Hosea

Hosea (ch. 11) reveals a poignant portrait of God as a tender parent, swaddling Israel’s feet, lifting him to His cheek, and feeding him, only to watch His beloved child walk away. Yet, in the end, hope prevails as the wayward child returns home. But the chapter’s meaning emerges only through historical linguistics and textual criticism: from obscure Hebrew forms to Septuagint variants.

...but about the Israelites distinguishing their identity from the Egyptians.

Hosea’s depiction of the marital relations with a promiscuous woman, as a metaphor for YHWH’s relationship with Israel, is problematic in ancient and modern terms. The structure of Hosea 2, however, suggests that we have been overlooking the prophet’s message: YHWH rejects and repudiates violence in favor of gentle persuasion and courtship.

As part of a complaint by God against Israel and Judah, Hosea 12 mentions several stories about Jacob, intended to serve as a model for behavior. But is Jacob a good or bad role model?

A biblical metaphor for God’s relationship with Israel.

Deuteronomy 11 repeats, reworks, and supplements the core phrases and themes of the Shema paragraph in Deuteronomy 6 in order to teach the Israelites how to deal with one of their major future challenges: the temptations that accompany wealth, comfort, and affluence.