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Hosea

About this book
Chapter 3

1 The Lord said to me, “Go, show love to your wife again, even though she loves another man and continually commits adultery. Likewise, the Lord loves the Israelites although they turn to other gods⁠ and love to offer raisin cakes to idols.” 2 So I paid 15 shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley to purchase her. 3 Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or become joined to another man, and I also will wait for you.” 4 For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.⁠ 5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings in future days.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 28:18 and Hosea 3:4

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Hosea describes Israel living without a standing stone or other markers, echoing Genesis when Jacob sets up a stone at Bethel as a sign of God’s presence. Hosea uses that memory to show that the loss of these symbols feels like a time of emptiness.

Passages

Genesis 28:18

Hebrew Bible
16 Then Jacob woke up and thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!” 18 Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, although the former name of the town was Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Hosea 3:4

Hebrew Bible
2 So I paid 15 shekels of silver and about seven bushels of barley to purchase her. 3 Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or become joined to another man, and I also will wait for you.” 4 For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols. 5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings in future days.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hosea

References

"... There is another motif in the Jacob story that matches Hosea's analysis of what Yahweh is doing with his people in his own day. Jacob fled to Paddan-Aram (verse 13). He returned chastened, as Israel will return when the lion roars (11:11). It was one of Jacob's requests at Bethel that God should bring him back safely to his land (Genesis 28:21). After all the years in which Jacob lived in exile, without his 'standing stone' (Hosea 3:4; Genesis 28:18, 22), he was directed by another vision from 'the God of Bethel' (Genesis 31:13) to return home. A recapitulation of Jacob's experiences in his later descendants would then include a promise of restoration ..."
Francis I. Andersen, Hosea: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1980), 614.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 28:18 and Hosea 3:4

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