The very first "verse" of Hosea (be mindful that chapter and verse divisions are not part of the original biblical texts, but rather were introduced in the Middle Ages for easier reference) begins "The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, son of Beeri." Whenever we encounter in the English translation the word "Lord" in upper and lower capital letters, the Hebrew original has the word "Yaweh," which is the name of the Covenant God of Israel.
For those who have not read my posts on Romans, it is important to know exactly where the name comes from because there is a great deal of loose discussion of the name based not on the Hebrew original but on the Septuagint (mis-) translation and on Revelation. The latter book we can take as authoritative ("The One who is, who was, and is coming") but it clearly is a new teaching and a new vision of God.
In Exodus, when God encounters Moses at the burning bush, Moses asks: What if Pharaoh refuses to listen and does not liberate the people? God answers "I will be with you," in Hebrew Eheyeh im cha. Then Moses asks, "If the children of Israel ask me who is this God who sent you, what name shall I give them? God answers Eheyeh asher eheyeh, "I will be who (what) I will be." Hebrew cannot say "I am" as the verb "be" has a past tense and a future tense, but no present tense. God says to Moses, in effect, "I will be who I determine to be, and I will be with you."
The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, dating from around 300 years before the birth of Jesus) translated "I will be with you" correctly, as Esomai meta su. But when it gets to the name, it mistranslates Ego ho on ("I the being one"). A faithful translation would be Esomai hoti esomai. It is important to keep all this in mind. When God tells Hosea that Israel will be destroyed because of its own willful disobedience, that is not the end of the story. God in the end will redeem and restore all who see the error of their ways and return to God. That is, no one and nothing will condition God, God will be with them and with us.
In Hosea we see the eternal redemptive purpose of God. At the end of chapter 1 God says "Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people' it shall be said to them, 'Children of the living God' " (v. 10 NRSV). Chapter 2 opens: Say to your brothers Ammi (my people) and to your sisters Ruhamah (pitied). The condemnation is not forever for those who repent. For them there is redemption.
I must mention another translation. The NRSV English says "say to your brother" and "say to your sister" (singular both times, but the Hebrew text is very clearly plural in both cases. The offer stands for everyone.
The remainder of chapter 2 is a poetic section comparing the people of Israel to an unfaithful wife. The husband formerly gave her food and drink, but because of her unfaithfulness (worshiping other gods and participating in their festivals) he will withdraw his support. This is a symbol of the people's unfaithful relationship to God, nothing to do with Hosea's biography.
Verses 14 and 15 are a picture of reconciliation in which hope and relationship and joy are restored.
In verse 16 there is a play on words, lost to those who do not speak Hebrew. "On that day says the LORD, you will call me 'My husband' and not 'My Baal'." (NRSV). Where the English has "Husband" Hebrew says "man." In Hebrew he word for husband is "baal" and wife is ishah. In some way there is an equating of persons with the use of "my man" (ishi) and "my woman" (ishti). It is not possible to achieve a full understanding of the meaning of the verse, not being an ancient Hebrew person. In general, we can interpret with confidence that God wishes to reclaim the close relationship with people which God intended from creation.
The end of the chapter has God promising have pity on Lo-Ruhama and to say to Lo-Ammi "You are my people," who will respond "You are my God."
The purpose of this post is for the reader to be able to read the first two chapters of Hosea with greater understanding.
Friday, May 24, 2019
Friday, May 17, 2019
Introduction to Hosea
Now that April, the most activity and responsibility-filled month in academia, is over, I can return to the blog. We finished Romans and now we move to Hosea, a much misunderstood book in the Hebrew scriptures.
This introductory post is a How Not to and a How to read Hosea. Most commentators start their study of the book by trying to figure out Hosea's life story. That, however, is not the point of the book. Rather, aspects of Hosea's life illustrate God's purpose in human history and God's nature.
There will be fewer posts on Hosea than there are chapters in the book. Much of the material is repeated and so the treatment will be thematic.
Hosea lived in the 9th century BC, had a 60-year career, spanning the last kings of the northern kingdom of Israel and beyond, by which time only the southern kingdom of Judah remained. He was the only prophet from the northern kingdom to have left written prophecies. His purpose was to interpret God's purpose in letting the northern kingdom fall and to give a message of hope for the future.
In Hosea, Israel is accused of "whoredom" meaning to signal its infidelity to the Covenant God of Israel, called Yaweh in the Hebrew scriptures. The people and their leaders all worshiped the gods of the Canaanites and Assyrians alongside Yaweh, violating the First Commandment. Therefore when God tells Hosea to "marry a wife of whoredom" it is not a punishment. One may take it that Hosea was disinclined to marry any woman, because she would be unclean owing to the worship of other gods. But God tells Hosea to go ahead and marry. In doing so, Hosea participates in the life of his people, though not in their unfaithfulness to God.
There was a tradition among prophets to act out in public scenes depicting what God meant to say to the people. In marrying Gomer (a name that sounds perfectly normal in Hebrew for a woman), Hosea is acting out God's presence among his disobedient people. They have a boy, whom God tells them to name Jezreel. That was a military stronghold that witnessed a bloodbath when the evil king Ahab and his consort Jezabel were executed along with countless other people. In naming the boy Jezreel, God was signalling that, unless Israel changed its ways, it would suffer the fate of Ahab and Jezabel.
Then they had a daughter and God said to name her Lo-Ruhamah (not pitied). God would not have pity on those who persisted in disobeying. Finally they had a second daughter, who was to be named Lo-Ammi, which is "not my people." God's people are those who worship only Yaweh, the Covenant God of Israel. The Israelites of the northern kingdom were not God's people by their own choice.
In all this, God called on Hosea to live out aspects of God's love for Israel and Judah and the pain God felt, caused by their infidelity. However that's not the end of the story. Basically we have covered chapter I of Hosea, but in so doing put our sights on the purpose of God, not on Hosea's life history, which is not the topic of the book.
I plan four or five weekly posts on Hosea. I hope they will be instructive and helpful.
This introductory post is a How Not to and a How to read Hosea. Most commentators start their study of the book by trying to figure out Hosea's life story. That, however, is not the point of the book. Rather, aspects of Hosea's life illustrate God's purpose in human history and God's nature.
There will be fewer posts on Hosea than there are chapters in the book. Much of the material is repeated and so the treatment will be thematic.
Hosea lived in the 9th century BC, had a 60-year career, spanning the last kings of the northern kingdom of Israel and beyond, by which time only the southern kingdom of Judah remained. He was the only prophet from the northern kingdom to have left written prophecies. His purpose was to interpret God's purpose in letting the northern kingdom fall and to give a message of hope for the future.
In Hosea, Israel is accused of "whoredom" meaning to signal its infidelity to the Covenant God of Israel, called Yaweh in the Hebrew scriptures. The people and their leaders all worshiped the gods of the Canaanites and Assyrians alongside Yaweh, violating the First Commandment. Therefore when God tells Hosea to "marry a wife of whoredom" it is not a punishment. One may take it that Hosea was disinclined to marry any woman, because she would be unclean owing to the worship of other gods. But God tells Hosea to go ahead and marry. In doing so, Hosea participates in the life of his people, though not in their unfaithfulness to God.
There was a tradition among prophets to act out in public scenes depicting what God meant to say to the people. In marrying Gomer (a name that sounds perfectly normal in Hebrew for a woman), Hosea is acting out God's presence among his disobedient people. They have a boy, whom God tells them to name Jezreel. That was a military stronghold that witnessed a bloodbath when the evil king Ahab and his consort Jezabel were executed along with countless other people. In naming the boy Jezreel, God was signalling that, unless Israel changed its ways, it would suffer the fate of Ahab and Jezabel.
Then they had a daughter and God said to name her Lo-Ruhamah (not pitied). God would not have pity on those who persisted in disobeying. Finally they had a second daughter, who was to be named Lo-Ammi, which is "not my people." God's people are those who worship only Yaweh, the Covenant God of Israel. The Israelites of the northern kingdom were not God's people by their own choice.
In all this, God called on Hosea to live out aspects of God's love for Israel and Judah and the pain God felt, caused by their infidelity. However that's not the end of the story. Basically we have covered chapter I of Hosea, but in so doing put our sights on the purpose of God, not on Hosea's life history, which is not the topic of the book.
I plan four or five weekly posts on Hosea. I hope they will be instructive and helpful.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)