HOSEA (Day 2)

Hosea 1 Hosea’s family

Figures of speech

Simile

Comparing one thing with something else

I am like a moth to Ephraim,like rot to the people of Judah

Hosea 5:12

Your love is like the morning mist,like the early dew that disappears.

Hosea 6:4

Metaphor

Associating something with another object or concept to which it is not related

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A metaphor is ‘a figure of speech whereby we speak about one thing in terms of which are seen to be suggestive of another.’

Janet Martin Soskice Metaphor and Religious Language

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Metaphor is considered not so much as a way in which people speak, but rather as a way in which people think. We use metaphors in our language because, to a large extent, we think metaphorically. . . .

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. . . The essence of metaphor . . . is that we make use of our knowledge of one conceptual domain (the source) in order to gain new understanding of a second, non-related domain (the target).

Pierre Van Heck Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible

A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

Hosea 4:19

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores,then Ephraim turned to Assyria,and sent to the great king for help.But he is not able to cure you,not able to heal your sores.

Hosea 5:13

Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.

Hosea 2:14

root metaphor:YHWH’s household

marriage & prostitution

Genesis 2:23–24Ephesians 5:31–32

Revelation 21:1–10

Numbers 15:37–41

Jeremiah 2–3Ezekiel 16, 23Hosea 1:1 – 3:5

Exclusive, intimate covenant

The ultimate marriage

Forgetfulness leads to prostitution

Adultery/Prostitution

Hosea 2Punishment and

restoration

A2. 2:1–23 Punishment/restoration

a 2:1–4 YHWH’s 1st punishment

b 2:5–6 YHWH’s 2nd punishment

c 2:7–13 YHWH’s 3rd punishment

d 2:14–15 YHWH will woo Israel

c’ 2:16–17 Response to 3rd punish.

b’ 2:18–20 Response to 2nd punishment

a’ 2:21–23 Response to 1st punishment

Base texts

Texts which Hosea builds on

Beginning of the decalogue (Exodus 20)

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. . . .

. . . You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. – Exodus 20:1–6

Psalm 106

Three key periods of history for Hosea

1. Israel’s ancestors (patriarchs)

2. Exodus and wilderness

3. Life in the promised land

Hosea 3 Hosea loving his

wife again