Today we begin to read the prophecy of Hosea, the first of the minor prophets. We won't get very far; just through the first verse. But before we even do that, we ought to take a peek at the order of the prophets.
There are actually two orders that the twelve prophets are situated in, in different eras of the Bible. As Protestant Christians, we follow the same order that the Jewish Bible does, starting with Hosea and finishing with Malachi. At first glance, the ordering seems to be haphazard, inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. From Genesis to Nehemiah, the scriptures are told in historical order, starting at the creation of the world (the "Primeval history"), following through the exodus out of Egypt and the history of the nations of Israel and Judah, ending up with the reestablishment of the kingdom of Judah after the Babylonian exile. While the books themselves don't read quite like histories, they at least seem to follow historical order.
In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was in use during Jesus' lifetime, the twelve minor prophets are presented in roughly historical order. It makes sense. We read the words of the prophets in the order in which they were delivered, understanding them in the context of the communities to which they were spoken. There's some sense to this. It's important for us to know the historical context to which the prophecy was directed. If it's true that, as we said last time, the prophets are more interested in the here and now, it's helpful to know what the here and now is. When prophets talk about the royal family's injustices, we want to know which royal family they're talking about.
But the Hebrew Bible doesn't do that. Instead the prophets come in a seemingly random order. It will be an interesting question for us to consider as we read through the prophets, trying to figure out why they show up in the order they're in. We'll make some connections across multiple prophets when we get to certain ideas or turns of phrase, things that wouldn't be as evident otherwise. It will take some time for those things to reveal themselves.
For the time being, notice what it means to LOSE that sense of historicality by putting the prophets in a different order. As we de-emphasize the historical context of the prophets, what else comes into focus? Personally, I think it helps us to take the prophets not as words for a day long gone, but as words for today. Breaking the prophets free of their particular time and place helps us reimagine them as speaking to us. (Of course, in order to understand what they're saying to us, it helps to know what they were saying way back when. It's a give and take.)
As we look at Hosea, we begin with a firm grounding in the historical context of the book. Here's verse 1:
The Word of YHWH which was to Hosea, son of Beeri,in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judahand in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel.
Many of the prophets do this, placing themselves firmly in their historical context by naming the kings under whom they prophesied. There's a little bit of a problem here, though. The first set of kings are of the southern kindgom, Judah. We get four listed. Uzziah reigned over Judah from about 770 B.C.E. to about 740. Not exactly the 52 years of his reign described in scripture, but we're taking estimates, so don't get concerned about that too much. Jotham followed him, for a brief reign, followed by Ahaz for a good 16 years, and then Hezekiah until about 687.
Then we're told that Hosea prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel. He ruled Israel, the northern kingdom, from 785 to about 750. Which is to say that he died while Uzziah was still king of Judah. If the first part of the verse is correct, and Hosea prophesied until Hezekiah reigned in the south, we should get a longer list of kings of the north: Not just Jeroboam, but also Zachariah, Shallum, Menachem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea. In fact, Hoshea was the last king of Israel; the northern nation was destroyed by the Assyrians before Hezekiah even began to rule the south!
For clarity (since that list of names is probably confusing): If the list of the kings of Judah in verse one of Hosea is correct, then the list of the kings of Israel should include six more names as well as acknowledging the destruction of Israel. If, however, the list of the kings of Israel is correct, the first list should simply read, "Uzziah." Why the disparity? In thinking about it, it might help to know that scholars understand Hosea to be a prophet of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), not of the southern kingdom (Judah).
I'm still feeling my way into the idea of doing this study online. My preferred way of "teaching" is to ask questions and let the group argue them out. It doesn't work so well in this medium. Let's try anyway. I'm going to leave that question hanging in the air. See if you can come up with some possible answers, and email them to me (which I'll post. Let me know if you'd rather I not use your name). I'll give my answer either later this week or in next week's post. So, here are the questions for thought this week:
1) Why might the prophets be given in the order they appear in our Bible? Why not historical order? What changes does that make to the way we understand what they have to say?
2) Why is it important to know the historical context in which the prophet spoke? What does that have to do with hearing the prophets for us today?
3) Why might the first verse of Hosea span 75 or more years of the Southern Kingdom's history, but only 30 or 40 years of the Northern Kindgom's history at most?
From Jed L:
1) Perhaps the order of the prophets is to get the reader to become aware of important lessons and ways to behave? The prophets could be grouped into similar ideas or lessons that Israel should remember? Thinking on the idea that history repeats itself, if the prophets aren’t ordered in historical order, but are grouped by types prophetic lessons that society should remember, we might be able to see good and bad leader behavior, types of responses people have to crisis, or how people have responded to God’s direction?
2) Knowing the historical context brings validity to the story and message. I’m a believer that talking about historical events and conditions at the time of the writer helps explain why people did or did not do at the time. The historical context of Hosea’s prophecy gives us perspective of the challenges during those times relative to the challenges of our times. We can then discuss what worked and what didn’t work during those times? Or how were relationships, such as between genders, rulers, families, tribes, similar or dissimilar to relationships in our times?
3) Hum, did Hosea spend most of his time in the Southern Kingdom and then later on in his writings go to the Northern Kingdom? It seems like he was busy. : )
No comments:
Post a Comment