The slides from day 1 of my teaching at Bible and Culture (bibleandculture.org) 2014. This is an introduction to Hosea, establishing something of the historical and biblical context.

1. HOSEA

2. ‘‘In literary terms this book is
among the most poetic of the
prophetic collections in the OT,
particularly in the allusive
character of individual units of
speech and a propensity for
metaphor and simile. It is
therefore one of the most difficult
to interpret. . . .
J. Andrew Dearman
The Book of Hosea (NICOT)

3. ‘‘With the possible exception of
Job, the book of Hosea has the
dubious distinction of having the
most obscure passages in the
entire Hebrew Bible.
C.L. Seow
Book of Hosea (Anchor Bible Dictionary)

4. ?
What kinds of things do we need to
know if we are to correctly handle
any passage of Scripture?

5. Context
Structure
Genre
Content

6. Context

7. ?
What kind of context do we need to
know about?
How does understanding the context
help us?

8. biblical context

9. OldTestament
Pentateuch
History books
Wisdom Lit.
Prophets
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1–2 Samuel
1–2 Kings, 1–2 Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther
Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Minor Prophets

10. NewTestament
Revelation
History
Timeless present
Anticipation
Matthew Mark, Luke, John
Acts
Romans – Jude
Revelations

11. Old Testament
New Testament
Christian Jewish
Tanak

12. ProphetsHistory
LawPentateuch
History
InstructionTorah
History
ProphetsProphets
Wisdom
OldTestament Tanak
Wisdom
Prophets
Prophets
WritingsKetuvim
Nevi’im

13. Nevi’im
Tanak
Ketuvim
Law/Instruction Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings
Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song
of Solomon, Ecclesiastes,
Lamentations, Esther, Daniel,
Ezra–Nehemiah, Chronicles
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Book of the TwelveLatter Prophets
Writings
Former Prophets

14. historical context

15. Genre

16. ?
How do you feel about the Old
Testament prophets?
What do you like about them?
What puts you off?
What is the most significant
passage in the prophets for you,
and why?

17. They have a queer way
of talking, like people
who, instead of
proceeding in an
orderly manner,
ramble off from one
thing to the next so
that you cannot make
heads or tails of them
or see what they are
getting at.
Martin Luther

18. ?
What aspects of the Old Testament
prophets makes them difficult to
understand?

19. barriers to
understanding
Language Geography
HistoryCulture
Religion

20. History
47%
Prophets
27%
Wisdom
26%

21. ?
Why do we have these books? What is
their special contribution to the Bible?

22. ‘‘Whether he is discussing the past,
present or future, the prophet is
seeking to make God the most
genuine reality that men can know
and experience.
A.B. Mickelson
‘Interpreting the Bible’, p. 287

23. the
prophets’
focus
God
extreme
grace &
wrath
Humanity
extreme
disobedience
Calamity
apparently
unlimited
judgement
Prosperity
unlimited
peace and
joy

24. foretelling

25. forthtelling

26. ‘‘Prophecy is essentially a ministry of
disclosure, a stripping bare. Israel’s
great prophets do not merely lift the
veil of the future in order to destroy
false expectations; at the same time,
they expose the conduct of their
contemporaries. . . . Prophets tear
the masks away and show the true
face of the people behind them.
Hans Walter Wolff
Confrontations

27. The Word of YHWH

28. Covenant
enforcement
mediators
(Fee and Stuart)

29. Warning of
judgment

30. Promising
restoration

31. Highlighting
Israel’s sin
Announcing
judgement
Declaring
YHWH’s love
Announcing
blessing

32. ‘‘The ‘prophet in scripture takes on
the role of gracious mediator. He
stands between God and the
people to deliver the word of the
Lord. . . . The person of the
prophet substitutes for the
presence of Almighty God
himself.’
O.P. Robertson,
The Christ of the Prophets, p. 10

33. Fulfilment
New Testament
Promise
Old Testament

34. Structure

35. A. 1:1 – 3:5
B. 4:1 – 14:9
Hosea’s family
Everything else

36. ‘‘The division of chapters 4–14 into
separate oracles is not so
clear . . . Typical beginning and
ending prophetic formulae, ‘Thus
says the Lord’ and ‘oracle of
Yahweh’, are often missing . . .

37. ‘‘. . . and the oracles alternate
constantly between the first
person speech of Yahweh and the
third person speech of the
prophet, sometimes even within
the same oracle. Nor is there an
overarching structure or
progression of thought in the
section.
Elizabeth Achtemeier
Minor Prophets I (NIBC)

38. A. 1:1 – 3:5 ~ A wayward wife
1. 1:1–11 Hosea’s wife (prophetic action)
2. 2:1–23 Punishment and restoration
3. 3:1–5 Hosea’s wife (prophetic action)

39. A2. 2:1–23 Punishment/restoration
a 2:1–4 YHWH’s 1st
punishment
b 2:5–6 YHWH’s 2nd
punishment
c 2:7–13 YHWH’s 3rd
punishment
d 2:14–15 YHWH will woo Israel
c’ 2:16–17 Response to 3rd
punish.
b’ 2:18–20 Response to 2nd
punishment
a’ 2:21–23 Response to 1st
punishment