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Easton's Bible Dictionary
salvation,
the son of Beeri, and author
of the book of prophecies bearing
his name. He belonged to the
kingdom of Israel. "His Israelitish
origin is attested by the peculiar,
rough, Aramaizing diction, pointing
to the northern part of Palestine;
by the intimate acquaintance
he evinces with the localities
of Ephraim ( Hosea
5:1 ; 6:8
; 6:9
; 12:12
; 14:6
, etc.); by passages like Hosea
1:2 , where the kingdom
is styled 'the land', and Hosea
7:5 , where the Israelitish
king is designated as 'our'
king." The period of his ministry
(extending to some sixty years)
is indicated in the superscription
( Hosea
1:1 ,
1:2 ). He is the only prophet
of Israel who has left any written
prophecy.
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible
Names
Hoshea
Smith's
Bible Dictionary
(salvation)
Son of Beeri, and first of the
minor prophets. Probably the
life, or rather the prophetic
career, of Hosea extended from
B.C. 784 to 723, a period of
fifty-nine years. The prophecies
of Hosea were delivered in the
kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam
II was on the throne, and Israel
was at the height of its earthly
splendor. Nothing is known of
the prophets life excepting
what may be gained from his
book.
International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia
ho-ze'-a:
I. THE PROPHET
1.
Name
The name (hoshea Septuagint
Osee-; for other forms
see note in DB), probably
meaning "help," seems
to have been not uncommon,
being derived from the
auspicious verb from which
we have the frequently
recurring word "salvation."
It may be a contraction
of a larger form of which
the Divine name or its
abbreviation formed a
part, so as to signify
"God is help," or "Help,
God." according to Numbers
13:8 ,
13:16 that was the
original name of Joshua
son of Nun, till Moses
gave him the longer name
(compounded with the name
of Yahweh) which he continued
to bear (yehoshua`), "Yahweh
is salvation." The last
king of the Northern Kingdom
was also named Hosea (2
Kings 15:30), and
we find the same name
borne by a chief of the
tribe of Ephraim under
David (1
Chronicles 27:20)
and by a chief under Nehemiah
(Nehemiah
10:23).
2. Native Place
Although it is not directly
stated in the book, there
can be little doubt that
he exercised his ministry
in the kingdom of the
Ten Tribes. Whereas his
references to Judah are
of a general kind, Ephraim
or Samaria being sometimes
mentioned in the same
connection or more frequently
alone, the situation implied
throughout and the whole
tone of the addresses
agree with what we know
of the Northern Kingdom
at the time, and his references
to places and events in
that kingdom are so numerous
and minute as to lead
to the conclusion that
he not only prophesied
there, but that he was
a native of that part
of the country. Gilead,
e.g. a district little
named in the prophets,
is twice mentioned in
Hosea (6:8
; 12:11)
and in such a manner as
to suggest that he knew
it by personal observation;
and Mizpah (mentioned
in Hosea
5:1) is no doubt the
Mizpah in Gilead (Judges
10:17). Then we find
Tabor (Hosea
5:1), Shechem (Hosea
6:9 the Revised Version
(British and American)),
Gilgal and Bethel (Hosea
4:15 ; 9:15;
10:5
, 10:8
, 10:15
; 12:11).
Even Lebanon in the distant
North is spoken of with
a minuteness of detail
which could be expected
only from one very familiar
with Northern Palestine
(Hosea
14:5 - 8).
In a stricter sense, therefore,
than amos who, though
a native of Tekoah, had
a prophetic mission to
the North, Hosea may be
called the prophet of
Northern Israel, and his
book, as Ewald has said,
is the prophetic voice
wrung from the bosom of
the kingdom itself.
3. Date
All that we are told directly
as to the time when Hosea
prophesied is the statement
in the first verse that
the word of the Lord came
to him "in the days of
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,
and Hezekiah, kings of
Judah, and in the days
of Jeroboam the son of
Joash, king of Israel."
It is quite evident that
his ministry did not extend
over the combined reigns
of all these kings; for,
from the beginning of
the reign of Uzziah to
the beginning of that
of Hezekiah, according
to the now usually received
chronology (Kautzsch,
Literature of the Old
Testament, English Translation),
there is a period of 52
years, and Jeroboam came
to his throne a few years
before the accession of
Uzziah.
When we examine the book
itself for more precise
indications of date, we
find that the prophet
threatens in God's name
that in "a little while"
He will "avenge the blood
of Jezreel upon the house
of Jehu." Now Jeroboam
was the great-grandson
of Jehu, and his son Zechariah,
who succeeded him, reigned
only six months and was
the last of the line of
Jehu. We may, therefore,
place the beginning of
Hosea's ministry a short
time before the death
of Jeroboam which took
place 743 BC. as to the
other limit, it is to
be observed that, though
the downfall of "the kingdom
of the house of Israel"
is threatened (Hosea
1:4), the catastrophe
had not occurred when
the prophet ceased his
ministry. The date of
that event is fixed in
the year 722 BC, and it
is said to have happened
in the 6th year of King
Hezekiah. This does not
give too long a time for
Hosea's activity, and
it leaves the accuracy
of the superscription
unchallenged, whoever
may have written it. If
it is the work of a later
editor, it may be that
Hosea's ministry ceased
before the reign of Hezekiah,
though he may have lived
on into that king's reign.
It should be added, however,
that there seems to be
no reference to another
event which might have
been expected to find
an echo in the book, namely,
the conspiracy in the
reign of Ahaz (735 BC)
by Pekah of Israel and
Rezin of Damascus against
the kingdom of Judah (2
Kings 16:5 ; Isaiah
7:1).
Briefly we may say that,
though there is uncertainty
as to the precise dates
of the beginning and end
of his activity, he began
his work before the middle
of the 8th century, and
that he saw the rise and
fall of several kings.
He would thus be a younger
contemporary of amos whose
activity seems to have
been confined to the reign
of Jeroboam.
4. Personal History (Marriage)
Hosea is described as
the son of Beeri, who
is otherwise unknown.
Of his personal history
we are told either absolutely
nothing or else a very
great deal, according
as we interpret chapters
1 and 3 of his book. In
ancient and in modern
times, opinions have been
divided as to whether
in these chapters we have
a recital of actual facts,
or the presentation of
prophetic teaching in
the form of parable or
allegory.
(1)
Allegorical View
The Jewish interpreters
as a rule took the
allegorical view,
and Jerome, in the
early Christian
church, no doubt
following Origen
the great allegorizer,
states it at length,
and sees an intimation
of the view in the
closing words of
Hosea's book: "Who
is wise, that he
may understand these
things? prudent,
that he may know
them?" (Hosea
14:9).
It is a mystery,
he says; for it
is a scandal to
think of Hosea being
commanded to take
an unchaste wife
and without any
reluctance obeying
the command. It
is a figure, like
that of Jeremiah
going to the Euphrates
(when Jerusalem
was closely besieged)
and hiding a girdle
in the bed of the
river (Jeremiah
13). So Ezekiel
is commanded to
represent, by means
of a tile, the siege
of Jerusalem, and
to lie 390 days
on his side to indicate
the years of their
iniquity (Ezekiel
4); and there
are other symbolical
acts. Jerome then
proceeds to apply
the allegory first
to Israel, which
is the Gomer of
chapter 1, and then
to Judah, the wife
in chapter 3, and
finally to Christ
and the church,
the representations
being types from
beginning to end.
Calvin took the
same view. Among
modern commentators
we find holding
the allegorical
view not only Hengstenberg,
Havernick and Keil,
but also Eichhorn,
Rosenmuller and
Hitzig. Reuss also
(Das Altes Testament,
II, 88) protests
against the literal
interpretation as
impossible, and
that on no moral
or reverential considerations,
but entirely on
exegetical grounds.
He thinks it enough
to say that, when
the prophet calls
his children "children
of whoredom," he
indicates quite
clearly that he
uses the words in
a figurative sense;
and he explains
the allegory as
follows: The prophet
is the representative
of Yahweh; Israel
is the wife of Yahweh,
but faithless to
her husband, going
after other gods;
the children are
the Israelites,
who are therefore
called children
of whoredoms because
they practice the
idolatry of the
nation. So they
receive names which
denote the consequences
of their sin. In
accordance with
the allegory, the
children are called
the children of
the prophet (for
israel is God's
own) but this is
not the main point;
the essential thing
is the naming of
the children as
they are named.
In the third chapter,
according to this
interpretation,
allegory again appears,
but with a modification
and for another
purpose. Idolatrous
Israel is again
the unfaithful wife
of the prophet as
the representative
of Yahweh. This
relation can again
be understood only
as figurative; for,
if the prophet stands
for Yahweh, the
marriage of Israel
to the prophet cannot
indicate infidelity
to Yahweh. The sense
is evident: the
marriage still subsists;
God does not give
His people up, but
they are for the
present divorced
"from bed and board";
it is a prophecy
of the time when
Yahweh will leave
the people to their
fate, till the day
of reconciliation
comes.
(2) Literal View
The literal interpretation,
adopted by Theodore
of Mopsucstia in
the ancient church,
was followed, after
the Reformation,
by the chief theologians
of the Lutheran
church, and has
been held, in modern
times, by many leading
expositors, including
Delitzsch, Kurtz,
Hofmann, Wellhausen,
Cheyne, Robertson
Smith, G. A. Smith
and others. In this
view, as generally
held, chapters 1
and 3 go together
and refer to the
same person. The
idea is that Hosea
married a woman
named Gomer, who
had the three children
here named. Whether
it was that she
was known to be
a worthless woman
before the marriage
and that the prophet
hoped to reclaim
her, or that she
proved faithless
after the marriage,
she finally left
him and sank deeper
and deeper into
sin, until, at some
future time, the
prophet bought her
from her paramour
and brought her
to his own house,
keeping her secluded,
however, and deprived
of all the privileges
of a wife. In support
of this view it
is urged that the
details are related
in so matter-of-fact
a manner that they
must be matters
of fact. Though
the children receive
symbolical names
(as Isaiah gave
such names to his
children), the meanings
of these are clear
and are explained,
whereas the name
of the wife cannot
thus be explained.
Then there are details,
such as the weaning
of one child before
the conception of
another (Hosea
1:8) and the
precise price paid
for the erring wife
(Hosea
3:2), which
are not needed to
keep up the allegory,
and are not invested
with symbolical
meaning by the prophet.
What is considered
a still stronger
argument is relied
on by modern advocates
of this view, the
psychological argument
that there is always
a proportion between
a revelation vouchsafed
and the mental state
of the person receiving
it. Hosea dates
the beginning of
his prophetic work
from the time of
his marriage; it
was the unfaithfulness
of his wife that
brought home to
him the apostasy
of Israel; and,
as his heart went
after his wayward
wife, so the Divine
love was stronger
than Israel's sin;
and thus through
his own domestic
experience he was
prepared to be a
prophet to his people.
The great difficulty
in the way of accepting
the literal interpretation
lies, as Reuss has
pointed out, in
the statement at
the beginning, that
the prophet was
commanded to take
a wife of whoredoms
and children of
whoredoms. And the
advocates of the
view meet the difficulties
in some way like
this: The narrative
as it stands is
manifestly later
than the events.
On looking back,
the prophet describes
his wife as she
turned out to be,
not as she was at
the beginning of
the history. It
is urged with some
force that it was
necessary to the
analogy (even if
the story is only
a parable) that
the wife should
have been first
of all chaste; for,
in Hosea's representation,
Israel at the time
of its election
in the wilderness
was faithful and
fell away only afterward
(Hosea
2:15 ;
9:10;
11:1). The narrative
does not require
us to assume that
Comer was an immoral
person or that she
was the mother of
children before
her marriage. The
children receive
symbolic names,
but these names
do not reflect upon
Gomer but upon Israel.
Why, then, is she
described as a woman
of Whoredoms? It
is answered that
the expression 'esheth
zenunim is a class-descriptive,
and is different
from the expression
"a woman who is
a harlot" ('ishshdh
zonah). A Jewish
interpreter quoted
by Aben Ezra says:
"Hosea was commanded
to take a wife of
whoredoms because
an honest woman
was not to be had.
The whole people
had gone astray--was
an `adulterous generation';
and she as one of
them was a typical
example, and the
children were involved
in the common declension
(see Hosea
4:1 f) ." The
comment of Umbreit
is worthy of notice:
"as the covenant
of Yahweh with Israel
is viewed as a marriage
bond, so is the
prophetic bond with
Israel a marriage,
for he is the messenger
and mediator. Therefore,
if he feels an irresistible
impulse to enter
into the marriage-bond
with Israel, he
is bound to unite
himself with a bride
of an unchaste character.
Yea, his own wife
Comer is involved
in the universal
guilt" (Prak. Commentary
uber die Propheten,
Hamburg, 1844).
It is considered,
then, on this view,
that Gomer, after
her marriage, being
in heart addicted
to the prevailing
idolatry, which
we know was often
associated with
gross immorality
(see Hosea
4:13), felt
the irksomeness
of restraint in
the prophet's house,
left him and sank
into open profligacy,
from which (Hosea
3) the prophet
reclaimed her so
far as to bring
her back and keep
her secluded in
his own house.
Quite recently this
view has been advocated
by Riedel (Alttest.
Untersuchungen,
Leipzig, 1902),
who endeavors to
enforce it by giving
a symbolic meaning
to Gomer's name,
Bath-Diblaim. The
word is the dual
(or might be pointed
as a plural) of
a word, debhelah,
meaning a fruitcake,
i.e. raisins or
figs pressed together.
It is the word used
in the story of
Hezekiah's illness
(2
Kings 20:7),
and is found in
the list of things
furnished by abigail
to David (1
Samuel 25:18).
See also 1
Samuel 30:12
; 1
Chronicles 12:40.
Another name for
the same thing,
ashishah, occurs
in Hosea
3:1, rendered
in the King James
Version "flagons
of wine," but in
the Revised Version
(British and American)
"cakes of raisins."
It seems clear that
this word, at least
here, denotes fruit-cakes
offered to the heathen
deities, as was
the custom in Jeremiah's
time (Jeremiah
7:18 ;
44:17). So Riedel
argues that Comer
may have been described
as a "daughter of
fruit-cakes" according
to the Hebrew idiom
in such expressions
as "daughters of
song," etc. (Ecclesiastes
12:4 ; Proverbs
31:2 ; 2
Samuel 7:10
; Genesis
37:3, etc.).
It will be perceived
that the literal
interpretation as
thus stated does
not involve the
supposition that
Hosea became aware
of his wife's infidelity
before the birth
of the second child,
as Robertson Smith
and G. A. Smith
suppose. The names
given to the children
all refer to the
infidelity of Israel
as a people; and
the renderings of
Lo'-ruchamah, "she
that never knew
a father's love,"
and of Lo-`ammi,
"no kin of mine,"
are too violent
in this connection.
Nor does the interpretation
demand that it was
first through his
marriage and subsequent
experience that
the prophet received
his call; although
no doubt the experience
through which he
passed deepened
the conviction of
Israel's apostasy
in his mind. |
|
 RELATED:
The
Book of Hosea; Gomer,
Jezreel,
Lo-Ammi
and Lo-Ruhamah.
Copyright
Information: "Easton's
Bible Dictionary", Matthew
George Easton M.A., D.D.,
1897; "Hitchcock's Dictionary
of Bible Names", Roswell
D. Hitchcock, 1869; "International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia",
Orr, James, M.A., D.D., 1915;
and "Smith's Bible Dictionary",
Smith, William, Dr., 1901.
are public domain and may
be freely used and distributed.
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