Hosea

Apollos Old Testament Commentary Series

by Joshua N. Moon

The prophet Hosea lived through the tumultuous final decades of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrian invasion culminated in the destruction of Samaria, the end of the Northern Kingdom, and the exile of many of its people. Hosea called the people to faith in God through warnings of judgment and promises of hope. He exposed the people's infidelity as they turned to other nations, to their own counsels or to other gods for their life and prosperity. Such turning to others for what God alone could give them was, using Hosea's most famous metaphor, "whoring." As God's people, they needed to reckon with "their" God, who had showered them with care and grace. For Hosea, it was their refusal to "return" to their Lord that brought God's judgment upon them in the form of the Assyrian invasion.
In this Apollos Old Testament Commentary, Joshua Moon sets the prophecies of Hosea in the context of the eighth century BC. The concern of his commentary is the importance of reading Hosea as Christian scripture, in which we are meant to hear God's own voice as he calls his people to himself. Moon demonstrates the continuing importance of hearing God's words through Hosea, situating the reading of each section within larger biblical and theological concerns.

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 21, 2018

About the author

Joshua N. Moon (PhD University of St Andrews) is Fellows Tutor at Anselm House, on the campus of the University of Minnesota, St Paul. He has served previously as a senior pastor, and is the author of Jeremiah's New Covenant: An Augustinian Reading in Dialogue with the Christian Tradition.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest, newer and rapidly expanding, commentary series is the Apollos Old Testament Commentary series.  This series is a highly academic and critical study which has drawn scholars from all over Protestant Christendom.  This series usually has middle conservative British scholars as authors.  The newest volume, Hosea, breaks that trend, not in the theological view but in location. Hosea, is authored by Joshua N. Moon, who is Fellows Tutor at Anselm House, on the campus of the University of Minnesota, St Paul.

The book of Hosea, is one of the longer books of the minor prophets.  Being a minor prophet many Pastor's shy away from preaching this book due to a lack of knowledge of the original context of the work.  While there are many commentaries which focus on application, there are not many commentaries which are conservative and highly academic, Hosea, is a needed commentary for every pastor and scholar.  Hosea, follows the Apollos Old Testament commentaries standard format (Hebrew translation, From and Structure, Comment, and Explanation).  While some sections will only benefit the academically minded pastor or scholar, the comment and explanation section is of great benefit to all pastors who are looking to preach or teach exegetically through Hosea.  This is a volume that Pastors, Scholars, and Bible Students will want on their shelves, for it will be used again and again in any study of the book of Hosea.

This book was provided to me free of charge from IVP Academic in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.