Criswell Theological Review 7.1 (1993) 51-66
[Copyright © 1993 by
digitally prepared for use at
Gordon and
THE USE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN
THE BOOK OF HOSEA
MARK E ROOKER
Introduction
In recent
years there has been an avalanche of studies which have
analyzed the
way the New Testament writers cited and interpreted
the Old
Testament.1 This research has been augmented significantly
by the
discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, where the sectarian authors
at
fulfillment of
prophetic texts in contemporary events. The methods
employed by
NT writers and other Jewish groups in interpreting and
quoting the
OT perhaps cannot be fully appreciated and understood
apart from
earlier practices. As M. Fishbane has shown in his
work
Biblical
Interpretation In Ancient Israel,2 the practice of citing ear-
lier canonical texts may be observed in the OT
itself. Fishbane has
provided a
comprehensive survey of the possible ways the OT texts
may have
used earlier traditions. This area of investigation has bear-
ing not only for the history and technique of
exegetical methods used
by the
NT writers and other Jewish interpreters, but also has im-
plications pertinent to the acceptance of biblical
books as canonical
1 E.g., see WC. Kaiser, Jr., The Uses of the Old Testament in the New (
Moody, 1985)
1; I. H. Marshall, "An Assessment of Recent Developments," in It
is Writ-
ten:
Scripture Citing Scripture, Essays in Honour of
Barnabas Lindars, SSF; eds. D. A.
Carson and
H. G. M. Williamson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988) 1-2
and R.
B. Sloan, "The New Testament Use of the Old Testament" in Reclaiming
the Pro-
phetic Mantle, ed. G. L. Klein (Nashville: Broadman,
1992) 129-59.
2
52 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
Scripture.3
In this essay Hosea's use of earlier OT texts will be ana-
lyzed. The arrangement for the textual examination
will proceed
along the
canonical order of the texts used in Hosea. The analysis will
begin with
the narrative texts used in Hosea and then analyze Hosea's
use of
legal passages.4
Hosea's Use of Old Testament Narrative
Texts
It has long been recognized that the prophet Hosea was very
familiar with
the earlier narrative writings of the OT. Indeed, Hosea
is
considered by many as the most historical of all the OT writing
prophets due
to acquaintance with previously written narrative texts.5
Primeval
History
Although the creation account from Genesis is not frequently dis-
cussed in
prophetic literature (in comparison, say, to the Exodus), we
do find
in Hos
account of
Genesis 1. In Hos
make a
covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of
the air
and the creatures that move along the ground." The animals
listed in
this verse occur in the same order as in Gen
cerned with providing sustenance for the
animals. Supplying animals
with food
is also what is under consideration in Hos
erence to the animals from Gen 1:30 in the
restoration passage of Hos
sions He promised to
series of
animals in Hos
turn to
the harmony that existed in creation as the animal kingdom is
to be
maintained.7
3 W C.
Kaiser, Jr., "Inner Biblical Exegesis-as a Model for Bridging the 'Then'
and
'Now' Gap: Hos 12:1-6," JETS 28 (March 1985) 34; and L. M.
Eslinger, "Hosea 12:5a and
Genesis 32:29: A Study in loner Biblical Exegesis," JSOT
18 (1980) 91.
4 This
is not to deny that Hosea was familiar with other portions of the OT. Kauf-
mann, for example, contends that Hosea alludes
to specific texts in OT Wisdom Litera-
ture. See Y. Kaufmann, History of the
Religion of Israel 4 vols. (Jerusalem: Bialik,
1956)
3. 112-113,
122 (in Hebrew).
5
Kaufmann, History, 122-23. Similarly, S. McKenzie, "Exodus Typology
in Hosea,"
Res Q 22 (1979) 100; and D. R Daniels, Hosea
and Salvation History (BZAW 191; Ber-
lin.
6 Wolff states that this text is the first reference to the concept
of the new covenant.
H. W Wolff, Hosea
(Hermeneia: Fortress, 1974) 51. He also states that
the text recalls
Gen 1:30. Ibid.
7 See L
E. McComiskey, "Hosea," in The Minor Prophets: An Exegetical and
Expository Commentary, ed. L E. McComiskey (Grand Rapids:
Baker, 1992) 47.
Another
Mark E Rooker: THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA 53
An additional reference to the animals found in the creation ac-
count in
Gen 1:30 occurs in Hos 4:3. In this passage, in
response to vari-
ous covenant violations by the inhabitants of
the
the
Israelites are described as being in a state of despondency. These
sins
affect not only the human inhabitants of the nation, but also have
an
effect on the animal world. We are told the beasts of the field and
the
birds of the sky waste away as a consequence of
fulness, while the fish of the sea disappear.8
The fact of the animals' de-
struction is further emphasized in the presentation
of the animals in
a
chiastic arrangement when compared with the order of Gen 1:20-24.
These
animals from the three spheres of land, sky, and sea represent
the
entire animal kingdom. Hosea's chiastic arrangement suggests that
the
creation order is being undone or perhaps subject to reversion due
to the
enormity of
God will
establish in the restoration in Hos
Yet this is not the only occasion Hosea indicates that he was fa-
miliar with the narrative content of the Book of
Genesis. The next texts
we will
examine from Genesis are from the Patriarchal Narratives.
Patriarchal
Narratives
In an announcement regarding the future restoration of
Hosea states
that the quantity of the reinstated nation is comparable to
the sand
on the seashore: "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the
seashore,"
MyAha lOHK; lxerAW;yi-yineB;
rPas;mi (mispar bene yisra'el kehol hayyam
Hos
dependency on
God's promise to Abraham in Gen 15:5 and 22:17.10
The
expression provides a clear example of the borrowing of a prom-
inent phrase drawn from the promise to the
nation via the Patriarch
which is
now applied to the future reinstalling of Israel Hosea is also
familiar with
other passages from the patriarchal narratives. The next
reference to
the early chapters of Genesis may occur in Hos 10:8
where in judgment
upon the
high places of Aven "thorns and thistles"
will grow. This is possibly an allusion
to the
specific effects of sin mentioned in the curse in Gen 3:18. McComiskey,
"Hosea",
and R C.
Chisholm, Jr., Interpreting the Minor Prophets (
8
Because the fish are also destroyed, Ehrlich maintains that this judgment is
more
severe than the judgment the world experienced in the global flood when only
land
creatures were destroyed. A B. Ehrlich, Mikra
Ki-Peshuto 3 vols. (
1969) 3. 367 (in Hebrew).
9 M. Deroche, "The Reversal of
Creation in Hosea," VT 31 (1981) 403.
10
day,
1980) 202; and C. H. Bullock, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophetic
Books
(Chicago: Moody, 1986) 99.
11 The
new covenant blessing is harmonious with the Abrahamic
promise as Paul
notes in
Galatians 3.
54 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
discussion
moves from the citing of a phrase in the Patriarchal narra-
tive to an allusion to a larger narrative
context, Gen 25:11-35:22.
In Hosea 12 the prophet discusses disobedience and the threat of
divine
punishment for the
propensity to
rebel against God, Hosea suggests that
is
characteristic behavior. Even Jacob, their forefather, displayed un-
faithfulness. In Hos 12:2-4, 12 [MT=3-5, 13] we
read:
The Lord has a charge to bring against
cording to his ways and repay him according to
his deeds. (v 2)
In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled
with
God. (v 3)
He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged
for
his favor. He found him at
Jacob fled to the country of
for her he tended sheep. (v 12)
There is
good reason to suggest that these verses from Hosea 12 are
dependent on
the earlier narrative account recorded in Gen 25:11-
35:22. Hos 12:3a mentions that Jacob grasped his brother by the
heel.
The source
for this information is surely recorded in Gen 25:21-26,
particularly Gen 25:26 where Jacob is described as holding onto the
heel of
Esau as he comes from Rebekah's womb.12
The next half of v 3 mentions another defining event of Jacob's
life, the
account of Jacob wrestling with God (recorded in Gen 32:22-
32). In 12:4 [MT=5] we discover with interest the comment that
the be-
ing with whom Jacob wrestled was in fact an
angel. Kaiser comments
on the
explanation:
Now even though Genesis 32 does not mention an "angel"
but simply re-
fers to a "person" (32:25) who in v
29 is identified as Elohim, there is no
reason to doubt its authenticity in this text.
In fact the glossing of God
with "angel" eliminated the offensive anthropomorphism that
would
otherwise portray the incorporeal God of the
universe wrestling in hand
combat with a mere mortal like Jacob.13
Regardless,
the occurrence of the key verb "prevailed" (lKaUy, yukal
12:4 [MT=5])
borrowed from Gen. 32:29 renders Hosea's dependency
on this
Genesis narrative indisputable.14
The reference to Jacob's weeping and begging favor in Hos 12:4 [5]
is not
as easy to pinpoint in the narrative account of Jacob's life found
in
Genesis. Yet the clear allusion to the narrative of Genesis in the pre-
12 Daniels,
Hosea and Salvation, 42-43.
13
Kaiser, "Inner Biblical Exegesis," 39-40.
14
Andersen and Freedman maintain that the use of this verb in the two passages
is the
strongest verbal link between the two texts. Andersen and Freedman, Hosea,
608.
Mark E Rooker: THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA 55
vious phrases causes us to suspect that the
Genesis narrative is the
source for
this more problematic phrase.15 It has been suggested that
the
cause is to be found in the occurrence of the two Hebrew roots hkB
(bkh) and gH (hg)
in Genesis 33. That chapter records Jacob's meeting
with Esau
and the occurrence of the same two Hebrew roots found in
Hosea 12. This
explanation has been advocated by
and
Kaiser.16 Eslinger nicely summarizes the
point of Hosea's refer-
ence to the Jacob account:
In 12:3, Hosea makes formal announcement of Yahweh's dispute with
con-
temporary
in a confrontation with Yahweh, just as long before the messenger
had
struggled with Jacob and prevailed. . . . Just as
Jacob had wept and sup-
plicated to Esau (Hos
12:5ab, Gen 33:4, 10) after submitting to God and the
malak, so Hosea suggests,
The analogy
is meaningful only if we assume that the character of the
nation was
consistent with the behavior of its ancestry.18 The audi-
ence would be reminded of the Patriarch's
"character defect"19 which
they
inherited and which they now unmistakably exhibit. We now
move from
discussion of Hosea's use of narrative from the Book of
Genesis to
other narratives from the Torah, specifically the narratives
recording the
Exodus and wanderings from the Books of Exodus and
Numbers.
Exodus-Wanderings Narrative
The records of the Exodus from
Israelites
in the desert were clearly accounts known to Hosea as evi-
denced by his frequent reference to these
salient events.
In the first chapter of Hosea, where God directs the prophet to
marry a
wife of harlotry (1:2), the children born to the union are given
names
which forecast the impending punishment which God is about
15 Thus
reasons McKenzie. See S. L. McKenzie, "The Jacob Tradition in Hosea xii
4-5," VT 36 (1986) 314-16. For the amazing number of verbal
correlations between Ho-
sea 12
and the Genesis account, see Fishbane, Biblical
Interpretation, 378.
16 W.
L. Holladay, "Chiasmus, The Key to Hosea XII
3-6," VT 16 (1956) 56; S. L.
McKenzie,
"The Jacob Tradition in Hosea xii 4-5," VT 36 (1986) 314-16;
and Kaiser,
"Inner Biblical Exegesis; 40. See Kaiser's helpful charts on 40-41 for
a comparison of
the
Hosea and Genesis accounts.
17 Eslinger, "Hosea 12:5a and Genesis 32:29," 94-95.
18 D. Kimchi, Miqra'ot
Gedalot, 5 vols. (Jerusalem: Eshkol,
1976) 4. 300a (in
He-
brew);
Kaiser, "Inner Biblical Exegesis," 44-45; McKenzie, "The Jacob
Tradition; 317;
and Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation 376-377, 422-23,
426.
19
56 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
to
bring upon the nation. God tells the prophet the reason he is to name
the
third child Lo-Ammi is because "you are not my
people, and I am
not your
god," Mk,lA hy,h;x, xlo
ykinoxAv; (we'anoki lo' 'ehyeh, 1:9). The state-
ment is clearly a reversal of God's
declaration of what was to com-
mence in a special way at the Exodus: "I
will take you as my own
people, and
I will be your God," Myhiloxle Mk,lA ytyyihAv; (wehayiti lakem
le'lohim, Exod 6:7).20 More precisely, the last phrase in Hos 1:9,
Mk,lA hy,h;x, xlo, "I am not your people," is a
wordplay21 on Exod 3:14
where God
discloses his name to Moses in commissioning Moses to be
his
emissary before Pharaoh. The negation of the phrase in Hosea in-
dicates that
Stuart
explains the Hosean reference in light of Exod 3:14:
Yahweh himself refers here to the first person form of the name,
harking
back to the ancient original use of the first person from Exod 3:14. Why?
Because the first person form was that associated with the
tradition of
initiation of the covenant. Yahweh was withdrawing
the very covenant he
so dramatically initiated via the revelation of his name and is using
the
same form of the name he used to Moses.22
The meaning
of the name implied that upon his deliverance of the
Israelites
at the Exodus God would henceforth preside with the
ites. Hosea's negating of the name, however,
indicated that the
ites' rebellion against God will bring this
special relationship to an end.
Sanchez-Centina illustrates the significance of the phrase in his
trans-
lation: "I am not I-AM for you."23
Explicit references to the Exodus deliverance include Hos 2:15,
(MT=17);
12:9, (MT=10), 13, (MT=14); 13:4; and possibly 11:1.24 Pas-
sages such
as Hos 12:9 and 13:4 include the phrase "I am
the Lord thy
God from the
Other
passages such as Hos
at
least
20 The
statement expresses the essence of the covenant relationship. G. Von Hans-
Jurgen Zobel,
"Hosea und das Deuteronomium," TLZ
110 (1985) 16.
21
Andersen-Freedman, Hosea, 197-99; F: C. Fensham,
"The Marriage Metaphor in
Hosea," JNSL 12 (1984) 76.
22 D Stuart, Hosea-Jonah (Waco: Word, 1987) 33. Hartom and Cassuto also recog-
nize that many maintain this formula in Hosea
to be a reference to the account of Exo-
dus 3. A
(Jerusalem: Yavneh Publishing House,
1973) 10 (in Hebrew).
23 E.
Sanchez-Centina, "Hermeneutics and Context: The
Exodus," in Conflict and
Context:
Hermeneutics in the
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983) 170. Similarly, Bullock, Prophetic
Books, 99.
24 See
McKenzie, "Exodus Typology," 100-108.
Mark F Rooker: THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA 57
turn to
Egypt.25 Hoffman has noted well the significance of the abun-
dant reference to the Exodus-wanderings theme
in the Book of Hosea
in
reference to the hope motif in Hos
The new eternal covenant (ii 14-15), which is depicted using some escha-
tological motifs, is believed to begin with a
renewal of the exodus events;
the wandering in the desert and the possession of the good land
"like the
days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land
of
God and his people. Hosea considered the historical exodus a
constitutive
event upon which the covenant was established in the past, and without
which no future renewal of the covenant, after it has been nullified by
the
people, is possible. Thus the exodus is
considered here a typological event,
rather than a mere unique historical one.26
The numerous
references to the Exodus in the Book of Hosea indicate
that for
"God-for-them"
(Exod
The nation,
on the other hand, would have to "go back to the wilder-
ness, to
reject Baal and all divine-political powers (
commit
itself once more to Yahweh."27
An additional reference to the period of wilderness wanderings in
Hosea occurs
in the reference to the Israelites "devoting themselves to
shame"
at Baal-Peor (Hos
tions of the nation on that occasion involved
fornication with the
abite women which led to idolatry. This act of
infidelity is to be
contrasted with
God's gracious action toward the Israelites (Hos
in sovereignly choosing them for himself. As in the case in
the wilder-
ness they
now have an obligation to covenant faithfulness in response
to
God's gracious work on the nation's behalf.28 And yet, then as now,
they,
like their ancestors before them, are failing to uphold and honor
the
covenant commands. Stuart comments on the significance of Ho-
sea's use
of the Baal-Peor reference in Hosea 9: "The
Baal-Peor incident
represented a
rejection of Yahwism in favor of idolatrous Baal
worship,
accompanied by
marriage infidelity, in defiance of the Sinai covenant.
This
automatically broke the covenant with Yahweh (Exod
25 See
Y. Hoffman, "A North Israelite Typological Myth and a Judean Historical
Tradition:
The Exodus in Hosea and Amos," VT 39 (1989) 170-73; J. Day,
"Prophecy; in
It is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture. Essays in Honour of Barnabas Lindars, SSF;
eds. D.
A Carson and H. G. M. Williamson (
1988) 46; and Sanchez-Centina,
"Hermeneutics and Context." 170.
26 Hoffman "The Exodus in Hosea and Amos; 171.
27 Sanchez-Centina, "Hermeneutics and
Context," 170.
28
Daniels, Hosea and Salvation, 69-70. See also Fishbane,
Biblical Interpreta-
tion, 398.
58 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
Deut 17:2,
etc.) as the golden bull incident of Exod 32 almost did."29
Moreover,
the reference to this incident may also function as a warning
to
wrath, the
Israelites of Hosea's day can expect the same.30
Thus the Exodus-Wanderings motif serves as a model or type for
God's
dealing with the Israelites in the future, whether for discipline
or deliverance.
We now turn to three additional illustrations of Hosea's
use of
narrative texts from Joshua, Judges, and Kings.
Joshua
In Hosea 2 we have noted how the prophet turns from oracles of
judgement upon the nation of
and the
establishment of a new covenant. Within this promise oracle
we read
how the Lord promises to restore the nation by bringing her
into the
wilderness and promises to give her vineyards and the "valley
of Achor" as a valley of hope (Hos
"
the
location of the punishment of Achan's sin. Achan's transgression in-
volved taking the material goods from
under the
ban. This type of hubris Hosea announces will not happen
under the
new covenant as the nation will be characterized by obedi-
ence through the enablement given her by God.
This is indicated by
the
transformation of this very
known for
the location of
"door of hope" (hvAq;Ti Htap,l;, lepetah tiqwa).31
The change of names sug-
gests the
renewal of the covenant.32 Andersen and Freedman further
comment on
the broader significance of Hosea's use of the canonical
events in Hos 2:14-15 [16-17]: "Yahweh has in mind nothing less
than
a recapitulatio of the Exodus, Wandering and
Settlement. The refer-
ences to 'the land of
time
span, though they appear in reverse historical order."33
Judges
Another reference to an earlier biblical narrative passage is the
mentioning of
"the days of Gibeah" in Hos
9:8.34 The citation of the
29 Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 151.
30 Chisholm, The Minor Prophets,
40.
31 See Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation, 361; and Daniels,
Hosea and Salvation,
99-100.
32 W. A
VanGemeren, Interpreting the Prophetic Word (
1990) 118.
33
Andersen and Freedman, Hosea, 269.
34 The
phrase also occurs in Hos 10:9.
Mark F Rooker: THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA 59
phrase is
for the purpose of establishing a comparison between Ho-
sea's day
with the wickedness of the period of the Judges. The phrase
"days of Gibeah" is a
reference to the rape of the Levite's concubine
which led
to her death (Judges 19).35 The treacherous deed remained
in the
memory of the people as a premier example of a deed of deca-
dence.36 The fact that the people of Hosea's day have committed sins
comparable to
this atrocious event in
of
depravity to which the nation had sunk.37 The fact that this atro-
cious event almost led to the annihilation of
one of the Israelite tribes
may also
serve as a warning of the extreme consequences
soon face
for its apostasy.38
Kings
Another clear reference to an OT narrative text is found in Hos 1:4
in
connection with the explanation for Hosea's naming his first son
Jezreel. The stated reason for this name is that
God "will soon punish
the
house of Jehu for the massacre of Jezreel."
The king of
Hosea's time
was Jeroboam II (Hos 1:1) of the dynasty of Jehu. The dy-
nasty had
been established at Jezreel by the overthrow of Joram. Simi-
lar to the example above regarding the "
to a
location to evoke the memory of the deed with which the location
became
associated.39 The events of Jezreel to
which Hosea alludes are
recorded in
such passages as 1 Kgs
In conclusion, we have clearly observed that the prophet Hosea
in the
eighth century B.C. was well acquainted with earlier biblical
narratives of
with
which Hosea was familiar. As Hebrew legal texts are recorded in
narrative
contexts, it is proper that we been with the Decalogue,
which not
only begins with the historical prologue referring to God's
35 This
interpretation is advocated by Jewish Medieval commentators such as Ibn
Ezra and D. Kimchi. See Miqra'ot
Gedalot 4. 296b.
36 Hartom and Cassuto, Minor Prophets, 29.
37 M.
H. Segal, Introduction to the Bible, 2 vols. (Jerusalem: Kiryat-Sepher, 1977)
1. 447 (in
Hebrew).
38 See
Andersen and Freedman, Hosea, 535.
39
Similarly, Gilgal and
rael's early history, are mentioned in
conjunction with the sinfulness of the nation
which will
result in being expelled from the land. See Chisholm, Minor Prophets,
31.
40
Kaufmann believes the reference to bloodshed should be specifically under-
stood as
referring to the bloodshed of Naboth by Ahab. This
sin includes the sin of idol-
atry. Kaufmann, Toledot,
6-7, 98; and Segal, Introduction, 1. 451. Similarly, see Andersen
and
Freedman, Hosea, 176. Another reference to an OT narrative may be in Hos 13:10
in
reference to the Israelites request for a king in 1 Samuel 8. E.g., see VanGemeren,
Prophetic Word,
115.
60 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
delivering the
nation from slavery in
ginning of
the legal tradition.41
Hosea's Use of Legal Texts
It is abundantly clear that Hosea and his audience were aware of
the
existence and authority of the written law. This impression is dis-
cernible in such statements as: "because the
people have broken my
covenant and
rebelled against 'my law'" (ytirAOT, torati
[8:1]), and "I
wrote for
them the many things of 'my law' (ytirAOT), but they regarded
them as something alien" [
presumed in Hos 4:6: "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also
re-
ject you as my priests; because you have
ignored the law of your God
(j~yh,lox<
traOT, torat 'eloheyka), I also will
ignore your children."42
Laws from
Exodus and Leviticus
But Hosea cites explicit commands of the Mosaic law.
Most nota-
ble is the citation of and allusion to the
Decalogue.43 For example, vi-
olation of the second commandment44 is
assumed in the context of the
most
distinctive component of the Book of Hosea, that of Hosea's mar-
riage to Gomer, an
adulterous woman (Hos 1:2). This marriage depicts
without
meaning unless it is understood that idolatry is a violation of
prescribed law.
As Sanchez-Centina has well stated: "In fact, we
could
regard
Hosea as a long commentary on the prologue and the first two
words of
the Decalogue. . . . It is beyond
question that the second com-
mandment receives its deepest force in Hosea's
ministry."45 A passage
41 In Hos 12:9 and 13:4 the phrase "I am the Lord your God
from the
alludes to
the narrative of Exodus but also reiterates the language of the prologue of the
Ten Commandments. The Exodus event should be viewed as the "starting point of
the
covenant
between Yahweh and
170-73.
42
Segal, Introduction, 1. 447; and Kaufmann, Toledot,
6-7. 112-13.
43 One
could also mention in this context the prologue of the "Ten Words"
which fo-
cuses on the action of the LORD bringing the
nation out of
the previous
section on Hosea's use of narrative texts in reference to Hosea's mentioning
of the
Exodus event. We see the prologue statement specifically in Hos
12:10 and 13:4.
See Meir Weiss, "The Decalogue in Prophetic
Literature," in The Ten Commandments in
History and
Tradition, ed.
Ben-Zion Segal (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1990) 72-73;
and
Sanchez-Centina, "Hermeneutics and
Context," 170.
44 Or
the first commandment if Exod 20:2-6 is understood as
one commandment.
For
discussion of the different traditions of enumerating the Ten Commandments, see
J. H. Sailhamer, The
Pentateuch as Narrative (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1992) 283-87,
esp. 283.
45 Sanchez-Centina, "Hermeneutics and
Context," 169-70.
Mark E Rooker: THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA 61
that not
only assumes that idolatry is a clear transgression of law, but
also
contains an explicit reference to the Decalogue, is Hos
3:1: "The
LORD said to
me, 'Go, show your love to your wife again, though she
is
loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves
the
Israelites, though they "turn to other gods" (MyriHexE Myhilox<-lx,
MyniP,
ponim 'el-'elohim 'aherim) and love the sacred raisin cakes.'" The
use
of the
phrase "other gods" in Hos 3:1 instead of
the expected "Baal" or
"Baals" is to align the violation with the expressed
commandment
"have no other gods" (Exod
20:3), and would have been thus under-
stood by
the audience.46
The most extended reference to the Decalogue in Hosea surely
comes from
Hos 4:2. Here the prophet refers to the sins of the
northern
Kingdom through a serial listing of several of the Ten
Commandments.
These
transgressions include lying (wHeKa, kahes),47 murder (sixth com-
mandment), stealing (eighth commandment), and
adultery (seventh
commandment).48
Other passages in Hosea which refer to a violation of
one or
more of the Ten Commandments include Hos 6:9
(murder), Hos
7:1 (false witness and stealing), and Hos
7:4 (adultery).
In other Hosean contexts we may assume
that legal texts from
Exodus and
Leviticus form the background for Hosea's statements and
are thus
assumed authoritative by the prophet and his audience. In
Hos
1:2-9, as we have observed, God commands the prophet to take a
harlot as
his wife to emblematize and to evince the spiritual harlotry
of the
Israelites. It may be presumed that a legal text such as Exod
34:15-16 is
understood to be the logical background which evokes the
extreme
measure. The passage reads: "Be careful not to make a treaty
with
those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves
to
their god and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat
their
sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives
for your
sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their god,
they will
lead your sons to do the same.'" The key word, "to prostitute'"
(hnAzA, zana), is used three times in this
passage to describe the character
of
Canaanites.49
The word is used metaphorically to indicate
covenant
disloyalty to Yahweh in violation of the first commandment.
46
Weiss, "The Decalogue," 72-73.
47 This
is explicitly banned in Lev 19:11. Some suggest the phrase to be equivalent
to
"bearing false witness." See Deroche,
"The Reversal," 402.
48 The
deviation of order is to be explained as an illustration of accepted literary
license.
Thus Weiss, "The Decalogue," 68. Day sees five commandments mentioned
here
("Prophecy," 39). Stuart sees six infractions (Hosea- Jonah, 75-76).
49 Fensham, "The Marriage Metaphor," 76.
"Prostitution" is also the term used to re-
fer to a violation of a treaty agreement
among nations. See Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 27.
62 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
Hosea's
teaching on the nation's spiritual adultery is clearly dependent
upon such
a concept.
In addition, it is also possible that Lev
prohibition
forbidding the Israelites' daughters from falling into har-
lotry, lies behind the reference to the land
being guilty of adultery
(Hos 1:2). If harlotry is committed by the Israelites, the
land will "fall
into
prostitution" and be filled with wickedness according to Lev
19:29. Thus
Hosea's notion that the commission of adultery by
results in
the land being guilty of adultery (Cr,xAhA hn,z;Ti hnozA yKi, ki zanoh
tizneh ha'ares [Hos 1:2]) is a concept clearly borrowed from Lev 19:29
(Cr,xAhA hn,z;ti xlov;, welo' tizneh ha'ares).50
Hosea's Use
of Deuteronomy
Hosea appears to be aware of the book of Deuteronomy in its en-
tirety. This awareness may be demonstrated not
only through the com-
mon themes prevalent in each work but also by
the borrowing of
technical
legal phraseology on the part of Hosea.
a
number of the parallel themes, including the condemnation of the
syncretistic worship on the high places (Deut 12:2; Hos
being
crafted by men's hands (Deut
of
Yahweh being the motive for bringing the people out of
7:7-8; Hos 11:1), the people of
Hos
11:1), and the reference to Moses as God's prophet (Deut
Hos
covenant
relationship with God and the return to the promised land
motif
(Deut 30:1-10; Hos 14:1-4 [MT=2-5]).52
Perhaps more striking than these conceptual parallels are the
specific
technical expressions of Hosea which were used in Deuter-
onomy. In Hos 2:2-13
[MT=4-15] we see Hosea describing his rela-
tionship with Gomer
using the technical language of the Mosaic
legislation of
divorce from Deut 24:1-4. Fishbane nicely explains
Ho-
sea's use
of Deut 24:1-4 in this passage:
50 For
an excellent discussion of the concept of the land being guilty of adultery in
the
context of Canaanite religion, see Wolff, Hosea, 15.
51 J.
Day, "Pre-Deuteronomic Allusions to the Covenant
in Hosea and Psalm lxxviii,"
VT 36
(1986) 8. See also E
R McCurley, Jr., "The Home of Deuteronomy
Revisited: A
Methodological
Analysis of the Northern Theory," in A
Light unto My Path: Old Testa-
ment Studies in Honor of Jacob M. Myers (Philadelphia: Temple University Press,
1976)
305; and M. Weinfeld, "The Emergence of the Deuteronomic
Movement: The Historical
Antecedents,"
in Vas Deuteronomium; Entstehung,
Gestalt und Botschaft, ed. N. Lohfink
(Leuven: University Press, 1985) 89.
52 Weinfeld, "The Emergency of the Deuteronomic Movement; 88.
Mark E Rooker: THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA 63
Hosea speaks of a sexually promiscuous wife who follows (hklx)
other
lovers and is divorced, but who subsequently
decides to return (hkvwxv) to
her first husband (NOwxrh ywyx; cf.
Nvwxrh...wyx, Deut 24:1, 4) who then
decides himself to return to her (bvwx) and
to be reconciled in remarriage.
In addition, this legal theme is allegorized both in Jeremiah's
discourse
and in Hos 2:4-15 [2-13] in terms of God's
relationship to apostate
who follows the Canaanite gods, and in both texts marriage and sexual
promiscuity are metonyms for the covenantal bond and
infidelity.53
Another example of Hosea's use of Deuteronomy is illustrated in
Hos
5:15-6:1 where the prophet borrows the language from Deut
until they
admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery
(Mh,lA rc.aBa, bassar lahem) they will earnestly
seek me." This is clearly
based on
the Deuteronomy passage: "But if from there you seek the LORD your
God, you
will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your
soul.
When you are in distress (Mh,lA rcaBa) and
all these things have happened to
you,
then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him."54
A final example of Hosea's borrowing of technical Deuteronomic
terminology
comes in Hos 9:3- 4. Once again Fishbane
notes Hosea's de-
pendence on Deut 26:14 and other Pentateuchal laws:
The ideological background of Hos 9:4
may be approximately stated on
the basis of known Pentateuchal sources and
ideas. Thus, in connection
with an old law preserved in Deut 26:14, a celebrant, upon bringing
his
tithe to the shrine, declares that he has neither eaten of it when in
mourning (ynxb), nor disposed of it while impure, nor
donated it to the
dead: for such would have defiled the new grain. In this regard, one
may
recall that in the Holiness Code priests are
prohibited the use of sancta
(which include tithes) when they are in a
state of defilement (Lev 22:3-
16); and, comparably, Num
Israelite mourner's tent is impure, as well as anyone who comes
into
it. ...The force of this analogical argument, and his use of the
technical
term Mynvx, suggests that the people will be defiled
by the food that they
will eat in exile. In a word, because of the ritual aberrations, the exis-
tence of the people of Ephraim in
to that of contaminated mourners.
In this manner, the prophet Hosea has
exegetically reinterpreted Is-
rael's life in exile in terms of mourners' food.
The textual transformation
is aggadic. For Hosea has not in any way
reinterpreted the particular laws
of mourners' food. Nor was that the intent. As in Hag 2:11-14, the aggadic
rhetoric in Hos 9:4 does
not exist for the sake of the priestly law, that is,
53 Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation, 311.
54 See
M Weinfeld, "The Emergence of the Deuteronomic Movement; 88; and
Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 106.
64 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
for the sake of its legal exegesis. Rather, the aggadic
exegesis exists solely
for its own rhetorical sake, and the law functions as the particular occa-
sion for the rhetorical-exegetical enterprise
which results, not more.55
Other examples of Hosea's borrowing of language from Deuter-
onomy include the occurrence of the phrase lxerAW;y yneB; rPas;mi.
This
phrase is
cited in Deut 32:8 in reference to the number of the
ites in relation to the other nations in Hos
ence to the Israelites being gathered (CBaq;ni, niqbas) in Hos
[MT =2:2]
from Deut 30:3, the sin of "turning" to other gods (Mynip
MyriHexE Myhilox<-lx,) in Hos 3:1 from Deut 31:18, 20, the
forbidden prac-
tice of moving boundary stones (lvbg ygysmk) in Hos 5:10
from Deut
27:17, the
reference of returning from exile (tUbw;, sebut) in Hos
6:11
from Deut
30:3,57 the use of enemies "pursuing" (Jdr) the Israelites in
Deut 30:7 in
Hos 8:3,58 the
prohibition against making idols according
to the
pattern in Hos 13:2 from Deut
verbs (Hkw / fbW skh / sb') expressing the
idea of eating to one's fill
and
forgetting about God in Hos 13:6 from Deut 8:12-14,60
and the
Deuteronomic expression forbidding the worship of idols in Hos
14:8
[MT=9] and
Deut 29:16-28.61
Cursings and Blessings (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28)
A section of Mosaic law from which the
Israelite prophets
drew
heavily is the promised cursings and blessings in
Leviticus
26 and
Deuteronomy 28.62 Hosea, in particular, made frequent refer-
ence to the cursings
of the Mosaic Code.63
Franklyn has nicely broken
down the
order of the many references of the Leviticus 26 cursings
in
Hosea:64
5:2b //26:18,28
(the guilty will be chastised)
4:5,5:5b //26:37
(the unfaithful will stumble)
11:6,
55 Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation, 299-300. Cassuto and Hartom (Minor Proph-
ets, 28) note that the passage is based on
the prohibition expressed in Deut 24:16.
56 See
Institute Press) 36.
57 McComiskey, "Hosea," 100.
58 Ibid, 121. This
occurs also in Lev 26:36. See below.
59 P. N. Franklyn, "Oracular Cursing in Hosea 13," HAR
11 (1987) 78.
60 Weinfeld, "The Emergence of the Deuteronomic Movement," 89. Stuart (Hosea-
Jonah, 204) maintains that the verse also
reflects Deut 31:2.
61 For
the latter reference, see McComiskey,
"Hosea," 236.
62 See
Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, xxxiii-xlii, for the types of covenant curses and
bless-
ing from Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28
found in prophetic literature.
63
Kaufmann, Toledot, 6-7. 106.
64 Franklyn, "Oracular Cursing," 73.
Mark E Rooker: THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE BOOK OF HOSEA 65
To these
should be added the following list of curses from Leviticus
26 and
Deuteronomy 28:
8:3 // Lev
26:36 (the use of the enemy pursing)
8: 1 // Deut
28:49 (the reference to rw,n,, neser)
8:3 // Deut
28:25, 31, 48, 53, 55, 57, 68 (falling to the enemy)65
9: 15-17 // Deut
28:62-64 (diminution of the population)66
Conclusion
It should be apparent that the prophet Hosea in delivering his mes-
sage to
the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the eighth century B.C. made
frequent
reference to earlier biblical texts which we know to be part
of OT
Scripture. In addressing the
out that
the nation was guilty of breaking various laws which involve
violation of
one's relationship to God and violation of one's relationship
to his
fellow man. They had indeed breached the covenant, having bro-
ken
God's law, and could justly expect God's judgment. This frequent
reference to
the Mosaic law illustrates Hosea's familiarity with the
saic tradition.67 Stuart may in
fact be correct when he states that "there
is no
passage in the book that does not have the Mosaic scriptures as its
basis."68
Given the fact that the prophet cites the earlier tradition as
having
authority, we may be confident in assuming that the literature
had long
been accepted as canonical as it would take time for writings
to take
on an elevated theological status.69
Yet Hosea, in using the previously written canonical passages,
does not
only quote the law as a warning of coming judgment. Hosea,
as most
of the writing prophets, also offers hope to the nation. In
doing so
he again bases his understanding on the canon of revealed
65 McComiskey, "Hosea," 121.
66 Both
passages not only refer to the diminution of the populace but also employ
the word
fmw to
express the admonition for obedience. McComiskey,
"Hosea," 157.
67 Fensham, "The Marriage Metaphor," 76.
68 D.
Stuart, "The Old Testament Prophets' Self Understanding of Their
Prophecy,"
Themelios 6 (1980/1981) 11.
69 It
makes more sense to understand Hosea referring to established legal tradition
in
calling the nation back to obedience than in accepting critical scholarship
which would
view much
of the canon and particularly the Pentateuch as coming from a later time. Note
the
circular reasoning of those who assume that Deuteronomy, for example, must have
borrowed from
Hosea. See Hoffman, "The Exodus in Hosea and Amos,"
170-73.
66 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
Scripture.70
It perhaps should be mentioned that the Hoseanic escha-
tological texts have as their background covenantal
promises made to
nants were the basis for the confidence of
future blessings.71 The new
Exodus and
the new Creation particularly are motifs Hosea evokes to
signify
of the
nation will only be accomplished by divine sovereignty, an
attribute of
God pre-eminently displayed in the Creation and in the
Exodus.
Whereas, on the one hand the prophet refers to the Law to
cite
violation of the covenant, on the other hand he refers to God's gra-
cious acts like the Creation and the Exodus as
a basis of hope for the
future of
the nation.73 As God had worked in
past,
thus he would do in like manner in the future.
The Hosean citations from previously
written Scripture indicate
that the
texts were already accepted by the Jews as canonical Scripture
in the
eighth century B.C. and were thus binding on the Israelite's every-
day
life. Moreover, the reference to these texts and themes demon-
strates the prophet's use of preexisting
Scripture, whether warning of
judgment or
assurance of salvation. Hosea's use of the OT serves as a
forerunner to
the manner in which his Jewish descendants in the Dead
Sea Scrolls
and in the NT understood the fulfillment of OT Scripture.
70 The
future salvation of
and
Maly, "Messianism in Osee," CBQ
19 (1957) 213.
71 Ibid.
72 VanGemeren, Prophetic
Word, 115, 118.
73
Similarly, see McKenzie, "Exodus Typology," 100-101.
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