Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Dear Doug,

Let's please keep what Yohanan wrote in mind: this list is meant for the 
study of the text of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, in a non-sectarian 
atmosphere. Our membership includes Christians of various denomonations, 
Jews of different views, and some people who prefer not to define themselves 
by religion at all. We can all get along and learn from each other, only if 
no-one feels that anyone else is trying to "sell" a partciular religious 
agenda.

I actually did not see such an attempt in your post, but since Yohanan 
obviously did, it's worth restating the list position.

With all this in mind:

a. What you call Hosea 1:8-11 is actually 1:8-2:2 in the Hebrew text. There 
may well be a theological reason behind the different traditions of 
numbering the chapters and verses. This is certainly worth further 
investigation.

b. In this parable, it is Hosea who acts the part of God, while Gomer 
represents Israel and her children, Judah and (northern) Israel. "Lo-ammi" 
("You are not my people") is northern Israel, about to be scattered through 
the nations, but eventually to be recognized as "Sons of the living God" and 
returned. The passage does not mention gentiles at all.

c. Paul, in typical midrashic fashion, misconstrues the original context by 
making "not my people" refer to the gentiles. This is called "eisegesis" - 
reading "into" the text what one thinks it should mean, and is a common 
practice among Jewish and Christian interpreters of the Bible (and I suppose 
that one could say that Paul was right in between the two traditions). 
Whether he was theologically "correct" in his interpretation is way beyond 
the purview of this list.


Yigal Levin



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Belot" <dbelot AT bigpond.net.au>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 1:08 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Hosea 1:8-11


> I have been advised to send my question via this link ....ok , I give it a 
> try...
>
> Paul wrote in Rom 9:24-27 of the incoming gentiles as the sons of the 
> living God , Paul  advises us that this is what God has planned , and that 
> Hosea had written of such a gentile inclusion, with Jews as well
>
> Rom 9:24  even us who he called , not only the Jews , but also the 
> gentiles also
>
> Rom 9:24  "As he says in Hosea"
>
> That should get us to read what Hosea had said , which is in Hos 1:8-11 
> there we read of Lo-Ammi , the third child of Hosea and Gomer/God and 
> Israel , this child is the "sons of the living God" .
>
> > From that I am concluding that the Lo-Ammi , sons of the living God , is 
> > the church , which then tells its mother(Israel) Hos 2:1-2,
>
> Hos 2;2  "Bring charges against your mother  for she is no longer My wife" 
> .
>
> However as we read on we see that from Hos 2:14-12  the mother/Israel is 
> recalled , just as when she was called out of Egypt , v15  , she will 
> again be "allured" back into a marriage with the Lord.
>
> Thus we have the return of Israel , as the Lords wife , after the gentiles 
> have been included as the "sons of the living God".
>
> Do you Hebrew  experts  agree....
>
> doug belot
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew


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