Texts in Conversation
In Genesis, God is described overturning Sodom and the cities of the plain in judgment. In Hosea, the same Hebrew verb describes Israel's failure overturning God's own heart, describing God being moved to emotion and abandon his planned destruction.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 19:25
Hebrew Bible
23 The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. 25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back longingly and was turned into a pillar of salt. 27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. 29 So when God destroyed the cities of the region, God honored Abraham’s request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.
Hosea 11:8
Hebrew Bible
7 My people are obsessed with turning away from me; they call to Baal, but he will never exalt them! 8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? I have had a change of heart. All my tender compassions are aroused. 9 I cannot carry out my fierce anger! I cannot totally destroy Ephraim! Because I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you—I will not come in wrath!
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Notes and References
... The word 'turn within/recoil' (הפך) is used in Gen. 19.25, 29 to depict the phenomenon of an 'earthquake' as the severe means of destruction against the wicked cities. With the remarkable usage of הפך in this poetry, the description carries the same intensity. 'What had been done to Sodom and Gomorrah is now done to God's own person.' ...
Leung Lai, Barbara M.
Through the 'I'-Window: The Inner Life of Characters in the Hebrew Bible
(pp. 161-162) Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2011
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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