Hosea

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Hosea

Hosea (Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
= Osee) was the son of Beeri

Beeri

Beeri, is the father of the prophet Hosea.Jewish tradition says that Beeri, the father of Hosea, only uttered a few words of prophecy, and as they were insufficient to be embodied in a book by themselves they were incorporated within the book of Isaiah, viz., verses 19 and 20 of the 8th chapter of Isaiah....
and a prophet in Israel in the 8th century BC. He is one of the Twelve Prophets of the Jewish Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
, also known as the Minor Prophets of the Christian Old Testament

Old Testament

In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christianity Bible Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions....
.

We know practically nothing about the life or social status of Hosea. According to the Book of Hosea

Book of Hosea

The Book of Hosea is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible and of the Christian Old Testament. It stands first in order among what are known as the twelve Minor Prophets....
, he married the prostitute Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, at God

Names of God in Judaism

In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people....
's command. He lived in the Northern Kingdom

Kingdom of Israel

The Kingdom of Israel was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy . It existed roughly from the 930s BC until about the 720s BC....
in the period 780–725 BC.

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Encyclopedia

Hosea (Greek

Greek language

Beeri

Hebrew Bible

Old Testament

Book of Hosea

Names of God in Judaism

Kingdom of Israel

The Kingdom of Israel was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy . It existed roughly from the 930s BC until about the 720s BC....
in the period 780–725 BC. In ff., there is a reference to the wars which led to the capture of the kingdom by the Assyrians (ca. 734–732 BC). It is not certain if he has also experienced the destruction of Samaria

Samaria

Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for the mountainous region in northern Israel roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank....
, which is foreseen in .

Hosea's family life reflected the "adulterous" relationship which Israel had built with polytheistic gods. His children's names made them like walking prophecies of the fall of the ruling dynasty and the severed covenant with God — much like the prophet Isaiah
Isaiah

Isaiah is the main figure in the Biblical Book of Isaiah, and is traditionally considered to be its author. He was an 8th-century Before Christ Judean prophet who declared that all the world belonged to God and that God will destroy it....
a generation later. Hosea is often seen as a "prophet of doom", but underneath his message of destruction is a promise of restoration. The Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
(Pesachim 87a) claims that he was the greatest prophet of his generation, which included the more famous Isaiah

Isaiah

Isaiah is the main figure in the Biblical Book of Isaiah, and is traditionally considered to be its author. He was an 8th-century Before Christ Judean prophet who declared that all the world belonged to God and that God will destroy it....
.

Christian thought

One of the early writing prophets, Hosea used his own marital experience as a symbolic representation of God and Israel: God the husband, Israel the wife. Hosea's wife left him to go with other men; Israel left the Lord to go with other gods. Hosea searched for his wife, found her and brought her back; God would not abandon Israel and brought them back even though they had forsaken him. The book of Hosea was a severe warning to the northern kingdom against the growing idolatry being practiced there; the book was a dramatic call to repentance. Christians extend the analogy of Hosea to Christ and the church: Christ the husband, his church the bride. Christians see in this book a comparable call to the church not to forsake the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians also take the buying back of Gomer as the redemptive qualities of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

Observances

He is commemorated with the other Minor prophet

Minor prophet

A minor prophet is one of the writings in the Twelve Prophets section of the Hebrew Bible, also known to Christians as the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament....
s in the Calendar of saints

Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church)

Days of observance - 2007...
of the Armenian Apostolic Church

Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church and one of the most ancient Christianity communities.The official name of the church is the One Holy Universal Apostolic Orthodox Armenian Church ....
on July 31. He is commemorated on the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar

Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar

The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is also shared with minor variations by the Byzantine Catholic churches that recognize the Pope of Rome....
, with a feast day on October 17 (for those churches which follow the Julian Calendar

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, and came into force in 45 BC . It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year, known at least since Hipparchus....
, October 17 currently falls on October 30 of the modern Gregorian Calendar

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was first proposed by the Calabrian doctor Aloysius Lilius, and decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom it was named, on 24 February 1582 by the papal bull Inter gravissimas....
). He is also commemorated on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers (the Sunday before the Nativity of the Lord

Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
).

External links

Orthodox icon
Icon

An 'icon' is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity. More broadly the term is used in a wide number of contexts for an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands for an object by signifying or representing it either concretely or by analogy, as in semiotics; by extension, ...
and synaxarion