WHO WROTE:  Hosea.

 

 

WHAT TIME PERIOD IS COVERED:  B.C. 836 - B.C. 733.

 

 

WHEN WRITTEN:  B.C. 792 - B.C. 733.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:  The name Hosea, Hebrew, “Hoshe,” means, “Saviour, safety,” or, “The Lord Saves,” and is related to the names Joshua, Isaiah, and even Jesus.  The Septuagint has it as, “Osee,” probably meaning, “help,” and seems to have been not uncommon, being derived from the auspicious verb from which we have the frequently recurring word “salvation.”  It may be a contraction of a larger form of which the Divine name, or its abbreviation, formed a part so as to signify, “God is help,” or “Help, God.”

 

Hosea’s ministry lasted approximately 59 years, an amazing feat for those days.  This Book is the longest of the prophetic Books written before the Captivity.  Quotations from the Book of Hosea which are found in the New Testament are:

 

Hosea 11:1 = Matthew 2:15;

Hosea 6:6 = Matthew 9:13 & 12:7;

Hosea 1:10; 2:1-23 = Romans 9:25-26;

Hosea 13:14 = First Corinthians 15:55;

Hosea 1:9-10 & 2:23 = First Peter 2:10;

Hosea 10:8 = Luke 23:30 & Revelation 6:16;

Hosea 6:2 = First Corinthians 15:4;

Hosea 14:2 = Hebrews 13:15.

 

The later prophets also stamp with their inspired sanction of Hosea’s prophecies, which they quote:

 

Compare Hosea 1:11 with Isaiah 11:12-13;

Hosea 4:3 with Zephaniah 1:3;

Hosea 4:6 with Isaiah 5:13;

Hosea 7:10 with Isaiah 9:12-13;

Hosea 10:12 with Jeremiah 4:3.

 

In the Book of Hosea it must be noted and understood that the Northern kingdom of Israel was often referred to as “Ephraim,” because it was its most prominent tribe; just as Judah signified the Southern kingdom, Judah being the most prominent tribe (see Hos. 4:17; 5:3 & 5 & 9 & 11 & 12 & 13 & 14; 6:4 & 10; 7:1 & 8 & 11; 8:9 & 11; 9:3 & 8 & 11 & 13 & 16; 10:6 & 11; 11:3 & 8 & 9 & 12; 12:1 & 8 & 14; 13:1 & 12; 14:8).

 

The entire problem and reason for Hosea rebuking the Northern kingdom is found in Hosea 8:12:  “I have written to him the great things of My Law, but they were counted as a strange thing.”

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