Shaking Up the People

This article makes the case that Hos 14:2–3 is the earliest positive call to return (שׁוב) to YHWH in the Hebrew Bible and asks why it is precisely here that repentance is spoken of no longer negatively in reproach but positively in exhortation. First, it argues for a pre-exilic dating of Hos 14:2–5 by referring to Jer 2:35; 3:22; 4:8; 23:20, and 30:24. These passages in Jeremiah quote or allude to Hos 14:5, which speaks of the divine wrath being turned away from Israel. Second, the study argues that it was in the reflection on the fall of the Northern Kingdom that the words of Hosea were collected and expanded upon. In doing so, the scribes sought to make the downfall of the Northern Kingdom understandable as YHWH’s responsibility and to shake up the people: for the divine wrath to disappear, Israel must now return to YHWH.