Hosea: Bible #28, ESV

by Anonymous

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Historical

Unknown Binding

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Ella あいみ M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Hosea is a prophetic book portraying God's relentless love for His children and is a symbolic representation of God's relationship with Israel. The story of Hosea and Gomer is a living parable. Hosea marries a prostitute named Gomer and loves her so much, but she keeps leaving him for other men. The relationship parallels that of an unfaithful Israel and their loving God. In buying Gomer back, Hosea pointed to God's act of perfect, unending, and unfathomable love in sending Jesus Christ to lay down His own life for us and buy our freedom back.

In comparing God and Israel to a husband and wife, the book of Hosea draws a parallel between spiritual and marital unfaithfulness.

"The Bible is very clear in its moral code that the sexual act can only legitimately take place within the context of the marriage relationship. Thus the image of marriage and sex, a relationship that is purely exclusive and allows no rivals, is an ideal image of the relationship between God and his [sic] people."
- Dictionary of Bible Imagery, p. 778

Like a marriage partner, God is deeply and intimately involved in our lives and is sorely pained and heartbroken when we ignore or forget Him and go off on our own way. God demands love and loyalty from His own, but His people often fail to demonstrate whole-hearted love for Him. However, He continually waits with the most patient love and stands ready with welcoming arms to forgive and restore those who turn back to Him and repent.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprisingly tender

[Liz ardeez · Rating 5 out of 5]

a painfully honest book of the ways in which we betray our God, which is so important to sit in. God's unfailing love for His faithless people, the triumph of His grace, and the assurance of His healing are so evident all over this!!!

I want to spend as much time in every book as I did in this one. I read alongside a commentary from Enduring Word, which I highly recommend!

[Sean Chick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part of a series where I am reading the Bible in chronological order. I am not doing this for reasons of faith, as I am agnostic, but because of my interest in mythology, ancient literature, and history. I chose the NRSV because I used to be Catholic and still have sympathies there. More importantly, this version seeks a balance between an accurate translation and the literary qualities of the King James Bible. So it seems you get the best of two worlds.

The language is strong, visceral, violent, and relentless. This short books goes through images of death and destruction. Then it ends with a promise of rebirth and redemption after it has raked you over. So far this is my favorite book as a work of literature.

[Joan Haughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hosea 3:1–3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.”

This shows God's abounding love and his matchless grace, always willing to forgive and restore us to righteousness and a relationship with him.

Bless the name of Jesus!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend pairing The Bible Project (found on YouTube) as well as The Bible Recap studies (free podcast/youtube) to your Bible reading. It's helped to bring a fresh perspective to these well-loved books.

[George Cole]

Hosea. I like Hosea. It is somewhat easier to understand than most of the stories you will read out of the bible. I like the language; it is like poetry. The most common image is of Ephraim (or, the land of Israel) as an adulterous woman. There are multiple refererences to 'the whoredoms of Ephraim.' This gets one to thinking: the biblical ideal of obedience is to marry in virginity, and to remain commited to your spouse. To spread your love among multiple partners is to divide your heart. However, the Lord can always forgive us for any sins that we have commited through punishment. After that comes redemption. This is the biblical plan of salvation, as far as I can interpret it. The next 11 books of the bible are all short. I have read the gospels and Revelation before. I will be done with the bible sometime soon. The language of the bible can't be beat.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

*read as a part of reading the whole Bible in a Year through the Bible App’s plan with The Bible Project. The plan itself is so far superior to any other Bible reading plan that I’ve tried. The videos that go along with the reading are academic, but incredibly thoughtful, understandable, relatable, and also artistic. Highly recommend!

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hosea is a prophet that have to marry a prostitutas and named his children sorrowful names to embody the separation of God's people and God. The book tells about his wrath and redemption to the promised tribe.

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hosea is a prophet whom God uses to portray a message of repentance to God's people. Through Hosea's marriage to Gomer, God, also known as Yahweh, shows his great love for his people, comparing himself to a husband whose wife has committed adultery.

[Connor]

The first few 2-3 chapters of Hosea were relatively easy to read and the theme of being faithful to a sinner I understood but the genre was poetry and I struggle with poetry.
I’m going to have to come back to this book at some point and update because I didn’t dig in enough

[TheBibleWithTina]

MY SUMMARY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9T3N...

[earlgray · Rating 5 out of 5]

beauty, check notes for reference

[Hayley Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful poetry with analogy of God and his people through Hoseas marriage to a prostitute.

[Nicole Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapter 14 has a beautiful, restoration prayer for those searching for God's love

[Holli Eller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminds me of how we never fall so far that God can’t redeem us.

[Melissa]

Bible in a year podcast, Father Mike Schmitz, Ascension Press

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

(if you're following along, we're not pretending that there aren't 66 unique books here while I'm setting an unrealistic goal of 300 books in 2024)

[Rachelle Bachiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hosea is a prophet and is used by God to bring His people back to Himself.

[Mayda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Studies this book with inductive method using Expositors Bible Commentary by Leon Wood.

[Lesley · Rating 1 out of 5]

More false predictions.

[Bregda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapters 13 and 14 very inspirational and applicable in this moment of my life (2025)

[Books Of The Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hosea was called the "deathbed prophet of Israel" as he prophesied just before the Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria in approx 722 BC.

Hosea married a prostitute as instructed by God, to demonstrate how her unfaithfulness to him was like the unfaithfulness of Israel towards God.

Like many of the judgements shown in the Old Testament, the book begins with the grief and fury of God towards their turning away, but ends with compassion, and an explanation of the depth of love God has for his people, a love that has no rival.