Hosea : "The Prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is mad!" 9:7

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Task One: Identifying the intended/ideal reader

a) From whose perspective is the "story" told? 1:1 suggests to me that the readers are from the south.

b) What historical data is the reader expected to have?

Jeroboam II rules forty years, His death corresponds to the ascent of Tiglath Pileser III. As Assyrian might increases, Israel falls apart. In twenty years, six kings come to the throne:Zechariah (assassinated by Pekah six months into his rule), Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah (head of an anti-Assyrian party), and Hoshea (Vassal of Assyria who joins anti-Assyrian league when T.P. III dies). Israelite political infidelity is perhaps part and parcel of her cultic infidelity.

If one looks at the experience of the Northern Kingdom through the lens of history, one might draw the conclusion that they fell because of the might of Assyria or because they chose the wrong course of action, the wrong political alliances.

Hosea invites his reader to look at the story through the lens of metaphor. If Israel is like Gomer, what have they done to bring this disaster upon themselves?

Task Two: Deciphering the message of Hosea's metaphoric or symbolic prophetic act.

Hosea's marriage as allegory:

Hosea married Gomer (a sexually promiscuous woman?); she engages in prostitution; she cannot tell from whom where her children come; Hosea divorces her ; she recognizes her error; Hosea remarries her.

God enters into a covenant with Israel (polytheists); Israel engages in idolatry; she cannot tell where her blessings are coming from; God brings down the curses of the covenant and annuls the covenant; Israel will recognize her error; God will restore the relationship with Israel.

Task Three: Entering into the "reality" of the story in order to add more nuance to our conclusions from task two and to explore the theology of the prophetic message.

Three children: Jezreel = Auschwitz the German boy = indictment for crimes against humanity; Lo-ruhamah = without pity (there will be no pardon - no plea bargaining; Lo-ammi = not my people (the covenant is annulled).

What are the problems with polytheism? Just as Gomer does not know from where her children (blessings) come, Israel does not know that God is the source of its blessings.

What are the problems with treating God like other gods? Just as treating Hosea as just another "trick" means that the purpose of the sexual act is to obtain money and Hosea is not recognized as a husband , when Israel worships God as if he were just another Ancient Near Eastern god, they use the wrong sort of worship. Eg. 4:12 -- they consult wood -- or 4:14 -- use temple prostitutes within YHWH worship. Cf. 2:16 "You will know that I am your husband and not your ba'al."

"Oh Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me." 14:8

Hosea 6:6 "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."

Note: some of the indictment is about other forms of covenant violation: 4:8 lewdness; 5:11 going after vanity; 4:2 swearing, lying, stealing, murder.

Regarding the temple prostitute question, temple prostitute might mean priestess. Given the use of metaphoric language to describe worship of other gods as a sexual act, translators tend to treat the female form of the word priest to mean temple prostitute. There is actually no evidence to substantiate the accusation that there were prostitutes involved in the fertility cults or ANE worship. In Hosea 4:14 the Hebrew word is kedeshot - priestess not zonot (prostitutes). The masculine form kedeshim is always translated priests. Since idolatry is treated metaphorically as adultery, worshiping through the agency of the priests of other gods is treated metaphorically as sleeping with the priests of other gods many of whom were female, but in the metaphoric reality, they need not be female.

Why the excess of metaphor? Why these particular metaphors in which Israel is the female victim.

Back to the question of the intended reader... what is the intended reader's gender?

With the intent of working up a fuller profile, let us look at the structure or movement of the entire book.

Dennis McCarthy "The whole is not a conscious, unified, literary production, but is the result of a more or less haphazard growth."

In contrast, Brian Peckham has identified an elaborate four part structure; 1-3; 4-6; 7-10; 11-14. Each part has an internal three part structure

Part 1 (1-3) tends to get treated as the entire work. Part one indicts people.

Look at part 2 (4-6). Who is indicted and for what?

Look at part 3 (7-10). Who is indicted and for what?

The domestic picture of a patriarchal family is used to denounce what is happening in the public sphere - the temple and the palace. Renita Weems, Battered Love, argues that Hosea affirms patriarchal culture and plays on male fantasies about women's sexuality. Women's bodies are mysterious and dangerous. What is at stake when a woman is immodest? Answer: a man's authority and status.

Yes....but.... As much as we do not affirm the patriarchal domination of women and even the representation of female sexuality in this work, can we not ask the question of the intended response of the intended reader? Is not God saying, "Israel's lack of covenantal fidelity is as offensive to me as this sort of behavior is to you, you patriarchal male. Your worst paranoia, is my reality."

Weems focuses upon the husband/wife metaphor, but this is not the only metaphor in Hosea.

Look at part four and count the metaphors. Truth is not reducible to a metaphor. While the husband metaphor is meaningful in this context, the metaphor does not signify that this is the way women are and men are for all time, in every situation.