Hosea

Hosea (hōzē`ə, –zā`ə), prophetic book of the Bible. It relates something of the career of the prophet Hosea who preached against the sins of the northern kingdom of Israel in the third quarter of the 8th cent. B.C. The collection opens with an account of Hosea's marriage to the prostitute Gomer and his apparent remarriage to her after she has deserted him, to show God's love for Israel, a wayward and adulterous nation. Then come oracles against the apostasy and moral decadence of the people. These are followed by oracles of judgment tempered with the promise of restoration. Though the nation has proven itself ungrateful and undeserving, God will not let his people go. However, the new beginning foreseen by the prophet presupposes a return to the desert.

Bibliography

See D. Stuart, Hosea–Jonah (1987); J. Limburg, Hosea–Micah (1988).

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Hosea

(flourished 8th century BC) First of the 12 Minor Prophets in the Hebrew scriptures, traditional author of the book of Hosea. (His prophecy is part of a larger book, The Twelve, in the Jewish canon.) He began to prophesy during the reign of Jeroboam II and continued until near the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 BC. The book is an allegory in which the prophet is presented as a man married to a harlot or an adulterous wife. This troubled relationship stands for the betrayal of God by Israel, which has “played the harlot” by dallying with Canaanite religion.

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Hosea Old Testament

1. a Hebrew prophet of the 8th century bc

2. the book containing his oracles