Book of Hosea

The best identification of the Valley of Achor in the description of the northern boundary of Judah (Josh. 15.7) is the wādi system of wādi mukellik and wādi es-sidr. This valley was the (former) tribal area of Reuben. It was an enclave in the tribal area of Judah. Achan who sinned against the חרם was, therefore, claimed as a member of the tribe of Judah in Joshua 7, whereas his predecessors seem to be Reubenites. Achan and his family were stoned in their own tribal area, the Valley of Achor, thus becoming a setting of sin and retaliation.
The Valley of Achor is explicitly referred to in Hosea 2 and Isaiah 65. In both chapters, the valley functions within an eschatological setting. In Hos. 2.17, the Valley of Achor becomes a ‘door of hope’ leading to a ‘monogamous
matrimony’ between Yhwh and his ‘wife’ Israel. It even leads to peace between animals, a reminiscence of the ante-diluvian situation. In Isaiah 65 this allusion is even clearer. The Valley of Achor is the entrance into the land after the new Exodus from Babylon, and together with the Sharon it symbolizes the whole land of Israel; further,
it symbolizes fertility and animal peace, and it leads to Yhwh’s holy mountain in Jerusalem, the starting point of Yhwh’s new creation in which there will be no distress, but only peace and joy. In these last two chapters, the Valley of Achor is a herald of good tidings.

The study of Hosea 5:8–6:6 has been primarily concerned with the passage’s his-torical context and references. The metaphors of the pericope have received compar-atively less attention. This article analyzes three metaphor domains (water, healing, and lions) in Hosea 5:8–6:6, traces the development and reversal of those domains across the rest of the book, and notices some consistent patterns in those develop-ments and their rhetorical purpose. Finally, the article draws three theological impli-cations from the developing characterization of Yhwh that results: (1) Yhwh’s con-sistent character—as expressed, for example, in Exod 34:6-7—manifests in differ-ent ways at different times in response to different circumstances; (2) Yhwh does not circumvent failure, sin, and judgment in order to reach Yhwh’s ultimate pur-pose, rather restoration comes through judgment; (3) by appropriating metaphors and imagery from contemporary deities and nation-states, Hosea lays claim to Yhwh’s exclusive sovereignty over the people of Israel, as well as Yhwh’s abso-lute sufficiency to meet all of Israel’s needs and desires.

Daniel C Browning Jr, "Assyria and the Eighth-Century Hebrew Prophets," Biblical Illustrator 39.2 (Winter 2012-13): 38-43.

A short popular article on the role of Assyria in the 8th century Hebrew prophets' interpretation of divine covenant relationship with Israel and Judah.

This article deals with God as a figure of prophetic speech and presents an analysis of the divine “I- speeches” in the book of the minor prophets with a special emphasis on the prophet Hosea. It investigates how God speaks about himself in metaphors and comparisons. Attention is paid to the figures used for God and how he is characterized by his actions and relations.
The main fields of divine actions are creation and taking over human activities. God is acting like a father and a husband. He is shepherding, farming, healing, prophesying, speaking justice, catching birds and acting like a warrior. In self-comparisons theriomorphism and other creational comparisons are used.
The I-speeches emphasize JHWH’s self-commitment. They are a stylistic device to bring about the emotive function of speech for attracting attention, emphasizing statements and expressing feelings. God wants to be in relationship with the people of Israel and requires an answer. The almost complete absence of nominalization and the high density of verbal phrases underline the description of a God who relates to his people. Also it is in accordance to the aniconism of Israelite religion.
 

This dissertation constitutes a study on the use of the Old Testament within the Old Testament. It analyzes Hosea’s use of Scripture, arguing that the prophet’s hermeneutical approach is fundamentally typological. Prior redemptive-historical events, institutions, persons, promises, and places provide patterns or structures by which the prophet connects the present with the past (i.e., retrospective typology) or the past with the future (i.e., prospective typology).
Chapter 1 provides a history of research surveying prior scholarship’s approach to and conclusions regarding Hosea’s reuse of prior authoritative material.
Chapter 2 is comprised of two primary sections. The first half of the chapter interacts with critical issues on the book of Hosea in route to establishing the plausibility of Hosean authorship. This is followed by a survey of recent work on quotation, allusion, inner-biblical exegesis, and intertextuality within OT prophetic literature prior to proposing a method for identifying and analyzing allusion and quotation in Hosea.
Chapter 3 applies the method developed in chapter 2 in order to identify and analyze quotation and allusion in Hosea 1-3. The process is inductive and exegetical, handling allusions and quotations in context and in the order in which they occur. Moreover, conclusions regarding Hosea’s hermeneutics are adduced throughout.
Chapter 4 follows the same approach as chapter 3 in analyzing Hosea 4-11.
Chapter 5 follows the same approach as chapters 3 and 4 in analyzing Hosea 12-14.
Chapter 6 summarizes and concludes this work.

Die vorliegende Sammlung zahlreicher Beiträge aus ganz unterschiedlichen Gebieten des Alten Testaments verdeutlicht die enorme Quelle der Inspiration, zu welcher Hendrik Koorevaar über viele Jahre für seine Schüler und Freunde geworden ist. Orientiert ist der Titel »Das heilige Herz der Tora« an einem Aufsatz, den Hendrik Koorevaar in einem Themenbuch zur Theologie des Alten Testaments im Jahr 2007 veröffentlicht hat. 

Content:

ERSTER TEIL – HISTORIE UND HERMENEUTIK

Herbert H. Klement
Narrative Historie und Identität des Gottesvolkes: Zur Bedeutung von Geschichte und Geschichten im Alten Testament 3

Carsten Vang
Deuteronomy and the Notion of Exile 23

Walter Gisin
Adam, Eva und die Jakobsfamilie in Hosea 6,7-11a 41

G. W. Lorein
Dealing with Scripture and Circumstances in Nehemiah 9-10 61

Kristofer D. Holroyd
Multiple Speech Act Layers, Jeremiah, and the Future of Studies in
Structural Theology 79

ZWEITER TEIL – KANON UND STRUKTUR

Benjamin Kilchör
Zur literarischen und theologischen Funktion der An- und Absageformeln in den Pentateuchgesetzen 97

Raymond R. Hausoul
Leviticus 25-27 in de metafysische grootheid Exodus-Leviticus-Numeri 121

Gunnar Begerau
Strukturelle und inhaltlich-theologische Verbindungen der Ketuvim in der Anordnung der BHS 135

Walter Hilbrands
Die Bedeutung der Struktur und Integrität des Predigerbuches für dessen Theologie 153

Julius Steinberg
Das Hohelied – ein integrativer Ansatz 167

Hans van Nes
Traces of A Three Part Canon underlying 1 Peter 183

DRITTER TEIL – THEOLOGIE UND ETHIK

Jan L. Verbruggen
The History of Interpretation of Exodus 21:22-25 201

Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman
Impurity 237

Pieter A. Siebesma
Het boek Jona in de uitleg van de Middeleeuwse Joodse exegeten 257

W. Creighton Marlowe
Righteous People in Proverbs 267

Mart-Jan Paul
The Translation of Hebel in Ecclesiastes 285

Gie Vleugels
The Destruction of the Second Temple  in the Odes of Solomon 303

Patrick Nullens
Value Personalism as a Lens to Read the Ten Commandments 311

Siegbert Riecker
Altes Testament und allgemeingültige Ethik: Plädoyer für ein
Second Quest nach den Noachidischen Geboten 325

Key words:

Altes Testament; Historie; Hermeneutik; Kanon; Theologie; Ethik; Deuteronomium; Speech Act Theory; Kohelet; Abtreibung; Pentateuch; Ketuvim; Hoheslied; Hosea 6; Nehemia 9-10; Oden Salomos; 1. Petrus; Jona; Impurity; Noachitische Gebote.

Hosea is a challenging book, but the main message is contained in the first three chapters, which describe Hosea’s call to an unhappy marriage, separation and divorce and final reconciliation. YHWH’s relationship to his people is demonstrated in Hosea’s marriage. Hosea’s experience of having an unfaithful wife who was also a prostitute demonstrates how YHWH experiences the spiritual adultery of his people: primarily Israel, but also Christians today. Hosea demonstrates not only YHWH’s anguish, but His unfailing love despite the depth of sin to which his loved ones fall. The problem of feminist textual criticism of the theme of male dominance in Hosea is examined. The effects of adultery, prostitution and divorce on children are examined in the light of Hosea. The paper attempts to draw from the experiences of Hosea practical advice for a recently separated persons: especially those victimized by their partner’s adultery.

"This thesis approaches Hosea chapters 1–3 at two levels. It deals with general issues arising when attempting to exegete these chapters and it also involves some in-depth analysis necessary when approaching some text and translation issues. The chapters are approached within a canonical context, the question being addressed is, “What is the intended meaning in the canonical selection and arrangement of the text.” A significant tool is the use of functional or discourse linguistics, where the function of the lexeme is determined first before translation may be attempted and where interpretation must take place in the context of the ongoing discourse in which it is found.

One of the significant exegetical issues approached is the oft-discussed problem of the identity of the woman in chapters one and three and the chapters’ relationship to each other. Also discussed is the identity of the woman in chapter two, as it appears that delayed identification is deliberately used as an emphatic tool.

The question of the significance of Jezreel in chapter one in particular is also examined. No solutions seem to address the theological problem raised by interpretations which place a negative assessment on Jehu’s actions—actions commanded by a prophet of יהוה which a later prophet, following a יהוה command, condemns. Rather than condemning Jehu’s excesses, an interpretation which removes this theological problem and also is consonant with the theme of religious infidelity found in chapter one reads the reference as condemning Jehu for his failure to fully execute the judgement commanded by יהוה.

The interpretation of ידע, a key concept in these chapters, is also addressed. Rather than “know”, which has cognitive import, a relational term, understanding”, seems to be the best way to translate the import of this word. Another translation issue is the problematic וְלֵ֥תֶךְ שְׂעֹרִֽים in 3:2. Little detailed work seems to have been done on this. Following an analysis of the possibilities, the variant found in the LXX is used to recreate the underlying Hebrew which provides a translation without the difficulties inherent in the current text.
"

This work investigates the parent-child imagery in Hosea in its ancient social, legal and religious settings. The focus is primarily on Hos 1-3, and 11, although other texts are also taken into consideration. Hosea's message initially  portrays Yhwh as the divine husband of the land (Hos 1:2), whose offspring, the Israelites, are threatened with disownment ("You are not my People, I am not your Ehyh") due to their worship of the Ba'als. Indeed, it is their crediting the Ba'als with the fertility of the land (their mother) that implicates the very land itself in "harlotry", or "whoredom." Divine judgment also includes a reversal of the land's fertility to a barren state in Hos 2, symbolized as a divorce ("she is not my wife, I am not her husband"). The significance of Hosea's marriage as a symbolic deed is also addressed. It is argued that his marriage with Gomer and the naming of their children bore the full significance of the symbolic acts which became the bases for the prophet's oracles. Hosea's message in chapter 1-3 apply to Yhwh's disownment of his "children" and his marriage with his "bride," and have nothing to do with the prophet's personal family history. In other words, Hosea's life and experience with Gomer do not function as an extended parable of God's relationship with Israel, neither by divine command nor retrospectively by prophetic reflection. Furthermore, Hosea's "purchase" of a woman in Hos 3 is a second version of of Hos 1-2, updated for a Judaean audience who attributed the future restoration of fertility to adherence to the Davidic monarchy. This study utilizes comparative Ancient Near Eastern (Babylonian, Assyrian, Ugaritic) material and anthropological kinship studies. It investigate marriage customs such as secondary marriages, bridewealth (mohar, "bride price"), and dowry, and how these function in cases of divorce. Harlotry (znh, znwnym) as a derogatory epithet for those engaged in worship of other gods is also be discussed. The background of Hosea's family imagery is explored through a variety of avenues. It is demonstrated that the status of children is determined by the type of marriage that their parents had; especially relevant is the childrens' maternally derived status. In this regard the  topics of legitimization,  adoption and disownment are also explored. (Ph.D. Dissertation, Boston University, 1987.)

Hosea diutus Allah untuk menyampaikan seruan terakhir kepada Israel untuk bertobat sebelum negeri itu benar-benar binasa. Jika bangsa Israel tetap tidak bertobat maka mereka akan mendapatkan hukuman yang berat (4:6). Salah satu seruan yang disampaikan terdapat pada pasal 6:3, yaitu ajakan untuk mengenal Allah dengan sungguh-sungguh. Pertanyaannya, mengapa Hosea mengajak orang Israel untuk mengenal Allah dengan sungguh-sungguh? Jawaban atas pertanyaan ini diulas dalam tulisan singkat ini.

Like the first volume in this series (WealthWatch, Pickwick, 2011) this volume attempts two things: (a) to examine the primary socioeconomic motifs in the Bible from a comparative intertextual perspective, and (b) to trace the trajectory formed by these motifs through Tanak into early Jewish and Nazarene texts. Where WealthWatch focuses on Torah, however, WealthWarn focuses on the single largest section of Tanak—the Prophets. Where the ancient Near Eastern texts surveyed in WealthWatch include the Epic of Gilgamesh, Atrahasis, and the Erra Epic, the texts examined here include Inanna's Descent, the Babylonian Creation Epic (enūma elish), the Disappearance of Telipinu, and the Ba`al Epic. Where the Jewish texts surveyed in WealthWatch include historical and sectarian texts, the texts studied here include Ezra-Nehemiah, the Epistle of Jeremiah and Tobit. Where the Nazarene texts in WealthWatch focus on the stewardship parables found in the Gospel of Luke, the texts examined here focus on several prophetic vignettes from the Gospel of Matthew and Acts of the Apostles.

Questa tesi si propone di esaminare il valore teologico dell’espressione con la quale Dio si presenta in Os 11,9: “Io sono Dio e non uomo”, all’interno della pericope letteraria alla quale appartiene. A Tal fine è importante seguire la dinamica di un contesto immediato nel libro di Osea, dove non compaiono indizi di una conversione né di un riconoscimento del peccato, da parte del popolo, mentre viene costantemente messa in luce l’iniziativa divina: è intento del divino di controllare la propria ira, mostrando pazienza, delicatezza, tolleranza e amore per il suo popolo.
La ricerca è stata sviluppata in quattro capitoli:
Nel primo capitolo, per indagare lo stato del testo, si confrontano le diverse testimonianze testuali. Alla critica testuale non spetta ricostruire un testo originario, anzi, confrontando le diverse letture, cercherà le varianti interpretative, verificandone il modo diverso con cui la parola di Dio viene ispirata all’interno di ogni comunità. Allo stesso tempo, la ricerca diacronica porta a ricostruire un probabile itinerario storico del testo. Nel secondo, poi, per delimitare l’oggetto dello studio viene effettuata l’indagine letteraria e strutturale che aiuta a cogliere il filo del ragionamento dell’oracolo stesso. Dopo di che, nel terzo, si inizia ad analizzare il testo con vari metodi che permettono di estrarne i vari elementi, verosimilmente “originali”, e riconoscere in seguito anche le tracce delle interpretazioni successive che hanno arricchito la teologia di Osea in tempi diversi. Alla fine, nell’ ultimo capitolo, la sintesi del testo riconfermerà che il Dio del libro di Osea, pur nella sua espressione altamente antropomorfica, va riconosciuto come Essere decisivamente diverso dall’uomo. Il suo amore è l’unica fonte della salvezza di Israele. Né potere né piano umano, ma solo la fede in Lui, ridonerà al suo popolo la vera libertà, e solo dopo una vera presa di coscienza di Dio, da parte del popolo stesso, Lui renderà possibile la realizzazione di un nuovo esodo.

At various points in the history of research, certain scholars have viewed Hosea 4 as a sewing together of multiple scattered fragments, while others have attempted to discern some units, but without reaching a consensus. The exegetes who propose real literary structures in this chapter are rare. This article shows that the chapter is composed of four well-structured units: a rîb-oracle (v. 1-3), an alternated parallelism (v. 4-6) and two chiasms (v. 7-10; 11-19). In addition, these literary structures reveal the central theme of this passage, which gives cohesion to the chapter in its final state: spiritulal "contagion", from the priests to the people and from the Israelites to their daughters.

Cyril of Alexandria, often regarded as a mediating voice between Antiochene and Alexandrian exegetes, frequently invokes his Christology as an argument for literal interpretation of the Old Testament. A typological link between the historia and the self-humbling of the Word, Cyril argues, is often good reason to accept the truth of the historia. I focus here on a narrative that troubled many patristic commentators: the prophet Hosea’s marriage to Gomer. Cyril maintained that it must be interpreted literally, precisely because Hosea’s union with Gomer was a type of the incarnate humility of Christ. To insist on the prophet’s moral purity would require that Hosea be “holier than the all-holy God.” This reading appears to be unique among patristic commentators, and I will argue that this should be attributed specifically to Cyril’s opposition to Antiochene dual-subject Christologies. Thus, Cyril’s apparent rapprochement with Antiochene exegetes was partly motivated by the deeply unitive Christology that they opposed.

There are two key places in Hosea where women’s sexual activity connects with religious activity.  In the first, the narrator compares Gomer, a “wife (or woman) of promiscuity,” to “. . . the land [which] commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2)  The second is a scene portrayed in the fourth chapter, where “your daughters play the whore,/ and your daughters-in-law commit adultery,” (Hosea 4:13)  It goes on to say, “The men themselves go aside with whores, and sacrifice with temple prostitutes.” (Hosea 4:14)  The word for “temple prostitutes” is the word “holy” with feminine ending, that is, “holy women.”  Many dispute the interpretation of this word.  Some suggest that Hosea describes actual practices of sacred prostitution in the Temple, whereby worshippers communed with gods or goddesses by having sex with appointed priests and priestesses.  Others define the word differently, or deny the literal sense of prostitution in the temple.  Another controversy concerns how Gomer’s story in chapter 1 relates to the sexual activity of the daughters, daughters-in-law, prostitutes, and holy prostitutes in chapter 4.  However, Hosea not as a product of an eighth century prophet, describing actual conditions in Israel in the eighth century.  There is no external evidence of sacred prostitution in Israel.  Rather, Hosea’s description of temple practices reflects how a later community, centuries later, imagined that life was like in the bad old days before Israel and Judah were destroyed.  It is a legendary space they describe, one which serves their storytelling needs.

This paper examines the function of the Omride enclosure at Jezreel in the Israelite kingdom's administration. The excavated remains, the similarity between the plan of the enclosure and that of the Assyrian "Fort Shalmaneser", and Biblical passages all argue in favour of a military function for this enclosure. Based on this military function, the symbolic meaning of the toponmym "Jezreel" in Hosea 1-3 is explored. The role of Jezreel in Jehu's revolt is also discussed.
In Hosea 2, the destruction of Israel's military emplacements, which is called “the day of Jezreel,” is seen as a positive development. As a result of this destruction, Israel resumes its reliance on God and the chapter concludes with a dialogue of mutual commitment. Jezreel's symbolism then reverts to its literal meaning “God will sow,”reinterpreted to refer to God’s acceptance of Israel’s renewed reliance on Him. An addendum to the paper argues for attributing the authorship of the Tel Dan stele to Hazael.

For a copy of the paper please contact me ONLY via Email.
Full citation of the paper:
Sergi, O. 2018. Jacob and the Aramaean Identity of Ancient Israel between the Judges and the Prophets. In: Brett, M. and Wöhrle, J. eds. The Politics of the Ancestors: Exegetical and Historical Perspectives on Genesis 12–36. Tübingen: 283–305.

A linguagem peculiar do profeta Oseias utiliza diversas metáforas ligadas a cultos femininos e da fertilidade. Tal aspecto tem levado estudiosos, que operam principalmente por métodos históricos, a utilizarem oráculos do profeta para a reconstruçâo do culto da fertilidade, com especial atenção às prostituta s cultuais, procedimento tomado com desconfiança na atualidade. O artigo, procurando rever tal caracterização e consenso , repensa a religiosidade popular feminina no contexto literário de Os 9,10-17. tendo como base teorias da metáfora cognitiva. Percebe-se , com isso, a importância generalizada da religião feminina no contexto do Israel Norte que funciona como fonte da metáfora, sendo a condição sociopolítica do Israel Norte o alvo.

The enigmatic 12th chapter of Hosea neither bears witness to the state of development nor to the existence of a pre-priestly Jacob tradition in the 8th century BCE. The literary-historical core of the chapter can be found in the pre-deuteronomistic accusation and the announcement of judgment against the deceitful Ephraim. The references to Jacob are later additions which reflect on the moral and theological significance of the ancestor for contemporary Israel by drawing on the canonical Jacob narratives.

The first part of the article deals with four different understandings of Hosea 6:6 in the context of that entire book: (1) the repudiation of the cult as such; (2) the rejection of a particular notion of cult; (3) the priority of ethics over the cult; and (4) the symbiosis of cult and ethics, i.e. that an authentic cult interweaves ethical values and proper ritual conduct. The author concludes that the fourth interpretation best fits the message of the Book of Hosea. The second part of the article deals with the problem of the textual Vorlage which would have been used by Matthew. He seems to have quoted the Hebrew text in a way that remains faithful to his contemporary hermeneutical rule, according to which each element of a biblical parallelism was to be interpreted separately, based on the belief that every single line carried equal weight and conveyed a new truth or a new law. The Matthean rereading of Hosea 6:6, the focus of the third part, is presented from two perspectives: the synchronic and the diachronic. In the synchronic presentation, the main point of concern is the contribution of the quotes in 9:13 and 12:7 to the understanding of those Matthean pericopes. Finally, the diachronic reading deals with the Matthean use of Hosea 6:6 within the context of the Matthean community and its dialogue with the Rabbinic Judaism of that day.

The goal of this research is to contribute with de discovery of the best method of solving difficult critic textual problems in the book of Hosea through a test of one of the latest strategies, the theory of the existence of a specific dialect, the Israelian Hebrew, supposedly present in the book. Indirectly, it also seeks to advance our knowledge of the Hebrew language of the eighth century BC, when studying both existence and specific contribution of the dialect referred to the science of textual criticism

Matthew rightly interpreted Hos 11:1 as a reference to the historical exodus that anticipated an eschatological exodus led by the Messiah. Matthew was attentive to the fact that Hosea repeatedly used the image of the Egyptian bondage to portray Israel's Assyrian exile and thus utilized the image of the exodus to portray Israel's restoration (Hos 2:14-15; 8:13; 9:6; 11:5). Like his Jewish contemporaries, Matthew recognized that the Messiah would fulfill the prophecy regarding the coming of a prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15-19) and thus would lead God's people on the promised new exodus from this continuing exile. Matthew quoted Hos 11:1 because he saw Jesus' return from Egypt as signaling the beginning of this new exodus.

The idea that a wife’s marital unfaithfulness brought disgrace upon her husband is not clearly attested in the Hebrew Bible. The passages dealing with adultery are more interested in the pollution that results from it, rather than in the honour of the cheated husband. Such pollution is the consequence of actions that undermine the order of the world and bring disaster upon the community.  It is therefore unwise to read the ‘Mediterranean notion’ of shame and honour into biblical texts. This also applies to Moon’s recent proposal about ‘Hosea’s marriages’. His idea that Israel’s adultery in Hosea chs. 1-3 undermines the honour of Yahweh who is thereby portrayed as willingly embracing humiliation cannot stand under closer scrutiny.

OTE 32/2 (2019) is dedicated as a Festschrift to Phil J. Botha, Pretoria (well known Psalms scholar and earlier General editor of OTE).– Starting from the questioning of intertextuality, its possibilities, methods and challenges, the evidence of the (war) bow (קשׁת) in the Asaph psalms (Ps 76; 78) and in the Hosea script (Hos 1-2; 7) is subjected to a comparative analysis. The study shows broad similarities and refers to a common prophetic-levitic-northern Israelite environment. Probably the arch documents in the Asaph psalms were formulated with knowledge of the Hosea passages.

Churches need to engage with men in order to transform dangerous ideas about manhood in Africa. The HIV epidemic calls for the immediate action on attitudes to sex and sexual violence (Chitando 2007: 46). In the age of HIV and AIDS, masculinity and manhood roles, tendencies and attitudes have become matters of life and death (Maluleke 2007). Defining the Problem: Violent Youth Masculinities in one HIV&AIDS Context In the past twenty-eight years of living with HIV&AIDS and the effort to contain its spread, Botswana has undertaken an intense promotion of the sexual ethics of abstinence from premarital sex for adolescents and young adults; consistent and correct condom use for the sexually active and faithfulness among those in committed relationships. This promotion has been marked by a parallel male discourse of resistance that took three different forms over time. 1 The first stage of resistance was characterized by counter-myth and sayings. One saying, counteracting the promotion of condom use, held that " ga o kake wa ja nekere e phuthetswe, " that is, one cannot eat a wrapped candy (Shaibu & Dube 2002:7). It is not an exaggeration that in an HIV&AIDS context a penis could be as good as a deadly shot of HIV infected sperms, hence the promotion of condoms. Be that as it may, the masculinities of resistance insisted on unprotected sex by constructing the penis as a candy-a sweet candy-one that must be fully enjoyed, unwrapped. This is but one saying among a whole host of sayings of the counter discourse that sought to resist the promotion of condom use, including " mythologies such as condoms have worms " (7). In a research that we carried, focusing on high school-going adolescents on Gender, Sexuality, HIV/AIDS and Life Skills in Education, the boys said they, " never admit to a fear of HIV/AIDS: " We brag when with friends, claiming to be kings of AIDS " " (Chilisa, Dube, Tsheko & Mazile 2002:112). One that I found memorable was when we asked them what they have heard about HIV&AIDS. One of their answers was that some people say, " let us have sex now, for in the future HIV will be airborne! " (105). Obviously, this saying is a powerful counter statement against the promotion of abstinence that constructs HIV as less dangerous in its current transmission form. 1 Although I discuss three forms of male resistance, I believe they can be five: the strategy of HIV positive male partners who insisted, against the will of their female partners and during the times when HIV Prevention of Mother to Child Programs were not available, to have children; and the rise of multiple concurrent partners. The latter are quite different from the traditional practice of the so-called small house, which allowed a married man to be involved with another woman who was not his wife but who was officially reported to his wife, family and children and was known to the wider society. The so-called small houses were some form of polygamy; although the man could choose not to marry the second woman it was a known and lifetime relationship. In the HIV and AIDS context, small houses have evolved into the multiple concurrent partners, counteracting the HIV messages. Consequently, the National Campaign Plan: Multiple Concurrent Partnership of Botswana was launched March 2009.

Untangling the growth of the Jacob Cycle and the historical realities behind it is of enduring interest, as the studies on the Jacob Cycle in recent years indicate. It seems to be one of the oldest origin traditions preserved in the Hebrew Bible. In spite of the previous consensus in the field, new studies and current archaeological findings have scrutinized several of the previous “certainties”, leading to a debate on whether some of the basic assumptions should be modified or even rejected.
This volume comprises seven articles from renown international specialists in the field that offer comprehensive insights into new approaches and current research questions. The unique perspective lays in its combining of literary, archaeological, and historical approaches in order to understand and to evaluate the historical realities behind the Jacob Cycle and its traditions.
Benedikt Hensel: The History of the Jacob Cycle in Recent Research: An Introduction to the Volume – Konrad Schmid: Shifting Political Theologies in the Literary Development of the Jacob Cycle – Friederike Neumann: Jacob, Laban, and the Two Daughters: Insights into the Formation of the Jacob-Laban Story (Genesis 29–31) – Benedikt Hensel: Edom in the Jacob Cycle (Gen *25–35): New Insights on Its Positive Relations with Israel, the Literary-Historical Development of Its Role, and Its Historical Background(s) – Jakob Wöhrle: Jacob from Israel and Jacob from Judah: Reflections upon the Formation and the Historical Backgrounds of the Jacob Story – Christian Frevel: Jacob as Father of the Twelve Tribes: Literary and Historical Considerations – Guy Darshan: The Priestly Account of the End of Jacob’s Life: The Significance of Text-Critical Evidence – Aharon Tavger: “And He Called the Name of that Place Bethel” (Gen 28:19): Historical-Geography and Archaeology of the Sanctuary of Bethel

One of the most memorable features of the book of Hosea is its characterization of Israel as the unfaithful wife of YHWH. The book in many places portrays Israel's acts of idolatry in terms of marital infidelity. Furthermore, the placement of an extended marriage metaphor at the start of the book means that subsequent pericopes are read from this hermeneutical perspective1. This raises the questions of how Israel's actions are comparable to adultery and why this is a problem for Hosea2. This essay argues that the problem with Israel's actions, both through idolatry and international politics, is that they emasculate YHWH. That is, Israel insults YHWH's manhood by looking to others for provision, protection, and fertility3. This essay first examines the ideal relationship envisioned by Hosea for YHWH and Israel. Subsequently, it demonstrates how Israel's actions insult YHWH's capabilities as a husband. Finally, it shows how the punitive and reconciliatory actions envisaged by YHWH can be read as assertions of YHWH's manhood4. That is, as actions which assert YHWH as the alpha male over Israel's lovers.

Contrasting receptions of Exodus in the prophetic books are at hand. How do they relate to one another? The question of the identity of post-Exilic Israel is not the only discourse underlying the reception of Exodus in the prophets. Another problem is at stake: how to relaunch history after the catastrophe and exile? On what grounds is the relationship between Yhwh and Israel to be renewed and its stability secured?
I argue that conflicting receptions of Exodus in the prophets reflect the discussion about whether and to what extent the traditions of Exodus offer a sound basis for relaunching history.

By J.N. Pohlig --This study accounts for the forms and functions of the similes in the Book of Hosea. It proposes new tools for textual criticism, biblical interpretation, and understanding Biblical Hebrew (BH) worldview. Chapter One presents the task we have chosen for ourselves, its nature, some obstacles from other areas of scholarship, and the foundational notions of embodiment and Prototype Theory. Chapter Two presents principles drawn from Cognitive Semantics and Cognitive Syntax. A weakened version of the Lakoff-Johnson conceptual metaphor theory is adopted, and the key notions of embodiment and judgments of prototypicality are presented. Elements of Conceptual Blending are presented and adapted for simile analysis. Finally, text-based differences between metaphors and similes are discussed. Chapter Three presents cognitive cultural constructs of Strauss and Quinn: cultural schemas, cultural exemplars, cultural models, and cultural themes. Strauss and Quinn’s conclusions about metaphors’ use in everyday speech are shown to agree with our postulation of speaker assessment of the hearer’s ability to process utterances before they are produced. This postulation allows us to erect one part of a theory of simile. Chapter Three then integrates metaphor with the Strauss-Quinn cultural meaning model, and then with Boroditsky’s Weak Structuring view of metaphor. The effect is to provide a reasonable basis, amenable to empirical investigation, for the investigation of both metaphor and simile. Finally, the notions of embodiment and prototypicality are applied to the Strauss-Quinn model. Chapter Four presents various assumptions and conclusions that are later used to analyze Hosea’s similes. These include: (1) elements of Floor’s (2004a) model of Information Structure for BH narrative, with modifications and additions for poetry; (2) three cognitive types of similes in Hosea, posited for working purposes; (3) an adaptation of the conceptual blending apparatus to similes; (4) hypotheses to account for the distribution of similes versus that of metaphors in BH poetry, and to account for patterned differences in how various kinds of concepts are combined and manipulated; (5) an integration of these patterns with the three simile types; and (6) correlation of the cultural constructs of cultural schema, cultural theme, and cultural model with Hosea’s similes and metaphors. Chapter Five presents a number of scholarly views of the Book of Hosea, and characterizes the principal authorities cited in the next chapter. Chapter Six deductively applies all the foregoing theory to an examination of Hosea’s similes. Other observations are made inductively: (1) kinaesthetic image schemas’ role in Hosea’s poetry; (2) systematic difference in the use of similes versus metaphors in image elaboration; and (3) Information Structure’s role in simile analysis. Chapter Seven summarizes this study’s research and conclusions concerning, e.g., (1) the criteria for accounting for the embodiment and judgments of prototypicality characterizing Hosea’s similes; (2) the dependence of Hosea and his audience upon knowledge of themselves and their environment for their view of YHWH; and (3) the aid brought by a cognitive theory of similes in the task of textual criticism. Chapter Eight discusses prospects for further research and possible implications for translating Hosea’s similes and metaphors.