Hosea

Introduction to Hosea

Hosea’s name literally means “salvation.” The purpose of his ministry was to call the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to repentance by following the covenant.

Authorship

The book states that Hosea was the author (Hos. 1:1-2). Early Jewish tradition ascribed authorship to Hosea (Baba Bathra, 14b, 15a), as does the apostle Paul (Rom. 9:25). Furthermore, Leon Morris gives a number of inductive reasons for ascribing this book to Hosea: (1) the author focuses on Israel—not Judah; (2) the author refers to the king of Samaria as “our king” (Hos. 7:5); (3) the author uses a number of Aramaisms, which would fit with a Syrian presence.

Date

This book was written right before the fall of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to Assyria in 722 BC. Archer writes,

The Liberal critics attribute substantially all this prophecy to the historic Hosea. The only passages that have been challenged as later insertions are those which refer to Judah (so Marti and Nowack); or those sections, like 11:8–11 and 14:2–9 (so Volz and Marti), which predict future blessing or national deliverance.

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.” Three arguments are marshalled in favor of later additions to Hosea:

#1. Hosea (a man from the north) would never write positively about the southern kingdom (Judah). We reject this critical view. For one, by pulling out Judah from certain passages (such as Hos. 5:8-6:6), this would “destroy the sense of the text.” Second, the judgment and salvation messages are 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.

#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 simply not the case. 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.”

Historical background

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). But Jehoash (his father) had begun to successfully fight the Syrians (2 Kings 13:25), and Israel became more and more powerful. When Jeroboam II took over, he brought much success and power to the nation (2 Chron. 26:10; Hos. 8:14). He extended 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.” However, Baal worship was prominent (Hos. 2:8; 4:10-18; 11:2; 13:1).

Canonicity

The earliest mention of this book is in its association with the Minor Prophets. It is grouped alongside “the twelve prophets” (Sirach 49:10). Moreover, the NT cites Hosea on a few different occasions (Mt. 9:13; 12:7; Hos. 6:6; Mt. 2:15; Hos. 11:1; Rom. 9:25-26; 1 Pet. 2:10; Hos. 1:10; 2:23; 1 Cor. 15:55; Hos. 13:14).

Translation of Hosea

Hosea is one of the hardest books to translate in the OT. Since Hosea uses a lost northern Hebrew dialect, it is difficult to translate his book at certain points. It is wise to compare translations and read commentaries on passages which are dense.