RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Hosea
Hosius of Cordova
Tubingen, 1904. Consult also the appropriate section in the Introductions of Driver, London, 1897; W. H. Bennett, ib. 1899; J. E. McFadyen, New York, 1905; and F. E. C. Gigot, ib. 1906. Discussions of the various problems presented by the book are to be found in DB, ii. 419-425; EB, ii. 2119-26; JE, vi. 473-475; and P. Volz, in ZWT, 1898, pp. 321-335 (very valuable). Text-critical matters are discussed in ThT, 1875, pp. 555 sqq., by Houtsma, and 1890, pp. 345 sqq., 480 sqq., by Oort; H. Billeb, Die wichtigslen Satze der alttestamentlichen Kritik vom Standpunkt der Propheten Hosea und Amos, Halle, 1893; J. Bachmann, Alttestamentliche Untersuchungen, pp. 1-46, Berlin, 1894; P. Ruben, Critical Remarks upon some Passages of the O. T., London, 1896; Patterson, The Septuagint-Text of Hosea, in Hebraica, vol. vii. Various questions are taken up in: J. H. Kurtz, Die Ehe des Propheten Hosea, Dorpat, 1859; S. Oettli, Der Kultus bei Amos und Hosea, Greifswald, 1895; O. Seesemann, Israel und Juda bei Amos und Hosea, Leipsic, 1898; Smith, Prophets, Lect. iv.
HOSHEA: Nineteenth and last king of Israel. He was the son of Elah, was a usurper, and succeeded Pekah, whom he slew. His dates, according to the old chronology, were 731-722 B.C., according to modern historians, 734-722, the last three years of which were passed in captivity. The newer dating is due especially to an inscription of Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria (Schrader,KB, ii. 32-33), recounting an expedition for the help of Ahaz of Judah against Rezin of Damascus and Pekah of Israel. According to the pronouncement of the Book of Kings, Hoshea was a better king than most of his predecessors on the throne of Israel. He remained a vassal of the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser until induced by an Egyptian monarch, So (Assyr. Sib'e), to renounce his allegiance. Though II Kings xvii. 3, 5 implies that Shalmaneser made two expeditions against Hoshea, it seems assured that he made only one to the "Westland," and that in order to punish Hoshea for his disloyalty to his suzerain. When Shalmaneser made this expedition, in 725 B.C., Hoshea seems to have thrown himself upon the mercy of his overlord, but what finally became of him is not determinable. His kingdom was overrun by the Assyrian army, but the city of Samaria held out for three years and was taken by Sargon after he had succeeded Shalmaneser upon the throne (see Assyria, VI., 3, §§ 11-12). W. Lotz.
Bibliography: The most important literature is given under Ahab, q.v.; consult also A. H. Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments, London, 1894; L. B. Paton, The Early Hist, of Syria and Palestine, New York, 1901; Schrader, KAT, i. 269-271; DB, ii. 425-427; EB, ii. 2126-28; JE, vi. 478-479; and the sources in II Kings xv. 30, xvii. 1-6, xviii. 9-12.
HOSIUS OF CORDOVA.
Earlier Life (§ 1). At the Council of Nicsea (§ 2). At the Council of Sardica (§ 3). Unhappy Close of Life (§ 4).
Hosius, or Osius, of Cordova, though one of the celebrated churchmen of the third century, designated by Athanasius with the title of i. Earlier " the Great," found no formal biog- Life. rapher, and left no writings except two letters, one to the Emperor Constantius and one to Julius of Rome. All that is known of him is derived from these letters, from casual mention in contemporary documents and authors, and from a few credible details of later tradition.
He must have been born about 257, where is unknown; since in 356 he had been bishop of Cordova " more than sixty years " (Athanasius, " Hist, of the Arians," xlii.), he must have been consecrated to that see about 295. That he was a confessor " when a persecution broke out under Maximian, the grandfather of Constantius," is known from his own letter, but nothing as to the place or details. He was present at the Synod of Elvira (q.v.), but probably did not preside over it. He shared the rigorist tendency of the synod, and it may be argued from canon xxxiii. that he was himself a celibate. His presence there has a bearing on the date of the synod; the theory which places it about 313 is weakened by the fact that from 313 at latest, if not 312, he is found in the neighborhood of Constant ine. What commended him to the emperor is unknown; but it is certain that for a number of years, perhaps up to about 326, he was near Constantine as his chief adviser in matters ecclesiastical. The Donatists held him responsible, although he was not present at the anti-Donatist Synod of Aries, for the repressive measures adopted against them by the emperor; the imperial ordinance as to the manumission of slaves in the churches (Apr. 18, 321) was addressed to him; and it was he whom Constantine sent to Alexandria in 323 or 324 to settle the troubles there. A synod held there in his presence rebuked Colluthus, an ambitious presbyter who had assumed episcopal functions and a schismatical position, declared null and void the orders conferred by him, and forced him to renounce his claims to episcopal powers.
Hosius is known also from his relations with the Council of Nicsea. It was natural that the confidential adviser of the emperor should
2. At the have great influence upon its delibera- Council of tions; and, although the expression of
Nicsea. Athanasius (ut sup., xliv.) which attributes to him the formulation of the faith there adopted is too strong in its literal meaning, it is in a sense justified. None of the authorities asserts that he presided formally over the council; and the fact that his name appears with the Roman legates first of all does not prove that he did. Still less tenable is the Roman Catholic hypothesis that he presided with the Roman legates as a representative of the pope; if he had presided at all, it would have been in virtue of imperial, not papal, delegation. After the Council of Nicsea Hosius disappears from history for nearly twenty years. Presumably he journeyed to the West with Constant ine in the spring of 326, and then, even before other influences supplanted his, returned to Spain.
Nothing is definitely known of him until shortly
before the Council of Sardica. The statement quoted
by Hilary (MPL, x. 667 B) that he was
3. At the partially responsible for its calling is Council of at least credible. In any case, with
Sardica. Athanasius, who met him in Gaul, he went to the place of meeting; and there is no doubt that he presided over the sessions of the majority (the Eastern minority excommunicated him) . He seems to have been concerned in drawing up the formula in the manner of a creed which represented the faith of the majority, known
Hosius of Cordova Hospinian