Hosea: Quick Summary
Jul. 5th, 2011 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
csberryThe basic premise of this book at first seemed just kinda odd. But the more I thought about it, the more puzzled I got about the "real" and non-symbolic part. Hosea was instructed by God to marry a prostitute. He married Gomer and she bore him 3 children. The first was named after a valley that had been the scene of many bloody battles, the second was named No Compassion, Unloved, or Pity/Pitied On (depending on the translation), and the third was named Not My People. Hosea apparently divorces his wife, she is taken as a slave by another man to repay a debt, and then Hosea comes to her rescue and buys her from the man.
All of these actions serve as a symbolic parallel with God's relationship with Israel. The people of Israel were not faithful to God, so they are the promiscuous wife. God separated Himself from His people out of anger for their lack of faith. But God returns after a time and takes His people back into his arms and all is good.
That is an interesting look at the situation, but I kept wondering about Gomer. I'm a bit befuddled about the life that Gomer lived that she was a whore but married a prophet. She then bore children that may or may not have been Hosea's and named her children Jezreel (after the bloody battleground), No Compassion, and Not My People because her husband and God said so. After this, she is divorced from Hosea, becomes a slave, is bought back by Hosea, and is told to cheat on him no longer. The whole story came across to me as if Hosea was some pimp with a heavy sense of righteousness that mentally abused Gomer for her promiscuity despite the fact he knew she was a prostitute when they married: a story that might appear one evening on the Lifetime Channel...or Cinemax. I can understand why feminist scholars would get in a huff over the story in this book.
All of these actions serve as a symbolic parallel with God's relationship with Israel. The people of Israel were not faithful to God, so they are the promiscuous wife. God separated Himself from His people out of anger for their lack of faith. But God returns after a time and takes His people back into his arms and all is good.
That is an interesting look at the situation, but I kept wondering about Gomer. I'm a bit befuddled about the life that Gomer lived that she was a whore but married a prophet. She then bore children that may or may not have been Hosea's and named her children Jezreel (after the bloody battleground), No Compassion, and Not My People because her husband and God said so. After this, she is divorced from Hosea, becomes a slave, is bought back by Hosea, and is told to cheat on him no longer. The whole story came across to me as if Hosea was some pimp with a heavy sense of righteousness that mentally abused Gomer for her promiscuity despite the fact he knew she was a prostitute when they married: a story that might appear one evening on the Lifetime Channel...or Cinemax. I can understand why feminist scholars would get in a huff over the story in this book.
