Prophesying the Past: The Use of Israel's History in the Book of Hosea.

• Author: Hurowitz, Victor

By ELSE KRAGELUND HOLT. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series, 194. Sheffield: SHEFFIELD ACADEMIC PRESS, 1995. Pp. 160. [pounds]27.50, $41.

This revised University of Aarhus Ph.D. dissertation discusses the traditions about Israel's past available to Hosea and how he and subsequent redactors of the book used, understood, interpreted, and reworked them. The book of Hosea, according to Holt, is a "patchwork" made up of two collections of prophecies going back to Hosea or his immediate circle (a discussion of the book's peculiar diction would have been in order here). These collections were brought to Judah by exiles from the north and redacted there. They were redacted again during the Exilic period.

The traditions, investigated in thorough exegetical, redaction-critical, and theological arguments, relate to Jacob, the election of Israel, and Israel's repeated apostasy. For Holt, Jacob is a patriarch whose "conversion" to YHWH's service should stand as an example to his descendants. Israel was elected in several ways that need not be mutually exclusive. On the one hand, Hosea has no conception of a covenant as constituting the original bond between YHWH and his people, and the marital or familial bonds of Israel and God are but metaphors. Instead, the election of Israel was an ongoing process, taking place in the desert, in Egypt, and in the cultivated land. YHWH's care for Israel in the past justifies his demand for their exclusive allegiance in the present. Hosea demands that the people have "knowledge of YHWH" (da at YHWH), which means knowledge of his saving acts in the past. This crucial knowledge is to be imparted by the priests, lead Israel to "conversion," i.e., accepting YHWH as its sole deity, and doing hesed.

Holt has presented a very meticulous analysis of the pertinent pericopes in the Book of Hosea, emphasizing their redactional forms and she often deals with the meaning of difficult words and expressions. All this serves for better understanding the book's message. She skillfully winds her way through a maze of contending opinions about numerous issues. Hosea scholars will find the book illuminating and stimulating.

Nonetheless, the book has problems. Holt attempts to "modernize" Hosea scholarship, bringing it into step with...