i;. />ir/.<inii of the Book. — Kecent writers, such asBer- thdldr, lliihhorn, De Wette, Stuck, Maurer, and Hitzig, have laljored much, but in vain, to divide the book of Hosea into separate portions, assigning to each the pe- riod at ^I'hich it was written ; but from the want of suf- ficient data the attempt must rest principallj' on taste and fancy. A sufficient proof of the correctness of this opinion ma}' be found in the contradictory sections and allotments of tlie various writers who have engaged in the task. Chapters i, ii, and iii evidently form one di- vision : it is next to impossible to separate and distin- guish the other chapters. The form and style are very similar throughout all the second portion.
The subdivision of these several parts is a work of greater difficulty : that of Eichhorn will be found to be based upon a highly subtle, though by no means preca- rious criticism. (1.) According to him, the first division should be subdivided into three separate poems, each originating in a distinct aim, and each after its own fashion attempting to express the idolatry of Israel by imagery borrowed from the matrimonial relation. The first, and therefore the least elaborate of these, is con- tained in chap, iii ; the second in i, 2-11 ; the third in i, 2-9, and ii, 1-23. These three are progressively elabo- rate developments of the same reiterated idea. Chap, i, 2-9 is common to the second and third poems, but not repeated with each severally (iv, 273 sq.). (2.) Attempts have been made by Wells, Eichhorn, etc., to subdivide tlie second jiart of the book. These divisions are made cither according to reigns of contemporary kings, or ac- cording to tlie subject-matter of the poem. The former course has been adopted by Wells, who gets^re, the lat- ter by Eichhorn, who gets sixteen poems out of this part of the book.
These prophecies — so scattered, so unconnected that bishop Lowth has compared tlicm ^vith the leaves of the Sibyl— were probably collected by Hosea himself to- wards the end of his career.
8. Sfi/le. — The pecidiarities of Hosea's style have often been remarked. Jerome says of him, " Commaticus est, et quasi per sententias loquens" {Prcef. ad XII. Proph.). Augustine thus criticises him : " Osea quanto profundius loquitur, tanto operosius penetratur." His style, says Dc Wette, "is abrupt, mirounded, and ebullient; his rhythm hard, leaping, and violent. The language is pe- culiar and difficidt""(£'zrt/fiV«7(-7, § 228). Lowth {Prm- lect. 21) speaks of him as the most difficult and perjilex- ed of the prophets. Bishop Horsley has remarked his peculiar idioms — his change of person, anomalies of gen- der and number, and use of the nominative absolute (IForA-s, vol. iii). Eichhorn's description of his style was probalily at the same time meant as an imitation of it {Einleitung, § 555) : " His discoiu-se is Uke a garland woven of a multiplicity of flowers : images are woven upon images, comparison wound upon comparison, met-
aphor strung upon motajihor. He plucks one flower, and throws it down that he may directly break off an- other. Like a bee, he flies from one flower-l)ed to an- other, that ho may suck his lioney from the most varied pieces. It is a natural consequence that his figures sometimes form strings of pearls. Often he is prone to approach to allegory — often he sinks down in obscurity" (compare v, 9; vi, 3; vii, 8; xiii, 3, 7, 8, 16). Obscure brevity seems to be the characteristic quality of Hosea ; and all commentators agree that, '' of all the prophets, he is, in point of language, the most obscure and hard to be understood" (Henderson, Minor Prophets, p. 2). Un- usual words and forms of connection sometimes occur (De Wette, § 228 ; see also Davidson, in Home, ii, 945).
9. Citation in the N. 7'.— Hosea, as a prophet, is ex- pressly quoted by jMatthew (ii, 15). The citation is from the first verse of chap. xi. Hos. vi, 6 is (pioted twice by the same evangelist (ix, 13; xii,7). Other quotations and references are the foUowing: Luke xxiii,30; Kev.vi, 10; Hos. X, 8;— Rom. ix, 25, 20; 1 Pet.ii, 10; Hos. i, 10; ii,23;— 1 Cor. XV, 4; Hos.vi, 2;— Heb. xiii, 15; Hos. xiv, 2. Messianic references are not clearly and prominently developed (Grambcrg, Pe/ii/iim.^id. ii, 298). This book, however, is not without them, but they lie more in the spirit of its allusions than in the letter. Hosea's Chris- tolog}' appears written, not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, on the fleshly tables of his heart. The future conversion of his peojile to the Lord their God, and David their king, their glorious privilege in becoming sons of the living God, the faithfulness of the original promise to Abraham, that the number of his spiritual seed should be as the sand of the sea, are among the oracles whose fulfilment will take place only under the new dispensation. — Kitto ; Smith.
10. Commentaries. — The foUowing arc the exegetical helps on the whole book of Hosea separately, and the most important are designated by an asterisk (*) prefix- ed : Origen, Selecta (in 0pp. iii, 438) ; Ephracm Syrus, Ex- planaiio (in 0pp. v, 234) ; Kemigius Antissod., Commen- tarius [fragment] (in IMai, Script. Vet.W, ii, 103); Jar- chi, Aben-Ezra, and Kimchi, Scholia (ed. with Notes, by Codcteus, L. B. 1G23, 4to ; by De Dieu, ib. 1 031 , 4to ; also extracts, with additions, by Yon der Hardt, Helmst. 1702, 4to [with a historical Introd. ib. eod.] ; and by IMercer, Gen. 1574, 1578; L. B. 1621, 4to; and [including several other minor prophets] Gen. 15. ., fol.; (Jicss. 1595, 4to; Getting. 1755, 4to); Abrabanel, Comment, (in Lat. with notes, by F. al-IIusen, L. B. 1687, 4to) ; Luther, Enarra- tio (Vitemb. 1526, 1545; Frcft. 1546, 8vo; also in 0pp. iv, 598 ; also Sententice, ib. 684) ; Capito, Commentarius (Argent. 1528, 8vo); Quinquarluireus, Koitr. [including Amos, Ruth, and Lam.] (Par. 1550, 4to) ; Brentz, Com- mentarius (Hag. 1560, 4to; Tub. 1580, fol.; also in 0pp. iv); Hox, Com7nentaria (('-a-^-.wiwj:. \'<x\.t\)\.\ Yen. I.'i,s5, 4to; Lugd. 1587, 8vo; imim.vc .1 ( .liiidii by C,yn\. I'.rix. 1604, 4to): DeC&stro,Coiriw,>,l>in\i (_Saniant.iySO,fol.); YavassoT, Commentai-ius (in f^yj^). Yitcmb. iv, 348; Jen. iv, 764); jSIatthffius, Pra-lectiom-s (Basil. 1590, 4to); Po- lansdorf,^I«a/^m (Basil. 1599, 4to; 1001, 8vo); Zanchi- us, Commentarius (Neost. 1000, 4to ; also in 0pp. v) ; Gesner, Illustratio (A'itemb. 1601, 1614, 8vo); Parens, Commentarius (Heidelberg, 1605, 1009, 4to) ; Downame, Lectures [on. ch. i-iv] (Lond. 1608, 4to) ; Cocccius, Il- lustratio (m 0pp. xi, 591); Krackewitz, Commentarius (Francof. 1619, 4to); iMcisner, Commentarius ("S'itcmb. 1620, 8vo); ^ivQtnsi, Commentarius (L.'R.\&2b,Ai(i\ also in 0pp. ii, 488) ; *Burroughs, Lectures [chapter xiv by Sibbs and Reynolds] (Lond. 1643 52, 4 vols. 4to; Lond. 1843, 8vo) ; Lightfoot, Expositio (in Works, ii, 423) ; Ur- sinus, Commentarius (Norib. 1677, 8vo) ; *Pocock, Com- mentary (Oxon. 1685, fol.; also in Works, ii, 1); "^Seb. Schmid, Commentarius (F. ad M. 1687, 4to) ; Bic'rmann, Ontleding (Utrecht, 1702, 4to); Wacke, Expositio (Rat- isb. 1711, 8vo) ; Griiff. Predirften (Dresd. 1710, 4to) ; Kro- mayer, Specimen, etc. [including Joel and Amos] (Amst. 1730, 8vo) ; Terne, Erk/an/nff (part i, Jen. 1740; ii, Ei- senb. 1748, 8vo) ; Klemmius, Xotw (Tubing. 1744, 4to) :