IIOSEA
hardly any trace in his bonk of the earlier pro- phet's iiitiuence. Such parallels a.s have been cited are entirely inconchisive, e.y. the following (the passages from Amos are jilauecl second) : 4', 8'; 5'', »' ; 5', 1* ; !l^. "'^ ; 10', U'2 ; 11)8, 7U ; y,*^ »o . ynnl.^ 2'"''-. Ch. 4"" is certainly an echo of Am u^, but the verse is in disorder, and its originality doubtful. In other plaees Bethaven for Hetliel (o^ 1U») may be iincertain, as ropvists sometimes made the change (e.tj. IvXX has Bethaven in 12';. Ch. 8'* ends with a favourite refrain of Amos, but the words are suspicioiui.
iii. The PuopiifyfS Book.— The book ha.s two divisions, ch.s. 1-3 and chs. 4-14. Chs. 1—'! set forlh the history or parable of the prophet's marriage to a woman who became unfaithful, wiMi the moral of the story, which is the love- relatiou of .1" to Israel, and Israel's unfaithfulness to this relation. The story is told in chs. 1. ."!, the exposition of it is given in ch. 2. In chs. 1-3 the prophet, has abstra<'fed from his prophetic speeches diid career the essential conception of his teaching and set it as a kind of programme at the he.ad of hi-; bonk. Chs. 4-14 are more a reflection of his prophetic ministry a.s it was actually exerci.sed, tliough the chapters have also been written or redacted luider the influence of his fundamental idea (cf. for evidence chs. 4-<5).
A. Flits r Dl iv.s/o.v.— Chs. I-.'?.—' In the begin- ning when J" spake to Hosea, J" .said to Hosea, 1 01, take a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms. And he went and took Corner, the daughter of Diblaini.' A 'wife of whoredoms' does not mean a woman already a sinner ; nor yet a woman with a propensity to unchastity, a sense wliich the words could not bear. A 'wife of wlioredoms' is explained by 'children of whore- dom.s.' The children did not yet exist ; they were ijorn in the proi)het's house, for Hosea did not niarrj' a woman with a family ; and in like manner the woman when taken was not yet that which she afterwards became. If the events be real, the words are written from a nnich later period in the prophet's history. Looking back on his experiences with (iomer, and all that he had suffered and learned through them, Hosea felt that his impulse to take this woman to wife was the beginning of .I""s speaking to him (cf. Jer ;!2*). Whether the events were real or not, chs. 1-3 were probably written at a late period of Hosea's life.
Gonier bare a son, and the Loiil) said, 'Call his name Jezreel, for I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu ' ( 1*). The blood of Jezreel refers to the minder by .Jehu of all the descendants of Ahal) and the whole hon.se of Oinri (2 K ID). I he name Jezreel is u.sed merely to recall the deed of blood. It is an omnious souml, a knell rung in the ears of Jeroboam and the nation to awaken the sense of guilt and the presentiment of retrihution. Again, (Jonier bore a daughter, and the I.i>i:i> said, -Call her name Lo-ruhamah (' nn- jiiiieil'), for 1 will no more have pity on the house of Israel' (I''). Finally, .she bore a son who wius called Lo-annni (• iiot-my-people '), ' for ye are not my peoi)le, and I will not be your God' (1"). The three names suggest the three successive steps in the {leslruction of the iidiabitant-s of the land: Jezreel calling to remembrance the blood that lies on the land; Lo-ruhamah pointing to a condition of Israel, when, no nmre pitied by J", she shall l)e ilelivered over to calamity and her enemies; and Lo-ammi imlicating that the peo]ile shall he driven out .if Canaan, the house of .1". anil go into exile.
Ch. 3 attaches it.self to ch. 1'-". The la.st syin- bolienl word in ch. 1 was Lo-nmini, )iointing to a divorce by .1" of His people, or at least a casting; of tliem out of His h<mse. Ch. 3 continues the history. 'And the I,iii:i> said unto me, —
HOSEA
41' 1
Again, go love a woman, loved of a paramour and an adulteress,
As J" loveth the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods. '
The woman whom Hosea is bidden again go love is of course the same woman Gomer of the first chapter. She is a woman loved of a paramour and an adulteress. The word Lo-ammi (l'^) suggests the unrecorded step in the history : the woman had Hed or been driven from the prophet's house and become the slave-concubine of another. He is bidden renew his love to her. So he acquired her again to himself for a small price (that of a slave, Kx 21»-), returning to her in mind, but deferring for a long time to return to her in union (3^). The explana- tion is added : 'The children of Israel shall remain many days without king, and without sacrifice.' etc. The LORD'S love continues with His people, whom He shall keep in long restraint and di.scipliue in exile, till their mind change and they seek Him. Ch. 2^"' is the exposition of this history : (1) Israel's whoredoms with the baals (the calf images, which are no ttod, 8'), vv. '--'' ; (2) her perplexities when ' un- pitied,' vv. i^'' ; (3) her exile and discipline in the wilderness, vv. '♦-'» ; and (4) her change of mind and new espousals and obtaining of mercy for ever, vv. '*-^. Though ch. 3 be appended somewhat loosely, it supplies an es,scntial step in the story, and its contents are drawn into the exposition ch. 2'*-**.