The book has many good things and many bad things to say to the people in. The book of hosea, the first of the canonical twelve minor prophets, was written by hosea whose name means salvation, the text is quite corrupt and contains difficult problems of interpretation. Biblical scholar ehud ben zvi reminds readers of the socio historical context in which hosea was composed. In the bible book of hosea, the prophets marriage to gomer pictures gods dealings with the nation of israel and provides vital lessons about worship and mercy. Bible believers believe that god wrote the bible using human writers.
Daniel, peter, paul, jonah, isaiah, solomon and david. It is hoseas personal account of his prophetic messages to the children of god and to the world. This summary of the book of hosea provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of hosea. The remainder of the book of hosea consists of a collection of miscellaneous statements expressing hoseas convictions concerning the character of yahweh and yahwehs relation to the people of israel.
Ezranehemiah they are treated as a single book in the talmud, josephus, and the canon of melito ad 171. Yahweh said to hosea, go, marry a whore, and get children with a whore. Unger and others, the new ungers bible dictionary 1988, hosea, 589. These twelve prophets are comprised in one single book in the hebrew bible and are called the twelve. The recording is dramatized, from the king james bible. This is, in my opinion, the best and most beautiful. This is the holy book of hosea, known simply as hosea. It may surprise you to know that hosea was alive during the book of 2 kings, as was isaiah.
The book reveals the personality of the prophet, an emotional man who in a moment could swing from violent anger to the deepest tenderness. Amos, an older contemporary of hosea and isaiah, was active c. Hosea was instructed by god to marry a certain woman and experience with her a domestic life which was a dramatization of the sin and unfaithfulness of israel. We do not know exactly when or where the book of hosea was written. In this book, hosea accuses israel of breaking their covenant with god and warns them of the tragic consequences to follow. According to the superscription, hosea began his prophetic activity during the reign of jeroboam ii c.
The hebrew of the book of hosea is challenging to translate, possibly because the text is corrupt or because it is written in a nonstandard dialect of hebrew. The incredible scandal of gods perfect love found in hosea. Learning who these writers were would give you a better understanding of the perspective of the book. An 8thcentury prophet in israel, hosea is sometimes referred to as the prophet of doom for his predictions that worship of false gods would lead to the fall of israel. Hosea is the only prophet of israel who left any written prophecies which were recorded during the later years of his life. Moses was the first person to write portions of scripture while john, the disciple of jesus, was the last. Hosea hosea 755 bc joel joel 800 bc amos amos 760 bc obadiah obadiah 845 bc jonah jonah 780 bc micah micah 725 bc nahum nahum 655 bc habakkuk habakkuk 620 bc zephaniah zephaniah 625 bc by james moriello, firm foundation christian church, woonsocket ri, 2015. The marital life of hosea and his wife, gomer, provide the rich metaphor which clarifies the themes of the book.
The masoretic text places joel between hosea and amos the order inherited by the tanakh and old testament, while the septuagint order is hoseaamosmicahjoelobadiahjonah. He may have been among the priests in his station in view of his knowledge concerning religious affairs, but this is not certain e. Hosea began his mission in a period of prosperity, the last years of jeroboam ii 783743 b. Hosea directed the early portion of his prophetic warnings to jeroboam ii, a descendant of the house of jehu whose son, zechariah, would soon come to ruin hosea 1. Hosea was called to the ministry of a prophet early in his life, and the book of the bible devoted to his name spans almost the duration of his lifetime. Hosea his name meaning to save, salvation is the first of the socalled minor prophets. Hosea is the first book in the sections of minor prophets. The book primarily denounces israel for apostasy against god and. Hosea 1 the word of the lord that came to hosea bible. This does distinguish him from the last king of israel hoshea c. Hosea was a prophet who lived and prophesied just before the destruction of israel in 722 bc.
If that is the case, the book dates to the 900s bc. The book of esther says mordechai was exiled from judah with king jeconiah. The book of hosea was written in the northern kingdom of israel in the eighth century bc, during the reign of jeroboam ii 786746 bc. But some messages were for judahs people, the country in the south. Hosea revealed little about his background, though his book of prophecy offers a few glimpses into his life. God told hosea to marry a wife who was not loyal hosea 1. Hosea introduction united states conference of catholic bishops.
Unlike amos, hosea preached to his own people in israel d. Included are the writings of moses, the apostles paul and john. Hosea appears to have had the temperament of a poet. The book of hosea was written in the northern kingdom of israel in the eighth century. Others would argue for an unknown author, and put the date of composition around 390 bc.
They are called minor prophets not because their material is less important or insignificant, but because of the size of the book they wrote was shorter in length. Book of hosea overview insight for living ministries. I will first list the name of the commonly accepted author. Hosea with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. Hosea wrote his book in the middle of the 8th century bc before christ. Hosea began the old testament tradition of describing the relation between the. According to the traditional order of most hebrew bibles, it is the first of the twelve minor prophets set around the fall of the northern kingdom of israel, the book of hosea denounces the worship of gods other than jehovah, metaphorically comparing israels abandonment of jehovah to a. The book of hosea introduction to the book of hosea in the bible. Hosea, an oldtestament prophet, preached his own life message using his marriage as the sermon illustration. Now in shushan the palace there was a certain jew, whose name was mordechai who had been carried away from jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with jeconiah king of judah, whom nebuchadnezzar the king of babylon had carried away esther 2. The hebrew text of joel seems to have suffered little from scribal transmission, but is at a few points supplemented by the septuagint, syriac, and vulgate versions, or by conjectural emendation. When the lord began to speak through hosea, the lord said to him, go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the lord.
Hosea wrote this book to remind the israelitesand usthat ours is a loving god whose loyalty to his covenant people is unwavering. Chapter 11 is a beautiful expression of old testament theology, gods. The dates of joels life as a prophet of ancient israel are unknown since the dating of this bible book is in dispute. Whether hosea himself authored the book that preserves his prophecies is not known. The first five books of the bible are known by various names. Major and minor prophetic books of the bible learn religions. Isaiah was a prophet, ezra was a priest, matthew was a taxcollector, john was a fisherman, paul was a tentmaker, moses was a shepherd, luke was a physician. Through this ancient collection of books, god speaks into our world, revealing who he is and how hes at workthen and nowrepairing all that is broken. As an account full of harsh judgment unfolds, we find in its midst a rare and pure gem. Humanly speaking, the bible was written by approximately 40 men of diverse backgrounds over the course of 1500 years. The book of hosea was likely written between 755 and 725 b.
The book of hosea is the written record of the prophecies that ho sea son of beeri 1, gave to the nation of israel in the eighth century b. Of course, for christians, the bible is more than just a human book. Book of hosea, the first of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets, considered as one book, the twelve, in the jewish canon. Hosea, the son of beeri, prophesied for quite some time, from 785 to 725 b. The words of hosea s prophecy concern the wrath of a spurned husband and the forgiveness of true love.
The book of hosea is a narrative history and prophetic oracle. Amos lived in the kingdom of judah but preached in the northern kingdom of. Intro to hosea biblica the international bible society. The book of hosea is a deeply personal and passionate love story, yet its a difficult story. Hosea, a prophet from the northern kingdom, preached in his homeland, which he addresses as israel, jacob or, frequently, ephraim. The book of hosea stands first in the division of the bible called the book. The book of hosea is one of the books of the hebrew bible. Hosea wrote to the northern kingdom israel, and isaiah wrote to the southern kingdom judah. God spoke through both hosea and isaiah to send messages to the children of israel, warning them of gods impending judgement. He had three children who played a vital part in his message to the nation of israel.
The latter prophets follow psalms and the wisdom books in the greek septuagint, as well as our christian old testament of the bible. The old testament also calls genesis through deuteronomy the book of the law joshua 8. The book of amos is the third of the twelve minor prophets in the tanakhold testament and the second in the greek septuagint tradition. Ephraim was the largest tribe in israel and sometimes the whole nation was referred to as ephraim. Summary of the book of hosea the story of the bible. The book of hosea, the first of the canonical twelve minor prophets, was written by hosea whose name engraving by william blake for an illuminated edition. Despite being penned by different authors over 15 centuries, the bible. Hosea wrote this book to remind the israelitesand usthat ours is a. He was husband of gomer and underwent painful experiences with his wifes unfaithfulness. Books of the bible list with the name of each book, the writer, place written, and time covered.
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