Gobbets

Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns;

and I will build a wall against her,

so that she cannot find her paths.

She shall pursue her lovers, but not overtake them;

and she shall seek them, but shall not find them.

Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband,

for it was better with me then than now’.

(Hosea 2:6–7)

The general context in chapter 2 is that Israel will suffer public shame like a prostitute as a punishment for disobeying Yahweh and refusing to live up to the demands of the covenant.

Candidates may comment on some of the following:

• The narrative in Hosea chapters 1 to 3 concerns the parallelism between Hosea’s disciplining of his unfaithful wife and Yahweh’s disciplining of unfaithful Israel under Jeroboam II. Candidates are likely to give an explanation of this parallelism in terms of Hosea’s personal experiences with Gomer.

• At the beginning of chapter 1, Hosea marries Gomer, who is a prostitute, and then gives the children he has with her symbolic names. At the end of this chapter, God says that Israel’s punishment is not the end of the matter, because the people will again become God’s sons. Chapter 2 returns to the theme of Israel’s punishment.

• Israel’s crime was to adulterate worship of Yahweh with worship of Canaanite Baal. Baalism was characterized by fertility rites, the sexual nature of which was immoral in terms of the Law of Moses. The theme of marriage with an unfaithful wife is a metaphor for the cult of Baal.

• In verses 6–7, Gomer / Israel is to be hedged in with thorns so that she has no access to her lovers / the Baals. She has assumed falsely that the good things which she has experienced come from her lovers / the Baals, whereas in reality they have come from Yahweh. She is to be isolated in the wilderness so that she comes to understand, finally, that Yahweh is the source of all good things, and that fidelity to the covenant is the only way to ensure their continuation.

‘And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no

longer will you call me, ‘My Ba’al.’ For I will remove the names of the

Ba’als from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more.

And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the

field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I

will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make

you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will

betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love,

and in mercy.’

(Hosea 2:16–19)

The context in 2:2–13 refers to the shame to be experienced by Israel as a ‘harlot’, but after this God will ‘allure’ Israel back into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her.

Candidates might refer to some of the following points:

• The text goes from the naming of the third child of Hosea as Lo-ammi (Not my people) to the promise (1:10–2:1) that Israel’s punishment is not final.

• The passage therefore pictures Israel as being brought to the comparative innocence of the wilderness period, when the covenant was kept.

• ‘Ba’al’ was the proper name of the main Canaanite god, meaning ‘Lord’ / ‘Master’.

• The narrative then promises the removal of the Ba’al images from the land.

• Verses 17ff. then use creational language to signify the establishment of a universal covenant.

•The names of the children are reversed to symbolise all of this.• Expect comment on ‘steadfast love’ (ḥeseḏ).

And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is beloved of a paramour and

is an adulteress; even as the LORD loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other

gods and love cakes of raisins.” So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a

homer and a lethech of barley. And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many

days; you shall not play the harlot, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.”

(Hosea 3:1–3)

The context is the unit Hosea 3:1–5, usually taken as the restoration of Gomer.

Candidates might refer to some of the following points:

• the general interpretation is that Hosea buys back his adulterous wife, disciplines her, and then confirms his continuing love for her;

• this is taken to be an allegory of Yahweh’s continuing love for Israel, which will end in Israel’s restoration after a period of isolation like that in the wilderness before the entry into Canaan;

• these verses encapsulate the essential message of the Book of Hosea: God’s love requires Israel’s (temporary) punishment before her eventual redemption;

• ‘cakes of raisins’ were used in pagan festivals (e.g. Isaiah 16:7; Jer. 7:18);

• a shekel is about 11 grams;

• a homer was about 6.5 bushels;

• a lethech was about 3 bushels;

• Hosea makes no mention of from whom or what he ‘bought her’;

• the implication is that redemption is costly (see Psalm 49.7f., 1 Cor. 6:19–20; 7:23), but Hosea redeemed his wife by love and for a price;

• the wife is to have no outside contact, which reflects the idealised isolation of the wilderness wanderings;

• the absence of sacrifice / pillar / ephod / teraphim (household gods) signifies that the wife / Israel will be cut off from her priestly offices; after which Israel will seek a return to the Davidic king (a strange comment which might be a later Judean addition).

Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel;

for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.

There is no faithfulness or kindness,

and no knowledge of God in the land …

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

because you have rejected knowledge,

I reject you from being a priest to me.

And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

I will also forget your children.

(Hosea 4:1, 6)

The context is Yahweh’s threat that because of constant rebellion, God’s judgement is upon Israel.

Candidates might comment on some of the following:

• the use of the prophetic rib form – the ‘covenant lawsuit’ (‘contend’ … ‘accuse’ – the Lord has a controversy/rib with the inhabitants of the land);

• verses 4–5 contain an invective against both priest and prophet. As those who represent the people to God, they have rejected true knowledge of God, so the people will be rejected alongside priests and prophets, whom they endorse;

• the real substance of the complaint is that the people have a ‘lack of knowledge’: ‘knowledge’ is da’ath, which here is a technical term meaning knowledge of the proper observance of the cult. Neither priest nor (presumably cultic) prophet has the required approach to God, since sacrifices are offered to God for the benefit of the cultic practitioners themselves rather than as a proper sacrifice to God;

• destruction of the mother (v.5) means destruction of the children (last line of the gobbet). This applies on an individual and a national level: the people are the children of Israel, so Israel will be destroyed

• this is repeated in the last line: ‘I will also forget your children’;

• rejection of true knowledge entails rejection of God;

• forgetting God’s law means that God will forget them;

• The general context of the lawsuit uses traditional terminology: faithfulness, kindness (hesed), knowledge of God.

Come, let us return to the LORD;

for he has torn, that he may heal us;

he has stricken, and he will bind us up.

After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will raise us up,

that we may live before him.

(Hosea 6:1–2)

The general context in 5:15–6:3 is that if Israel will return to Yahweh, he will heal her sickness.

Candidates might refer also to some of the following points:

• historically, the preceding section refers to the period of the Syro-Ephraimite war (735– 733) and its aftermath

• 5:8–15 describes the friction between Judah and Israel in the period after the war, and shows God’s judgement on both

• what then follows in 6:1–2 is the change of mood typical of Hosea

• having threatened sickness and death, Yahweh now predicts that Israel will “revive” (v.2) if Yahweh’s exhortation to repent is accepted and acted upon

• questions about the identity of the speaker(s) – possibly the Israelites, but they are insincere, or (more likely) these are Hosea’s words, as an exhortation to the people

• another question is whether the imagery is of resurrection from death or simply healing the sick. Death and resurrection are also images of exile and restoration, and perhaps Hosea appropriated this imagery from the dying and rising God Baal (see 13:1 – “he incurred guilt through Baal and died”)

• some see the language as applicable to the future situation of Jesus

• the rest of the imagery continues the theme of revival – the regrowth that comes from spring rain.

Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken,

and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise

us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his

going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains

that water the earth.

(Hosea 6:1-3)

General context is Israel’s sickness and Hosea’s exhortation to repentance.

Candidates will comment on some of the following:

• background is the period of the Syro-Ephraimite war (735-733) and its aftermath

• 5:8-15 describes the friction between Judah and Israel in the period after the war, and shows God’s judgement on both

• the immediate context is that having threatened sickness and death, Yahweh predicts that Israel will “revive” if Yahweh’s exhortation to repent is accepted and acted upon

• questions about the identity of the speaker(s) – possibly the Israelites, but they are insincere, or (more likely) these are Hosea’s words, as an exhortation to the people

• another question is whether the imagery is of resurrection from death or simply healing the sick. Death & resurrection are also images of exile and restoration, and perhaps Hosea appropriated this imagery from the dying and rising God Baal (see 13:1 – “he incurred guilt through Baal and died”)

• some see the language as applicable to the future situation of Jesus

• comment on the rest of the imagery – the revival that comes from spring rain.

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, O Judah?

Your love is like a morning cloud,

like the dew that goes early away.

Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,

I have slain them by the words of my mouth,

and my judgment goes forth as the light.

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,

the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.

(Hosea 6:4–6)

6:1–3 have the theme that if Israel returns to Yahweh, he will heal and revive her. Verses 4– 6 spell out what Yahweh really wants from Israel: steadfast love and knowledge of him.

Candidates might comment on some of the following:

• the “morning cloud” is an extension of the metaphor in verse 3 (showers and spring rains)

• “morning cloud” / “dew” are metaphors for the evanescence of Israel’s love, which vanishes at the first sign of heat / difficulty

• Prophets stand in the council of Yahweh, hence the prophetic word announces to the people the dealings of that council. Here Hosea appears to be revealing Yahweh’s thoughts – that he had “hewn” the people by means of the (oracles of) the prophets, and “slain” them by the words of his mouth (oracles)

• “judgment” is mishpat in Hebrew, and is a technical term meaning ‘the right order in society’

• verse 6 epitomizes Hosea’s message (2:19–20 – cf. Matthew 9:13). “Steadfast love” and “knowledge of God” are the same technical terms used earlier in Hosea. For ‘love not sacrifice’, compare Amos 5:23,24

• 3–6 are followed by further accusations of bad behaviour – faithlessness, villainy, harlotry.

When Israel was a child, I loved him,

and out of Egypt I called my son.

The more I called them,

the more they went from me;

they kept sacrificing to the Ba’als,

and burning incense to idols.

(Hosea 11:1–2)

The context is the unit 11:1–7, where God is portrayed as a loving father who has been placed in the unfortunate position of having to discipline his disobedient son.

Answers might refer to some of the following points:

• The phrase, ‘out of Egypt I called my son’ recalls Exodus 4:22, where Yahweh is instructing Moses what to say to the Egyptian Pharaoh, where he is told to begin with an oracle: “Thus says the LORD, Israel is my first-born son, and I say to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me’; if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your first-born son.”

The narrative indicates the importance of the first-born son, and correspondingly it shows the depth of Yahweh’s love for Israel.

• Yahweh’s love is then contrasted with Israel’s waywardness: the more God called, the more the people went away from him.

• The imagery now transfers to the present situation in Israel: the people (the children) show every sign of preferring the Ba’als to Yahweh, so they keep sacrificing to the Ba’als and burning incense to idols.

• God is here portrayed as a loving and patient father who has to deal with a disobedient son. The imagery is one of adoption, which clearly involves as much love as that between biological parents and children, and which can be even more poignant.

• The text goes on to say, “yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them … with cords of compassion, with the bands of love …” This kind of imagery contrasts with that of the early chapters of the book involving the relationship between Hosea and Gomer.

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,

I took them up in my arms;

but they did not know that I healed them.

I led them with cords of compassion,

with the bands of love,

and I became to them as one

who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and I bent down to them and fed them.

They shall return to the land of Egypt,

and Assyria shall be their king,

because they have refused to return to me.

(Hosea 11:3–5)

The context is 11:1–7: as a loving and patient father, Yahweh must discipline his disobedient son.

Candidates might comment on some of the following issues:

• ch.11 is often seen as a summary of the main theme of Hosea’s book - ascent (through the election, Exodus and Conquest), election as adoption hence ‘sonship’, rebellion, descent into apostasy and exile, restoration after punishment to the love of God (God’s hesed)

• this section begins with the reference back to the Exodus event

• v.1 – ‘out of Egypt I called my son’ – cf. Exod.4:22, where Israel is described as God’s first-born son

• but Israel was disobedient/sacrificed to the Baals/burned incense to idols

• yet it was Yahweh who as the father taught Ephraim to walk

• but the children (the people) did not know that it was Yahweh who healed their hurts

• ‘led them’/‘compassion and love’/‘bent down and fed them’/‘eases the yoke’ – as in the Exodus

• ‘return to the land of Egypt’ – back to the start of the Exodus cycle

• ‘Assyria shall be their king’ – invasion and deportation by Assyria, 721 marking the end of the Northern Kingdom.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,

for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Take with you words

and return to the LORD;

say to him,

“Take away all iniquity;

accept that which is good

and we will render

the fruit of our lips.

Assyria shall not save us,

we will not ride upon horses;

and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’

to the work of our hands.

In thee the orphan finds mercy.”

(Hosea 14:1–3)

The context is the closing section of Hosea, in which Israel is invited to return to Yahweh.

Candidates might refer to some of the following points:

• there is a stark contrast between ch.13 and ch.14. Hosea frequently juxtaposes good news with bad news, but the contrast here is much more marked. In this respect it mirrors the end of the Book of Amos, where, as here, the material appears to be editorial – an aspect of a general editing of the Book of the Twelve.

• verses 1–7 are liturgical in form: 1–3 is confessional; 4–7 offers absolution

• in verses 1–3, 1–2a are a command to Israel, presumably delivered through Hosea. The command to ‘take with you words’ refers to the words of the confession they are required to make to Yahweh.

• ‘return’ is a stylized phrase, the Hebrew shub connoting return and restoration. Shub here serves as a title for the unit. It is used also in 3:5 & 6:1 to express the desire for Israel’s / Gomer’s repentance and return

• the basis for return is not sealed with any kind of sacrifice, but is emphasized by a repeat of the command to bring ‘words’, in so far as the Israelites are to offer the ‘fruit of their lips’

• ‘Assyria shall not save us’ – faith in the military power of Assyria is to be rejected

• ‘we will not ride upon horses’ – reflective of (Assyrian) power

• ‘we will say no more, Our God, to the work of our hands’ – signifies the rejection of idolatry

• ‘In thee the orphan finds mercy’ – the orphan reflects one of the most vulnerable members of society, so this is a metaphor reflecting the extent of Yahweh’s mercy.

I will be as the dew to Israel;

he shall blossom as the lily,

he shall strike root as the poplar;

his shoots shall spread out;

his beauty shall be like the olive,

and his fragrance like Lebanon.

They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow

(Hosea 14:5–7a)

The general context is the oracle of salvation near the end of the Book of Hosea. Verse 9 in Hosea 14 is a later post-script, written in the style of the wisdom literature.

Candidates might comment on some of the following:

•The imagery complements the agricultural imagery in Amos 9.

•Dew in an arid / hot climate is the symbol of freshness / refreshing – it occurs at the cooler time of the morning and brings water to vegetation and flowers.

• The image of the poplar is one of prolific growth – it is the kind of tree that will sprout from any cutting.

• Further imagery of spreading shoots / the beauty of the olive tree and the aroma of the cedar symbolise the life of rest and refreshment under the shadow of God’s care.

• The whole set of images reflects Yahweh’s promise that his anger has turned away from Israel.

• Again, the historical aftermath is at odds with such imagery.