jan 1, 745 BC - Hosea

Description:

Writer(s): Hosea
Place Written: Samaria (District)
Writing Completed: a. 745 B.C.E.
Time Covered: b. 804-a. 745 B.C.E.

A book of the Hebrew Scriptures written by "Hosea the son of Beeri." (Ho 1:1) In it the writer's domestic life is paralleled with God's relationship to Israel. (Chaps 1-3) The book shows that mere formal religious ceremony does not find acceptance with Jehovah. (6:6) It also highlights God's mercy and loving-kindness. - 2:19; 11:1-4; 14:4.

Time and Place of Composition
Hosea began serving as a prophet at a time when Judean King Uzziah (829-778 B.C.E.) and King Jeroboam II of Israel (c. 844-804 B.C.E. ) were contemporaries, and thus no later than 804 B.C.E., the apparent end of Jeroboam's reign. (Ho 1:1) Hosea's prophetic ministry continued into the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, whose kingship began about 745 B.C.E. Hence, it spanned no less than 59 years, though it doubtless covered some time in the reigns of Jeroboam II and Hezekiah, thus being somewhat longer. Although Hosea recorded a prophecy concerning Samaria's destruction (13:16), he did not report its fulfillment, which he probably would have done if the writing of the book had extended to 740 B.C.E., the Samaria's fall. Therefore, the book of Hosea was evidently written in the district of Samaria and completed sometime between 745 and 740 B.C.E.

it-1 pp. 1146-1148