The Reversal Of Creation in Hosea

DeRoche, Michael (McMaster U., Hamilton, Ontario) Vetus Testamentum, 1981,

31(4), 400-409

Allen Johnson

Rt. 1, Box 119-B

Dunmore, West Virginia 24934

Theology of the Minor Prophets

Dr. Tom McDaniel

EBTS

Fall, 1994

"Hosea iv 1-3 has never been a controversial passage ... scholars have all been of a single mind regarding the meaning of the passage" (p. 400). Enter exception Michael Deroche, who in this study chips in a challenge to the interpretation of the word rib and illuminates the reference to the animal kingdom in verse 3 as a precisely drawn theological construct.

It is universally agreed, states Deroche, that in this passage Yahweh indicts Israel for transgression of the covenant both toward God (lack of devotion, faithfulness, and knowledge), and toward neighbor ("cursing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery") (p. 402). However, while other scholars translate the word rib as a "covenant lawsuit" by Yahweh against Israel, Deroche contends this is a "gross misunderstanding" (p. 400). A lawsuit requires that evidence be gathered for presentation to an impartial judge who will hear from plaintiff and defendant, render a decision, and carry out sentence. But in this passage no appeal is made to an outside judge. Rather, this rib is a quarrel of one party with another. Although Deroche does not directly mention suzerainty covenant he implies such in his assertion that Yahweh can justly punish Israel within the bounds of His own authority.

Deroche seems less than convincing in this translation of rib. For example, Hosea 2:4 seems to be a representation in which Yahweh takes Israel to court as an unfaithful wife. Certainly this is a literary device, but why cannot Yahweh appeal to His covenant word as a court, in same manner that Jesus in the temptations in the wilderness appealed to the word of God in rebuttal to the devil?

The heart of Deroche's article however is a careful comparison of Hosea's creation order to that of the Genesis account. Deroche posits that the P account of creation (priestly) was in popular circulation during the seventh century BCE, and he quotes observations of W.L. Holaday in his analysis of Zephaniah's and Jeremiah's analogous constructs (see Zeph. 1:2,3). In the P account of creation (Genesis 1), the animals are created in this order—fish, then birds, finally beasts of land. This order is further reinforced in the dominion passages (Gen. 1:26, 28) and in the passages which designate vegetation as food for humankind and animal alike (Gen. 1:29,30).

Yet Hosea precisely reverses this creation order in the contention and judgment of Yahweh (Hos. 4:3)—beasts of the field, birds of the air, even fish of the sea will perish (p. 401). To Deroche this construct is premeditated: "The stability of Yahweh's created order is dependent upon Israel's fidelity to her covenant with Yahweh. If Israel breaks the covenant by following the idolatrous practices of the nations, Yahweh's creation will be uncreated ( ’sp) and consequently, all will be lost" (p. 407).

Deroche mines other Hosean passages to support this thesis that creation order is contingent to covenant faithfulness of God's chosen people. For example, the harsh pronouncement in Hosea 2:14 changes the dietary similitude of humankind and animal (as in Genesis 1:29, 30), so that "Israel's fields are taken from her and given to the beasts" (p. 406). Yet when Yahweh restores Israel to Himself (Hos. 2:20) the stated creation order of fish, birds, beasts aligns with the harmony between God, creation and Israel.

Deroche Concludes without any projection into our contemporary scene. This is tantalizing for me as a Christian, ecologist, and social activist. If Deroche is correctly interpreting Hosea, then Yahweh is predicating the integrity of creation upon the faithfulness of His people to His claim upon them in conjunction also with loving conduct and justice to human community. Is it then more than coincidence that this present 20th century, which has witnessed the highest carnage of bloodshed, disparity between the wealthy and the impoverished, and a spate of "improved" technological and mammon-based idols, has also witnessed major reductions and numerous extinctions in wild animal populations in rough proportion to the inverse creation order posed by Hosea? May we Christians heed!!!