my first husband, for I was better off then than now. 2:8 She did not know that I am the one who gave her.

In the Song of Songs the perspective bride is described in this fashion by her future groom: “A locked up garden is my sister, my bride; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain.” (Sng 4:12 WEB Bible). This implies her fidelity. Later in the poem, her brothers say this concerning her: “We have a little sister. She has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister in the day when she is spoken for? If she is a wall, we will build on her a turret of silver, if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar” (Sng 8:8-9). If she has walled herself in (i.e. been chaste) they will adorn her. But if she has been unchaste (an open door) they will curb her freedom, protecting her for the day of marriage. The girl goes on in verse 10 to say “I am a wall.”

The same could not be said by Israel in Hosea’s day, therefore God will hedge her way with thorns, and surround her with a wall. She will go after and seek out her lovers but will not find them. The list of goods that Israel thinks it is getting from her lovers (vs 5) were examples of covenant blessings, and she has just been threatened with covenant curses (vs 3). S.R. Driver, in his A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON DEUTERONOMY notes that when God promises the covenant blessings in Deut 28:2, the words have the sense that he will pursue his faithful people with these gifts, so desirous is he to give them. In contrast, Israel is here being portrayed as pursuing other gods (lovers) for these gifts. A nice rhetorical touch. The point of the Lord’s actions here are that she might turn back to her first husband. It is towards this end that the Lord will take away the gifts he has given her (vs 9).

2:9-13 The blessings she thought were from the Baals will be removed

2:9 Therefore do I turn back, and take away my grain in its season, along with the wine in its season; and I will take back my wool and my flax, which she used to cover her nakedness. 2:10 And now I will uncover her shame before the eyes of all her lovers, and no one shall deliver her out of my hand. 2:11 I will bring and end to all her joy, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, all her festival seasons. 2:12 I will make desolate her vines and her fig trees; the very things of which she said, “These are my hire, given me by my lovers.” I will turn them into a forest, and they will be consumed by the wild beasts. 2:13 I will chastise her for the feast days of the Baals, on which she offered incense to them, decking herself out with with rings and jewels to go after her lovers, and forgetting me, says the Lord.

Because Israel thinks that she has her gifts and blessings from the Baals (vs 8), God will turn back his desire to give them to her, so that she may turn back to him (vs 7). Her shame will be revealed when the gifts are taken away and it is realized that they did not come from her lovers. She will no longer find joy in the feast days and worship of the Baals. Notice the reference to rings and jewels in vs 13 (recall the note on vs 2).

take away my grain in its season, along with the wine in its season- The phrase “in its season” has a technical sense in the OT. It refers to the time of the harvest. When the grain and grapes were harvested, and the new wine made, the first fruits of these were to be sacrificed to the Lord as an recognition that they had come from him as a blessing. Apparently, since they were attributed to the blessings of Baal, they were being used to worship him. Also, an abundance of grain and wine were part of the blessings for covenant fidelity. The wife Israel is portrayed as thinking them part of her hire for her service to the Baals.

2:14-23 Ultimate consequence and purpose of the previous 2 consequences-reunion with God

2:14-15 God will seduce her

2:14 Therefore, behold, I will seduce her, and lead her back into the wilderness, speaking tenderly to her heart. 2:15 From that place her vineyards will be given to her, and I will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And she will respond there as in the days of her youth, like the time she came up out of the land of Egypt.

If it is a lover Israel wants, it is a lover Israel will get! While most modern translations speak of God “alluring” her into the wilderness, the word used does have connotations of seduction (see Ex 22:15). God will out-seduce his wife seducers to win her back. The Exodus firmly established God’s relations with his people, therefore it is fitting that he lead her back into the wilderness to rekindle the romance. ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown” (Jer 2:2 WEB Bible). Vineyards will be offered as a sort of dowry.

I will make the valley of Achor a door of hope- This valley was the place where Achan as put to death for violating the ban in Joshua 7. When the Israelites conquered Jericho by the hand of the Lord they were supposed to put everything captured into the treasury of the Lord (Josh 6:18-19), but Achan held some things back, and as a result, he was put to death. The place became known as the valley (or plain) of Achor, which means “trouble” (Josh 7:16-26). Most scholars identify this valley as the modern day El Buqeath Valley in the Northern Judean wilderness. It lies between Hyrcania and Qumran on the Northeastern side of the Dead Sea, and it extends south to the Kidron Valley which runs along the base of the Mount of Olives, thus defining the eastern side of Jerusalem. In his book THE TWELVE PROPHETS Marvin Sweeney suggests that Hosea is hinting that God is here suggesting a reunion between the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, whose political and religious center was Jerusalem. Like Achan, the Northern Kingdom is robbing God of what rightfully belongs to him. This Valley of Achor (trouble) they find themselves in can lead to the Door of Hope, reunion with the more politically and religiously stable south.

2:16-20 She will respond and be blessed

2:16 It will come to pass on that day, says the Lord, you will call me “my husband,” and no longer will you call me “my Baal”. 2:17 And I will cause to turn aside the name of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be brought to mind no more. 2:18 For them I will make a covenant on that day with the wild beasts, the birds in the heavens, and the crawling things on the ground; I will remove the bow and the sword and the ones who do battle from the land; I will make you lie down in security. 2:19 And I will betroth you to myself for the ages; I will betroth you to myself in righteousness, and in justice, in love and in mercy. 2:20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

The act of love on the part of God narrated in vss 14-15 will, it is hoped cause a reversal in Israel’s attitude towards the Lord.

you will call me “my husband,” and no longer will you call me “my Baal”- Their confusion about where their blessings and gifts come from will be ended. By attributing the gifts to the Baals who do not exist, they were in effect treating God as a Baal rather than a husband. The names and memories of the Baals will be brought to an end when God when God renews the covenant with them (vss 17-18). The land will not be given over to scavenging beasts, one of the covenant curses (vs 18). Warfare, one of the covenant curses, will also be abolished, thus the people will lie down in security (vs 18). They will come to know God as the source of their blessings (vs 20).

2:21-23 God’s relation with the children will be restored.

2:21 It will come to pass on that day that I will answer, says the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and the heavens shall answer the earth; 2:22 and the earth shall answer the grain the wine and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel; 2:23 I will sow him for myself in the land, and I will pity Lo Ruhamah, and to Lo Ammi I will say, “my people you are,” and he shall answer “my God you are.”

I will answer- is a phrase often found in legal contexts denoting testimony. The heavens and the earth had been called upon by Moses several times in Deuteronomy as a witness to what will happen if Israel was unfaithful. God is testifying to the fact that he is willing to accept the illegitimate children of Israel (made such by the nations harlotries) as his own. Towards this end he answers (testifies) to the heavens he had shut up as part of the covenant curses (see 2:5). In response to this testimony the heavens will answer to the earth (by giving rain); which will in turn answer to the produce of the land: the grain, the wine and the oil, which will be an answer to Jezreel, who had called upon his illegitimate siblings to plead with there mother to end her unfaithfulness (vs 2). God’s love and Israel’s repentance has thus set in motion a renewal of the covenant blessings. Jezreeel (meaning “God sows” or “God plants”) will be sown (planted) in the land, apparently signifying the end of the threat of exile from the land, the culmination of the covenant curses in Deuteronomy 28. The reason for the Illegitimate children’s pleading in thus being portrayed as successful.

3:1-5 The purpose of Hosea’s marital troubles. They symbolize God’s relation with Israel

3:1 Yahweh said to me, “Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.”(3,2);

3:2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley. (3,3); 3:3 I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you.”(3,4);

3:4 For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols. (3,5); 3:5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days (WEB Bible)

Though they love other gods whom they worship with raisin cakes (see Jer 7:18), God is willing to take them back. Hosea’s call to take back his wife is a sign of this. That she shall not play the harlot remind us of 2:6. Ironically verses 4-5 , this seem to suggest that the actions of God told of in the previous chapter will be unsuccessful. For the people will be without a priesthood or king (3:4) for a time. Only after this will they seek out Yahweh and the Davidic king in the messianic age.

Note: Unless otherwise noted I will be using my own translation of Hosea. This translation should in no way be considered authoritative. It is done by me as a personal exercise. For this reason I also provide links to the RSV. Please also note that some translations of Hosea employ different chapter and verse divisions. I’ll be following the RSV numbering.

Please Vote For This Post On Pickafig

Vs 2 The beginning of the Lords speaking by way of Hosea. Go, take to yourself a woman of harlotries and have children of harlotry, for the land is engaging in great harlotry by not following after the Lord.

The first part of verse 2 serves almost as a superscription to the overall text of 1:2-2:1. The prophet is commanded to take a woman of harlotries. The word take often connotes marriage in the bible (see Gen 4:19). The Hebrew text is not as straight forward as English translations render it. The meaning of the Hebrew text is uncertain. Is the prophet being commanded to wed a woman who is already a harlot, or is he being commanded to marry a woman who will become such in the future? Commentators are divided. It should be noted, however, that this action, and the subsequent marriatal experience of the prophet and his wife are meant to mirror God’s relationship with his people. In chapter 2:14-15 we see that Israel, God’s bride, had originally been faithfull, and so parallelism suggests that we are to understand that Hosea’s wife was originally faithful but later fell into harlotries.

for the land is engaging in great harlotries by not following the Lord. These words give the reason for the command to marry and suggest that the marital troubles to come have a connection to the lands great harlotries against the Lord. As already noted, Hosea’s marriage symbolises God’s relations with his people. Land here is to be understood as a euphemism for the people who were known as “the people of the land.” Underlying this euphemism is the theology of the Baal cults. Baal was a fertility god and the earth was considered as something like a consort of his. By sending the rain (conceived of as his seed/sperm) he impregnated the land and made it fruitful. In order to ensure that this would happen his devotees often engaged in “sacred” sexual rituals in temples dedicated to him. By engaging in this worship the people were making the land engage in harlotries by not following the Lord. The Hebrew wording suggests that this situation has been ongoing for some time.

A note on Baalism:
What the original conception was is most obscure. According to W.R. Smith, the Baal is a local God who, by fertilizing his own district through springs and streams, becomes its lawful owner. Good authorities, nevertheless, oppose this view, and reversing the above argument, hold that the Baal is the genius-lord of the place and of all the elements that cause its fecundity; it is he who gives “bread, water, wool, flax, oil, and drink” (Hosea 2:5; in the Hebrew text 2:7); he is the male principle of life and reproduction in nature, and such is sometimes honoured by acts of the foulest sensuality. Whether or not this idea sprang from, and led to the monotheistic conception of supreme deity, the Lord of Heaven, of whom the various Baals would be so many manifestations, we shall leave to scholars to decide. Some deem that the bible favours this view, for its language frequently seems to imply the belief in a Baal par excellence. (From The Catholic Encyclopedia article Baal. New Advent Catholic Supersite)

Vs 3 So he went and took (wed) Gomer the daughter of Diblaim , and she conceived and gave birth to his son;
Vs 4 And the Lord said to him, “give him the name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will charge the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will bring to an end the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Vs 5 And it will come about on that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the Jezreel valley.

In verse 3 we see the prophet fulfill the command of the Lord by taking a woman named Gomer as his wife. Notice that the verse clearly states that the child she conceived and gave birth to is his (Hosea’s) son. Two more children will be born, and as we will see their paternity is not clearly stated. This is another reason for interpreting Gomer as an originally faithful wife (see comment on verse 2).

In verse 4 the prophet is commanded to name his son Jezreel, a word meaning “God sows”. This is the name of a broad, fertile valley plain which lies south of the Galilee and stretches from mount Megiddo in the west to the Jordan river in the east. It was ancient Israel’s proverbial “bread basket.” Because of its fertility and because much of the northern kingdom of Israel was dependent on its produce it became a center of Baal worship. The people it would seem were uncertain as to which god (El) sowed (zara, the root of Jezreel) the land (i.e. made it fruitful).

The giving of the name is explained in reference to the the charging of the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel. This is a reference to events from the time of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.

During the reign of King Ahab (circa 873-852 BC) the “original sin” of the northern kingdom was maintained. By “original sin” I am referring to the false shrines set up by Jeroboam 1 in and to the syncretistic worship of God which took place in them (1 Kings 12:26-13:34). In addition to tolerating this, Ahab also fostered the worship of Baal in deference to his Phoenician wife Jezebel. The prophet Elijah oppossed both these sins vehemently. On one occassion he challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a sacrificial dual on Mount Carmel. Upon defeating them he had them slain and, as a result, he was forced to flee to Mount Horeb (i.e. Mt Sinai) from Jezebel’s wrath. Recall that Horeb/Sinai is the place where God had made his covenant with the chosen people and gave them the ten commandments. While on the mountain Elijah twice declares how zealous he has been for the Lord AND HIS COVENANT. The Lord orders him to anoint Elisha as his successor and to also anoint Jehu as king of Israel.

Jehu is to wipe out the house of Ahab and all the dynasty of Omri (see 1 kings 18-19). This he does with a ruthless efficiency while maintaining how zealous he is for the Lord. This is the same statement made by Elijah, but with an important omission; Jehu never declares his zeal for GOD’S COVENANT. In fact like all the northern kings before him, he does nothing to end the “original sin” of Jeroboam 1 and re-establish the covenant. For this reason he is given only a partial blessing. He is blessed for eradicating the devotees of Baal, but he is criticised for his lack of fidelity to the covenant. For this reason his dynasty will last only four generations. That is the same length as the dynasties of Jeroboam 1 and of Omri (see 2 Kings 9-10). Jeroboam 2 is the fourth generation of the house of Jehu and therefore Hosea is being told the prophecy of 2 Kings 10:28-31 is about to be fulfilled.

But the prophet is also told that the entire kingdom, and not just the reigning dynasty, is going to come to an end. This will take place through military defeat when God will give the people over to their enemies by breaking the bow of Israel in the Jezreel valley.

Vs 6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. The Lord said to him, “give her the name Loruhamah (”not pitied” or “no mercy”) for I will cease to show pity towards the house of Israel and forgive them anymore.

Unlike the description of the birth of Jezreel in verse 3 this child’s paternity is not given. Is she one of the children of harlotry mentioned in verse 2? Given the symbolic named conferred on her it would appear so. One of the special traits of God which he often manifested towards the chosen people was his mercy. The name Loruhamah seems to announce the end of such manifestations. This would have been very shocking to the people since pity, or mercy, is closely connected with God’s self-revelation. In Exodus 34:6 for example, we read: “And the Lord passed before his (moses’) face and proclaimed, ‘Lord, Lord God of mercy (Hebrew= el rahum) and grace, slow to anger and bountiful in lovingkindness and faithfulness.“

Vs 7 But on the house of Judah I will show pity, and I, the Lord their God, will deliver them. Not by the bow will I deliver them, nor by sword, nor war, nor horses, nor by horsemen.

The political, religious, and moral situation in the Kingdom of Judah was not ideal but was better than what existed in the north. Unlike the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom was able, and had on occassion, repented of its sins. For this kingdom there is still hope. Apparently the prophet places these words here to insinuate that the only hope for the people of the northern kingdom is a return to the rule of the Davidic kings (see 3:5).

Vs 8 After the weaning of Loruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to another son.
Vs 9 Then God said, ‘give him the name Loammi, for you are not my people and neither am I your God’.

Another son is born and, like his sister, his paternity appears to be in question. This is reflected in his name, Loammi, which means “not a people.” Just as his sister’s name appeared to be establishing a reversal of how God deals with his people so too with his name and its explanation.

The statement “I will be your God, and you will be my people” often appears in various forms in the Old Testament (see Lev 26:12; Dt 26:17-19) and is always used as a fundamental statement about the chosen peoples relationship with God. By having the prophet name the illegitimate boy “not my people” God is signifying the disruption of the relationship between him and the people of the Northern kingdom. The explanation for why the name is given also plays upon the name of Yahweh (”I am who I am) which was revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14. “I am who I am” is in Hebrew ehyeh aser ehyeh. When the Lord explains the meaning of Loammi to mean “I am not your God” the Hebrew is Lo Ehyeh, literally a reversal of the divine name.

Vs 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not my people,’ it shall be said to them, ‘you are the sons of the living God.’
Vs 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up from the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
2:1 Say to your brother,’Ammi’; (my people) and to your sister, ‘Ruhamah’ (She has received pity).
(Quoted from the American Standard Version, a public domain work. I’ve modified the text somewhat)

These three verses are sometimes taken as seperate from those that precede them; syntactically, this is incorrect.

First, we will consider these verses in their literal/historical meaning. The prophet is attempting to show the precarious nature of the Northern Kingdom’s (i.e. Israel’s) existence. As an idependent nation it has failed. The only hope for the people now is that they return to political and religious unity with the southern kingdom. Only by doing this will they once again become my people and receive pity.

shall be as the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. These words of vs 10 allude to another one of the founding traditions of the chosen people. Earlier (vss 6 and 9), some founding traditions were used to illustrate God’s punishment, whereas here they are used as a promise of hope. The prophet is alluding to the promise made to Jacob who, at the time was in Exile from the promised land. As Jacob returned to the land and to a possible confrontation with his brother Esau, whom he feared, for he had cheated him out of both a birth-right and a blessing, he prayed to God and reminded him of the promise he had given to Abraham: and you said, I will surely do good to you. I will make your seed as the sands of the sea, far to numerous to count (Gen 32:12 my translation.) Jacob is here referring to the words God spoke to Abraham after stopping the sacrifice of Issac (see Gen 22:17). These two passages show God’s love for the ancestors of the chosen people and his regard for the promises he had made to them. The fact that they also show

Please Vote For This Post On PickaFig.

The book of Hosea is introduced with a superscription written in the third person archival or titular style. This immediately suggests that the verse was written by a hand other than Hosea’s, for, with the exception of Senator Bob Dole and Gangsta Rappers no one writes or talks about themselves in this fashion. This immediately raises another question: did Hosea write the book that bears his name?

It should be noted in regard to this question that different narrative voices are used in the text. 1:2-11 is primarily a narative written in the third person wherein the unidentified narrator tells us of God’s commands to the prophet and of his fulfillment of them. Chapter 3:1-5 on the other hand is a narration of the prophet in autobiographical form. The remainder of the book, with the exception of the last verse, shows that Hosea is speaking on behalf of God, typical of pracular speech. All of this may suggest that the book was in part written by Hosea and in part by someone else. It could also be, however, that the whole book was wirtten by someone other than Hosea. If this case, we are to understand the production of the book as similar to that of our Gospels. A charismatic, inspired teacher (though of course Jesus was more than this) acted and preached in accord with God’s will; he drew disciples around him who witnessed what he did, and heard what he said, and, in turn, were inspired to write it down. This could easily account for the differing narrative voices.

Hosea 1:1 The word of Yahweh which came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiak, kings in Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king in Israel.

The purpose of the superscription is to introduce us to the prophet and to the time period of his ministry. This is done by naming the prophet, his pedigree, and the time period of his ministry; this latter being established by the naming of the kings. The most important aspect of this, and of all the prophetic superscriptions is that they show the authority behind the prophets ministry and, by implication, the authority behind the book. This is done here by modifying a typical prophetic formula: “The word of Yahweh was unto…” (See Jer 1:4; Ezek 3:16; Zech 4:8). Everything that is said in the superscription is said in relation to “the word”.

The name Hosea means “God is salvation”, or “God delivers”. Virtually nothing is known about the prophet except for what is contained in this book. Some scholars speculate, on the basis of his father’s name Beeri, that he was from the tribe of Reuben. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that a man from the tribe of Reuben is called Beedrah in 1 Chron 5:6. It needs hardly to be said that this conclusion is pure conjecture. According to some Jewish traditions the prophet was born and died in the town of Belemoth, or Belamon, or Bethshemesh. These towns were all located in the land allotted to the tribe of Issachar after the conquest under Joshua, and so some conclude he belonged to that tribe. Other tradition place his death in Babylon but his burial in Tsepath, in upper Galilee in the Holy Land. Still others have his burial taking place in Northern Africa! But these traditions are of late origin and not considered to be reliable.

Some have conjectured that Hosea, like his fellow prophet Amos, was from the Southern Kingdom of Judah but had been sent into the Northern Kingdom of Israel to preach. Most scholars reject this for several reasons, the strongest being that his dialect and phrasings are clearly that of a Northerner.

The reason for supporting the conjecture given above is that the superscription mentions four kings of Judah and only one of Israel, this in spite of the fact that during the time period established by the named Judean kings six other kings besides Jeroboam reigned in Israel. Why are they not mentioned?

The typical answer given is that the superscription is of a later date than the actual book (i.e. the book existed a long time before the superscription was added). It is conjectured that Hosea, shortly before the fall of Israel in 722 BC, fled to Judah with some of his disciples and there the book was compiled. The prophecies in book form could be of no help to the Kingdom Israel for obvious reasons; however, the moral decay and formalism of religion which led to that kingdoms downfall was, to a lesser degree, infecting Judah, therefore, it is argued, the book was written as a warning to Judah; Israel’s fate could be their’s.

All of this is possible; and it is certain that the book was used in Judah as a source of moral teaching and warning; however, there is another possible explaination.

In chapter 1 verse 4 the prophet announces both the fall of the “house (dynasty) of Jehu”, and of the “House (kingdom) of Israel”. Once the dynasty of Jehu came to an end with the death of Jeroboam the entire kingdom’s fate was sealed. For this reason the six kings who followed are probably ignored as irrelevant. Indeed, with the death of Jeroboam, the Northern Kingdom’s final 26 years (approx.) are a time of political, economic, military and social collapse. Of the six kings who follow Jeroboam four were assassinated, and of these for wo reigned less than a year. Of the remaining two kings one was forced from the throne by pressure from Assyria, which placed a puppet ruler in his stead. This ruler would rebel against the Assyrians and this would lead to the conquest and destruction of the Israel.

THE SITUATION OF ISRAEL AT THE TIME OF HOSEA:

“In the earlier part (of Hosea’s ministry) the times are represented (in the Bible) as prosperous, just as in the days of Amos; evidences of wealth and ease are seen on every hand, and punishment is still in the future (Amos 2:5-13); a little later the situation is greatly changed; lawlessness is prevalent (Amos 4:2; 5:1; 7:1), the panic-stricken rulers are vacillating between (alliance with) Assyria and Egypt (Amos 5:13; 7:11; 12:1), political dissolution has already begun (Amos 7:9; 8:8), the powerlessness of the kings is generally recognized (Amos 10:3; 13:9), the religious and political leaders are the worst violators of the laws (4:8-11; 5:1; 9:15), conspiracies and revolutions are rife (Amos 5:13; 7:11; 10:6; 12:1), and anarchy prevails.“ (A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON AMOS AND HOSEA, By William Rainey Harper, pgs cxli-cxli

NOTE: There is no need to “click on” the blue colored links, mousing onto them will cause a pop-up box to appear containing the cited text.  Red/orange links must be “clicked on.”

Vote For This Post At PickaFig.

Hosea (ho-zay-uh). the name means “Yahweh has saved,” or “Yahweh is salvation.” Variants of the name include Hoshea, the name of the last ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 15:30); Joshua, whose name was originally Hoshea (Numbers 13:16), which in Greek is spelled Iesus and in English as Jesus.

Hosea (Greek spelling: Osee) the prophet, with whom we are concerned here, lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BC. The superscription of the book that bears his name identifies him as “the son of Beeri,” about whom we know nothing. The date of the prophet’s birth and death are unknown; however, from information contained in the superscription, and from details within the book itself, we can date his ministry between the final years of Jeroboam II’s reign (ended circa 742 BC) and the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC.

Important Introductory Readings:

The law of the king (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). The kings over God’s people were supposed to obey certain laws. These included not making military and economic alliances with foreign kings. Such alliances involved swearing oaths to the foreigner’s gods and were usually sealed by a marriage.

The rise and fall of Solomon (1 Kings 1-11). At the very least, chapter 9:1-9 and chapter 11 should be read and compared to Deut 17:14-20 which was linked to above.

The political division of the kingdom (1 Kings 12:1-25). Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, decides to continue his late father’s policies with disastrous results. Ten tribes rebel against the tribe of Judah (to which David and his descendants belonged) thus bringing into existence the new kingdom which retained the name Israel. The tribe of Judah, along with the tribe of Benjamin, remained under the authority of the Davidic kings and become known as the Kingdom of Judah. The text implies that Rehoboam could have avoided the division of the kingdom by taking a different course than he did in fact take.

The religious rebellion of Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12:26-13:34). Though God willed the political division of the kingdom, he still expected the people of the new Northern Kingdom of Israel to offer sacrifice in the temple at Jerusalem in accordance with the law given to Moses (Deut 12:1-14). Jeroboam I, the first king of the new state , apparently feared that if his subjects continued to go to Jerusalem (the capital of Judah) to worship, they would be tempted to reunite with the south, so he decided to erect two sanctuaries in his own kingdom where the people could offer sacrifice. Worse still, he had two golden altars manufactured in the shape of bulls; this was reminiscent of the Egyptian god Apsis and the golden calf of the Exodus. Recall that Jeroboam I had been in exile in Egypt which is where he probably got the idea for the bull altars (1 Kings 11:49).

Useful Background Reading:

The Jewish Encyclopedia. (Useful but dated)

The Catholic Encyclopedia. (also dated but useful)

Old Testament Prophets. A good on-line introductory audio series by Father Mitch Pacwa. For background on Hosea listen to shows # 1; 16; 22-25. Requires Real Player in order to be listened to. Real Player can be downloaded and used for free here.

Reading the Old Testament. A good, non-technical, Protestant introduction. Click on the headings “Assyrian period” and “Hosea.” You may also wish to read “Amos”. He was an earlier prophet to the northern kingdom and it seems likely that his ministry and Hosea’s overlapped by at least a few years.

A good map which allows you to situate the extent of the Assyrian empire on a map of the Middle-East of today can be found here.

Here is a map showing the extent of David’s kingdom at the time of his death.

Here is a map of the Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah circa 830 BC. This would place the details on the map in relation to Hosea’s ministry circa 750-725 BC. Although both kingdoms lost territory after the division they had, by Hosea’s day, gained virtually all of it back. In other words, combine the land area of the two kingdoms and it is almost exactly the same as in the days of David.