by Stephen Rodgers
HOSEA IN 10 WORDS OR LESS
“Prophet’s marriage to prostitute reflects God’s relationship to Israel.”
TITLE
Like almost all the other prophetic books, the book of Hosea takes its name from the prophet responsible for its content.
Per the MSB:
The title is derived from the main character and author of the book. The meaning of his name, “salvation,” is the same as that of Joshua (cf. Num. 13:8,16) and Jesus (Matt. 1:21). Hosea is the first of the 12 Minor Prophets. “Minor” refers to the brevity of the prophecies, as compared to the length of the works of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
AUTHOR & AUDIENCE
While not all commentators automatically agree that Hosea personally wrote the book that bears his name (see for example, the NIVSB), Constable sees no reason to doubt it:
The prophet’s name is the title of the book. The book claims to be the word of the Lord that Hosea received (Hos. 1:1). Thus he appears to have been the writer.
The MSB gives us more background on Hosea, although honestly, there’s not much available:
The book of Hosea is the sole source of information about the author. Little is known about him, and even less about his father, Beeri (Hos. 1:1). Hosea was probably a native of the northern kingdom of Israel, since he shows familiarity with the history, circumstances, and topography of the north (cf. Hos. 4:15; 5:1,13; 6:8,9; 10:5; 12:11,12; 14:6). This would make him and Jonah the only writing prophets from the northern kingdom. Although he addressed both Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom), he identified the king of Israel as “our king” (Hos. 7:5).
The original audience of Hosea’s oral message would have been the northern kingdom of Israel. After they were overrun, his words would have been preserved as a prophetic warning of judgment, a call to repentance, and a promise of restoration.
DATE
The MSB gives the standard conservative position on the dating of Hosea:
Hosea had a lengthy period of ministry, prophesying ca. 755–710 B.C., during the reigns of Uzziah (790–739 B.C.), Jotham (750–731 B.C.), Ahaz (735–715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (715–686 B.C.) in Judah, and Jeroboam II (793–753 B.C.) in Israel (Hos. 1:1). His long career spanned the last 6 kings of Israel from Zechariah (753–752 B.C.) to Hoshea (732–722 B.C.). The overthrow of Zechariah (the last of the dynasty of Jehu) in 752 B.C. is depicted as yet future (Hos. 1:4). Thus he followed Amos’ preaching in the north, and was a contemporary of Isaiah and Micah as well, both of whom prophesied in Judah. Second Kings 14–20 and 2 Chronicles 26–32 record the historical period of Hosea’s ministry.
Constable gives some additional information as well as illuminating a number of variant dates. Rather than expressly contradicting the traditional view, I find it interesting how consistant the overall opinion of most scholars is on this issue:
Hosea’s ministry spanned the reigns of four Judean kings (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; cf. Isa. 1:1) and one Israelite king (Jeroboam II; Hos. 1:1). King Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah began reigning in 792 B.C., and King Hezekiah of Judah stopped reigning in 686 B.C., spanning a period of 107 years. Probably Hosea’s ministry began near the end of Jeroboam II’s (793-753 B.C.) and Uzziah’s (792-740 B.C.) reigns and ended in the early years of Hezekiah’s sole reign (715-686 B.C.). Hezekiah evidently reigned for 14 years as co-regent with his father Ahaz (729-715 B.C.; cf. 2 Kings 18:1). This would mean that the prophet’s ministry lasted perhaps 45 years (ca. 760-715 B.C.). It also means that Hosea’s ministry extended beyond the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. since Hezekiah began ruling in 715 B.C. Hosea did not date any of his prophecies. Other possible dates are between 760 and 753 to 715 B.C. (38 to 45 years), [Leon Wood, “Hosea,” in Daniel-Minor Prophets, vol. 7 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 163, and idem, The Prophets of Israel, p. 276.] 760 to 720 B.C. (38 years), [Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, p. xliii.] 760 to sometime during Hezekiah’s reign (715-686 B.C., about 45 years), [Hobart E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets, p. 175.] and about 60 or 65 years. [C. F. Keil, “Hosea,” in The Twelve Minor Prophets, 1:15.]
BACKGROUND & SETTING
Hosea ministered during a very turbulent time in Israel’s history. Under Jeroboam II, Israel enjoyed economic and material prosperity until his death in 753 BC. That seemed to signal a rapid and chaotic downturn however, going through six kings is 20 years. At the end of that time, Israel (by then a vassal state of Assyria), attempted a rebellion which was subsequently crushed, with the ten tribes of the northern kingdom being carried off into exile, never to return.
HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES
There are three major themes running through the book of Hosea:
- God’s Faithfulness, Mercy, and Unfailing Love. Hosea’s love for his unfaithful wife represents God’s love for Israel (Hos. 1:2; 2:9; 6:6; 10:12; 12:6).
- Judgment for Sin. Because Israel would fail to acknowledge God and insist on their idolatry (Hos. 2:2-5; 3:3; 4:10-19; 5:3-7; 6:10; 8:9; 9:1), God would ultimately punish them with exile (Hos. 7:16; 8:14; 9:3,6,17; 11:5).
- Repentance and Restoration. Hosea reiterates the recurring theme that repentance brings restoration (Hos. 1:10-11; 2:14-23; 3:5; 11:10-11; 14:4-7).
INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES
There are a number of interpretive questions that have been raised regarding the book of Hosea, not surprisingly, all of them related to the person of Gomer, his “wife of harlotry:”
- The first question is whether Gomer should be understood as a literal or an allegorical figure. Despite some of the problems that this answer raises, the vast majority of scholars tend to agree that she should be understood as a literal figure. There is nothing in the prose account of Hosea 1-3 that indicates she is not meant to be understood as a real person.
- The second question raised is whether Gomer was a prostitute at the time Hosea married her, or if she only became an immoral woman later in their relationship. Scholars are somewhat more divided on this issue (compared to the issue of understanding her as a literal person), but the majority view seems to be that she was faithful at the time of their marriage, but became unfaithful at some later point in time. Some of the verses in Hosea (Hos. 2:15 and 9:10 vs. 11:1) seem to suggest that understanding.
- Lastly, there is some confusion as to whether the woman in chapter 3 is the same adulterous wife from chapters 1-2, but like the literal issue, the vast majority of commentators and scholars agree that she is, and that alternative interpretations make very little sense in light of the analogy being illustrated.
LITERARY FEATURES
Per the ESVSB:
The overall genre of the book is prophecy, and most of the book consists of oracles of judgment, with only a few interspersed oracles of salvation. Its main literary form is satire (in this case, sharp and bitter). Virtually the entire book is embodied in poetry. The overall format is that of a legal or judicial indictment, as God presents a detailed case against his covenant people.
OBJECTIONS
Aside from the standard anti-supernaturalistic objections that are raised automatically when the subject of prophetic literature is raised, there aren’t any serious objections to the authenticity of Hosea. Some older stock objections (alleged issues involving the mixing of first- and third-person perspective, the juxtaposition of judgment and salvation passages) have since been discredited as ancient Israelite and ANE writings have been studied in greater depth.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
- Hosea 6:6
- Hosea 8:7
DID YOU KNOW?
- Hosea’s children had some very unusual and symbolic names: “God scatters,” “she is not loved,” and “not my people.”
Other Works Referenced
- Apologetics Study Bible, “Hosea”
- Archaeological Study Bible, “Introduction to Hosea”
- ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Hosea”
- MacArthur Study Bible, “Hosea”
- NET Bible, Hosea
- NIV Study Bible, Hosea
- Reformation Study Bible, “Hosea”
- The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, “Hosea”
- Know Your Bible
- Dever, The Message of the Old Testament
- Driscoll, A Book You’ll Actually Read On the Old Testament
- Knight, The Layman’s Bible Handbook