Texts in Conversation
Hosea ends with a question asking who is wise enough to grasp God’s ways, the one verse in the book that sounds like wisdom literature. It's similarity to Psalm 107 suggests an editor copied the psalm’s ending to end Hosea.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Hosea 14:9
Hebrew Bible
8 O Ephraim, I do not want to have anything to do with idols anymore! I will answer him and care for him. I am like a luxuriant cypress tree; your fruitfulness comes from me!” 9 Who is wise? Let him discern these things! Who is discerning? Let him understand them! For the ways of the Lord are right; the godly walk in them, but in them the rebellious stumble.
Psalms 107:43
Hebrew Bible
40 He would pour contempt upon princes, and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road. 41 Yet he protected the needy from oppression and cared for his families like a flock of sheep. 42 When the godly see this, they rejoice, and every sinner shuts his mouth. 43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things. Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love.
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Notes and References
... That such was most probably the case is not only clear from the close linguistic and structural parallels between Hosea 14:10 and Psalm 107:43, but also from the observation that, apart from Hosea 14:10, the book of Hosea generally lacks a specialized wisdom vocabulary. The fact that the wisdom coda in Hosea 14:10 forms the sole exception to this rule strongly suggests that its wisdom vocabulary derives from elsewhere. Thus the possibility that Hosea 14:10 may have influenced the language of Psalm 107:43, rather than vice versa, may be ruled out. Given the close affinities between Hosea 14:10 and Psalm 107:43, the possibility that Psalm 107 forms the literary and theological context for Hosea 14:10 bears further consideration. ...
Collett, Donald C.
Prophetic Intentionality and the Book of the Twelve: A Study in the Hermeneutics of Prophecy
(pp. 231-232) University of St Andrews, 2007
* 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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