Hosea

Hosea’s name literally means “salvation.” The purpose of his ministry was to call the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to repentance from Baal worship to pursue a renewed relationship with Yahweh.

God explains his love for the unfaithful nation of Israel through the prophetic speech-act of the prophet Hosea marrying an adulterous wife (Gomer) and having three children with her. This marital metaphor describes the love of God for his people in an outrageous way: “No-one before had spoken so repeatedly of God’s love (’hb) for his people, and no-one had cast divine grace in the vocabulary of marital intimacy.”^[1]

Furthermore, God describes his love for Israel as a father and a son (Hos. 11:1). While God had called the nation his son (Ex. 4:22), this was a rare theme in the Old Testament. Thus, Hosea gives metaphors to describe the love of God that are unparalleled. Consequently, he became a major influence on later prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.^[2]

Hosea’s wife and children were literal people, but they also provide a metaphor to describe God’s love, as well as give structure to the book. In this culture, the people would’ve been appalled at the fact that Hosea married an adulterous woman. By doing this, God showed how outrageous it was for him to love the adulterous northern nation of Israel. Throughout the book, God tells the people to return to him from their heinous worship of Baal (Hos. 1:10-2:1; 2:14-23; 3:1-5; 11:8-11; 14:1-7).

What’s so wrong with worshipping Baal?

Even though Jehu removed Baal worship (2 Kin. 10), this evil practice reemerged in Israel. The worship of Baal is a central theme of the book, and it is the central sin of the people of Israel. The worship of Baal was not an innocuous religious practice. It was built on deeply obscene and perverted theology and ethics.

Baal (or Ba’al) was an ancient Canaanite fertility god, whom we learn about from the OT data and the Ras Shamra documents. He was the son of Dagon and the lover of Ashtaroth and Asherah. He was a wicked false god. In Canaanite religion, the Ba’al raped his sister Anath ~80 times while she took the form of a female cow.^[3] This is the unholy trinity: incest, rape, and bestiality all rolled into one. Consequently, if the gods raped one another, then so should the worshippers. After all, Ba’al was a fertility god who needed to be erotically stimulated to grow the crops. Sacred prostitution was “widespread among the fertility cults of the ancient Near Eastern world that saw in its employment a means of achieving productivity of plant, animal, and even human life.”^[4]

Sacred prostitution is a sanitized way to describe corporate ritualized rape in the fertility cult. Moses spoke against cult prostitution when he wrote, “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute” (Deut. 23:17). In the ancient world, this was commonplace in the fertility cults. Herodotus stated that this was normal in Babylon where every woman was compelled “to sit in the temple of Aphrodite and have intercourse with some stranger once in her life.” He continues, “It does not matter what sum the money is; the woman will never refuse, for that would be a sin, the money being by this act made sacred. So she follows the first man who casts it and rejects no one. After their intercourse, having discharged her sacred duty to the goddess, she goes away to her home.”^[5]

Child sacrifice was a feature of the Canaanite deities in general and Baal in particular. Several passages explicitly state that the nations around Israel sacrificed their children to their gods (Lev. 18:21; Deut. 12:31; Deut. 18:9-12; Ps. 106:37-38; 2 Kin. 16:3; 21:6; 23:10; 2 Chron. 33:3, 6; Jer 7:30-31; 19:5; 32:35). According to The World Encyclopedia, the sacrifices included incinerating newborns:

According to the ancient historians Clitarch and Diodorus, a hearth was set before a bronze statue of the god Baal (or El) who had outstretched arms on which the victim was placed before falling into the fire. They also mention the victims wearing a smiling mask to hide their tears from the god to whom they were being offered. The victim’s ashes were then placed in an urn and buried in tombs placed within a dedicated sacred open space surrounded by walls, the tophet…. From the 6th century BCE, stelae were dedicated to Baal or Tanit and placed on top of the urns instead of stones. Many stelae have an inscription which describes a human blood sacrifice or the substitution of a sheep for a child.^[6]

One of the urns contains this inscription: “To Lady Tanit, face of Baal, and to Lord Baal Hammon: [that] which Arisham son of Bodashtart, son of Bodeshmun vowed (ndr); because he (the god) heard his (Arisham’s) voice, he blessed him.”^[7] Tanit was a Canaanite goddess and the lover of Ba’al. So, this was an offering to this god. Interestingly, the dead child is never mentioned.

God metaphorically woos Israel from her adultery with Baal. Yahweh argues that Baal is not the true husband of Israel, and he cannot protect the nation or provide for her. Hubbard writes, “[Yahweh] is the One who gives them crops and wealth (2:8), who initiates ‘a cosmic covenant’ to set at peace the animal kingdom (2:18), who provides their pasture (4:16), who brings the rain (6:3), who will restore their verdure (cf. 10:1) in the end (14:4-7), and who, in the meanwhile, names their true source of righteousness and steadfast love (10:12).”^[8] Only Yahweh offered true covenant “love” (ḥesed, Hos. 2:19; 4:1; 6:4, 6; 10:12; 12:6).

Authorship

The book states that Hosea was the author (Hos. 1:1-2). The apostle Paul (Rom. 9:25) affirms this authorship, as does early Jewish tradition (Baba Bathra, 14b, 15a). We know very little about the prophet Hosea. He lived in the 8^th century BC, he was the son of Beeri, and he served the northern nation of Israel. Since his ministry lasted a long time, and he was married at the beginning of the book, it’s likely that he was a very young prophet when he was called by God.^[9]

Were there later interpolations?

No. Archer^[10] states that critics attribute most of Hosea to an 8^th century author, but these critics think portions were added later (Hos. 11:8-11; 14:2-9). Likewise, Rooker writes that “most [critical] scholars believe that Hosea delivered his messages in the eighth century but that some of his prophecies were expanded over time, particularly by Hosea’s disciples.”^[11] Critics marshal several arguments to support this view:

#1. Hosea (a man from the north) would never write positively about the southern kingdom (Judah). We reject this critical argument for several reasons. For one, by pulling out Judah from certain passages (such as Hos. 5:8-6:6), this would “destroy the sense of the text.”^[12] Second, the judgment and salvation messages are so intertwined with one another that it’s hard to imagine that one precedes the other. Third, a faithful believer in the northern kingdom would want to follow God’s interests—not the interests of civil war. This is why many commentators argue for the unity of authorship.[13]

#2. Hosea exaggerates Israel’s salvation, which points to a later author. The book contains so-called “salvation passages” (Hos. 11:8-11; 14:2-9), which are argued to be different from the rest of the book. However, this is also a specious argument. Hosea speaks of God’s salvation from the very beginning of the book (Hos. 1:10-11; 2:14-23; 3:5). As for the concept of “exaggeration,” some of these prophecies were not fulfilled in the past, but they will be fulfilled at the end of human history.

#3. Hosea lists Judean kings—not Israelite kings—to date his ministry. Critics believe that this would be wholly inconsistent with an Israelite prophet. However, it is most likely that Hosea “was indicating his recognition that the Davidic line ruling in Judah was the only legitimate one.”^[14]

Translation of Hosea

Hosea is one of the hardest books to translate in the OT. This is not due to the transmission of the text. Instead, Hosea’s lost northern Hebrew dialect makes it difficult to translate his book at certain points.^[15] Indeed, Garrett writes, “Hosea contains possibly the most difficult Hebrew in the Bible (although many scholars would give that distinction to Job).”^[16] Consequently, it’s helpful to compare translations or read the NET notes to understand how the text was translated.

Canonicity

The earliest mention of this book is in its association with the Minor Prophets, and it is first among that collection. Extrabiblical sources state that it is grouped alongside “the twelve prophets” (Sirach 49:10). Moreover, the NT cites Hosea on a few different occasions (Mt. 2:15; 9:13; 12:7; Lk. 23:30; Rom. 9:25-26; 1 Pet. 2:10; 1 Cor. 15:55; Heb. 13:15; Rev. 3:17?). Noting Hosea’s influence on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, Hubbard writes, “Hosea and Amos must have been recognized as canonical in their authority right from the beginning, so clearly do we see their use by the prophets who followed them.”^[17]

Date and Historical background

Garrett dates Hosea’s ministry over a span of 50 years—from the end of Jeroboam II into the reign of Hezekiah (760-710 BC). However, Hosea’s book was almost certainly completed before the Assyrian Invasion of 722 BC, which “seems yet future when the book closes.”^[18] The “bulk of the prophecies” likely occurred in 740 BC.

When Hosea lived, Jeroboam II (793-753 BC; 2 Kings 14:23ff) was the king in Israel, and he was quite powerful. Before he took over, Israel was militarily weak (2 Kings 13:7).

Jehoash (Jeroboam’s father) had successfully fought the Syrians (2 Kings 13:25), and Israel became increasingly powerful. When Jeroboam II took over, he brought even more success to the nation (2 Chron. 26:10; Hos. 8:14), extending the boundaries of the nation “on the east and north of his country that had been held in the empire days of David and Solomon.”^[19] However, Baal worship was prominent (Hos. 2:8; 4:10-18; 11:2; 13:1).

After Jeroboam II died, a power vacuum entered Israelite politics. The subsequent kings were assassinated or deposed by the next heir to the throne—in rapid succession (2 Kin. 15). Six kings died in thirty years. Garrett writes, “In general, however, Hosea describes the volatile political situation following the death of Jeroboam II, a chaotic time in which power changed hands rapidly and self-styled kings made claims of royalty that were as hollow as they were ignored by the people (e.g., 7:3-7; 8:4; 10:3). Probably most of Hosea’s extant messages come from the last three decades of Israel’s history.”^[20]

During this time, the Assyrian war machine threatened to invade Israel, and it did so in 722 BC. In the decades leading up to the invasion, Assyria grew powerful under leaders like Tiglath-pileser III (also called “Pul,” 745-727 BC). Shalmaneser V (727-722 BC) and Sargon II (722-705 BC) led Assyria to invade and overthrow the northern kingdom of Israel.

Consulted Commentaries

Leon J. Wood, “Hosea,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets, ed. F. E. Gaebelein, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986).

David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989).

Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997).

^[1] David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 32.

^[2] Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 22.

[3] A. Massart, The Leiden Magical Papyrus (Leiden, 1954). Cited in William F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (New York: Doubleday, 1968), 129.

^[4] Eugene H. Merrill, Deuteronomy, vol. 4, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 313.

[5] Herodotus, Histories 1.199.

[6] Mark Cartwright, “Tophet,” World History Encyclopedia, April 15, 2016.

[7] CIS I.2.511.

^[8] David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 43-44.

^[9] Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 22.

^[10] Gleason Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 3rd ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 357.

[11] Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 415.

[12] Eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 415.

[13] F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (New York: Doubleday, 1980), 59.

^[14] Leon J. Wood, “Hosea,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets, ed. F. E. Gaebelein, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 163.

^[15] Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 26.

^[16] Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 26.

^[17] David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 24.

^[18] David A. Hubbard, Hosea: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 24, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1989), 25-26.

^[19] Leon J. Wood, “Hosea,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets, ed. F. E. Gaebelein, vol. 7 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 161.

^[20] Duane A. Garrett, Hosea, Joel, vol. 19A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 24.