Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:hosea Chapter 14 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of hosea, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Hosea 14
New Revised Standard Version
1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
2Take words with you and return to the LORD; say to him, "Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips.
3Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; we will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy."
4I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.
5I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily, he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.
6His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
7They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like the vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
8O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; your faithfulness comes from me.
9Those who are wise understand these things; those who are discerning know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. JOEL
1814JOEL Introduction Of the prophet Joel himself nothing is known except that he was the son of Pethuel (1.1). From his book it appears that he lived in Judah during the Persian period (539-331 BCE). Thus the book's placement between Hosea and Amos among the Minor Prophets is not chronological and is apparently based on thematic and verbal correspondences between the end of Joel and the beginning of Amos. Joel 3.16a and Amos 1.2a are identical, and the final chapter of Joel and the initial chapter of Amos contain oracles against Tyre and Philistia. Joel is not only acquainted with the Temple at Jerusalem, but is so much interested in its priesthood and services that, like Haggai and Zechariah, he can be considered a "cultic prophet," that is, a prophet who could exercise his ministry within the life of the Temple, even using liturgical forms, and whose message may have been transmitted through priestly circles. As such, Joel helps to mark a notable change in prophecy in the Hebrew Bible. Taking the characteristic forms of classical prophecy, he expands their apocalyptic and liturgical dimensions. The dates of Joel's career cannot be determined with precision. The majority of historical references in the book, the absence of any mention of the Assyrians or Babylonians, and the heavy borrowing from other prophets point to the period from about 400-350 BCE. The book has two major section, and the second builds on the first. Joel viewed a locust plague that ravaged the country — a plague that devastated both the human community and the natural world — as God's judgment on the people, and he called them to repentance (1.22.27). Using this catastrophe as a dire warning, Joel went on to depict JOEL
1815the coming of the "Day of the Lord" and its final judgments and blessings (2.28-3.21).