| The present study undertakes a comprehensive (especially comparative) exploration of Hos 2's major metaphors (marriage, wife/mother, fornication, adultery, lovers, baal[s]) and the ways in which they contribute to the rhetorical dimensions of the passage as a whole from a distinctly historical perspective.; The classical conception of rhetoric as the art of persuasion within a particular rhetorical-historical situation connects nicely with the oracular characteristics of Hos 2. Specifically for this oracle, the function of metaphor within persuasive discourses and social settings illuminates the text's use of metaphors like the wife/mother, fornication, adultery, lovers, and baal(s).; In employing these particular metaphors, Hos 2 taps into well-substantiated, biblical and extrabiblical traditions that could function persuasively within the prophet's own social context in the eighth-century. Furthermore, all of these metaphors evidence a political use in which they describe relationships, allies, and entities within the political realm. The meanings of the major metaphors within the prophet's social context thus provide clues to the type of rhetorical-historical situation being addressed and the function of metaphor in general, and these metaphors in particular, for the audience in that situation.; This type of comparative, contextual, and rhetorical analysis suggests that Hos 2 uses the form, process, and property arrangements of ancient Near Eastern and Jewish marriage traditions to depict a separation between Yahweh and the capital city Samaria, which is cast as a wife and mother. It further uses the biblical metaphorical traditions of “fornication” and “adultery” as representations of improper political actions. These include a tradition of using the terms “lovers” and “baals” as metaphors referring to political allies. The prophet's speech in Hos 2 may thus find a suitable rhetorical-historical setting in the Syro-Ephraimitic crisis (734–731 B.C.E.), a situation in which Samaria's ruling house joined with a leading confederate and other allies to pursue a new political policy. Hosea 2 employs these relational, personal, and familial metaphors in order to offer a metaphorical and theological commentary on the events involving Samaria at the close of the crisis. This prophetic commentary purports to present the deity's own perspective, plan, and passion about seemingly contingent political happenings. |
