The prophet Hosea was an early Biblical critic, who condemned the book of Kings and the book Judges. In the section titled dueling prophets it was established that Hosea was a critical thinker , not to mention one of the earliest recorded practioners of Biblical source and redaction criticism, and that he did not hold to the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible, nor did he believe that everything recorded in the Bible, in Judges or the book of Kings, was the infallible Word of God. It should come as no surprise to find that this is not the only example of thissort thing to be found in his booklet.
In chapter five of the booklet we find written:"Hear this, you priests, and let the royal house mark my words. Sentence has been passed on you for youhave been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out at Tabor, and deep pit at Shittim. I shall punish them all." (Hosea Chapter 5 verse 1)
Tabor refers to the place of the anointing ofthe first king, Saul. The reference to Shittim is an allusion to the parable ofBalaam, the false prophet.
"When the Israelites were at Shittim they worshippedthe Baal Peor and kindled the wrath of God." (Numbers Chapter 25 verse 1)
As the parable continued, Mosestook the leaders of the people and had them hurled headfirst over the nearestcliff. In the context in which Hosea employs the reference, the corrosivesarcasm would not have been lost on the Royal house, and the priests arecompared to Balaam, a recurring motif in Hosea's pamphlet.
"They became guiltyof Baal worship and died, and now they sin more and more. It has been said ofthese people that they offer human sacrifices." (Hosea Chapter 13 verse 1)
In this section I will examine another example which illustrates that the prophet Hosea attacked the positive rendering of an event in a Biblical manuscript. Consider first the following passage from the book of Hosea:
"Blow the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Sound the battle cry in Beth-Aven. 'Look behind you, Benjamin!' (Note: in some translations-'to yourbattle stations, Benjamin!') On the day of their punishment, Ephraim will belaid waste. Judah's rulers are like men who move their neighbour's boundarystone. On them I will pour out my wrath like a flood. Ephraim is an oppressor,trampling on justice, obstinately pursuing what is worthless. But I am going tobe like a festering wound, like a constantly nagging canker sore to them all." (Hosea Chapter 5 verse 8)
Before I continue, I will give you a little background information on the above passage. For many centuries the ancient Jewish people were split into twokingdoms, Israel in the north, and Judah in the south. Ephraim was the tribe ofthe hereditary monarchy in Israel, and any reference to Ephraim is a referenceto the monarchy (note the equivalency with 'Judah's rulers' and the explicitreference to the royal house in the opening passage of the segment). Bethel wasthe religious center in the northern Kingdom of Israel, and it means 'house ofGod'. Beth-Aven is a play on words. It means 'house of wickedness'. Benjaminwas bordered by the territory of Ephraim and Judah. (Note the reference to'boundary stones' and 'look behind you, Benjamin!')
If we wish to begin to understand what the cryptic sounding references in the fifth and sixth chapters of Hosea refer to, we need once again to consult aBiblical concordance. Our search will be helped immensely by the fact thatthere are only a few references to both Ramah and Gibeah, most of which arerather meaningless. What we are looking for is a biblical narrative containingreferences to the following features highlighted by Hosea in his polemic:
"Deceitful priests (Shittim) in league with the royal house (Tabor) with theirdeception occurring at Mizpah; references to Ramah and Gibeah; Ephraim falling into guilt and thenleading Judah to do the same; sacrificing sheep and cattle while unsuccessfullyseeking God; war involving Benjamin; Ephraim's guilt; Judah violating hisneighbour's boundary; Judah and Ephraim offering sacrifices rather than showingmercy; a trail of blood at Gilead; priests murdering on the road."
And inkeeping with our previous analysis, there should also be a prophet giving theorder to kill.
It turns out that there is only one significant reference to Gibeah and Ramah in the entire bible, and, oh coincidence, the story also features everyother motif I just mentioned from this polemic in the book of Hosea. The falseprophet is, in this case, a priest, in keeping with the allusion to Balaam inleague with the leaders at Shittim. The story is found in the 19th to 21st chapters ofthe book of Judges. To simplify matters I will follow the quotes from Judges (in black)with the relevant passages from Hosea in RED, enclosed in brackets. Passages referring to the Sodom story will be in Italics and colored BLUE.
A Levite left Bethlehem in Judah, taking with him a young man and a youngfemale slave.
"Come, we will find some other place, Gibeah or Ramah, to spendthe night. (Note: in the territory of Benjamin)." (Judges Chapter 19 verse 13)
"We aretraveling from Bethlehem in Judah to the heart of the hill country in Ephraim.(Note: straight through Benjamite territory.)" (Judges Chapter 19 verse 18)In the followingpassages the Benjamite men show up, and the allusion is taken straight from thestory of Sodom and Gomorrah. Here we can see political propaganda against theBenjamite tribe taking form.
In the Sodom story, Lot begged his visitors to stay the night.
"'I pray you, sirs, spend the night at my house and bathe your feet.' 'No,' theyreplied. 'We will spend the night in the street.' But Lot was so insistentthat they went to his house." (Genesis Chapter 19 verse 2)
In the Judges story an old mantook the Judeans in.
"He was from the hill-country of Ephraim, though he livedin Gibeah with the Benjamites." (Judges Chapter 19 verse 16)
The old man thus became a typeof Lot, a good man living in 'Sodom'.
"He took them inside and having bathedtheir feet, they ate and drank." (Judges Chapter 19 verse 21)Lot took in visitors and thenthe men of Sodom tried to rape them.
"The men of Sodom, both young and old,without any exceptions, surrounded the house. They called out to Lot, 'whereare the men who came to you tonight. Bring them out here so that we can rapethem.'" (Genesis Chapter 19 verse 4)
Now the same motif is replayed, only this time the target of the polemic is the tribe of Benjamin.
"They (the Benjamites in Gibeah) surrounded the house (of the 'Lot' character). They beat the door violently and shouted, 'bring out the man who has come toyour house so that we can rape him.'" (Judges Chapter 19 verse 22)
In the Sodom story, Lot then when out to plead with the men of Sodom.
"Lot went outside and said, "No,my friends, do not do anything so wicked. Look. I have two daughters, bothvirgins. Let me bring them out to you. Do to them what you wish. But donothing to these men, for they are my guests." (Genesis Chapter 19 verse 6)
"The old man wentoutside and said, 'No, my friends, do nothing so wicked. This man is my guest;do not commit this outrage! Here is my daughter, who is a virgin, and the man'sfemale slave. Let me bring them out to you. Abuse them and do what you please;but you must not commit such an outrage against this man.'" (Judges Chapter 19 verse 23)Youshould make note of the fact that in near eastern culture, today as it was inancient times, nothing is considered more shameful or disgraceful than theabusing of a house guest. The depravity of the Benjamites was great indeed! (Apparently tossing virgins to a mob of sex crazed rapists was not considered'shameful' in that culture, this being preferable to the rape of a man.)
The next morning the female slave was found dead, and the man from Judah cut up the corpse into twelve pieces which he sent through the length andbreadth of Israel. Everyone said, "nothing like this has ever happened before!"
All the tribes, including those from Gilead, assembled at Mizpah. (Judges Chapter 20 verse 1)
("Hear this, you priests, and let the royal house mark my words. Sentence has been passed on you for you have been a snare at Mizpah." Hosea 5:1 "Gilead is a haunt of evildoers, marked by a trail of blood." (Hosea Chapter 6 verse 8)
"Thisis what we will do to Gibeah. We will attack Gibeah in Benjamin to avenge thisoutrage that has taken place in Israel. Thus all the Israelites, united to aman, were massed against the town." (Judges Chapter 20 verse 9)
"The Benjamites flocked fromtheir towns to Gibeah to battle with the Israelites. The Israelites at oncemassed at Bethel to seek an oracle from YAHWEH. They enquired, 'who shalllead the attack against Benjamin.' (Phineas, the priest) answered, 'Judah mustlead the attack." (Judges Chapter 20 verses 14, 18, 27)
("Blow the horn in Ramah (ie. in theterritory of Benjamin, neighbouring Gibeah) the trumpet in Gibeah. Sound thebattle cry in Bethaven (ie. Bethel, in the territory of Ephraim). Look behindyou, Benjamin! (or, 'to battle stations, Benjamin!'). On the day of theirpunishment, Ephraim will be laid waste. Judah's rulers are like men who movetheir neighbour's boundary stone. On them I will pour out my wrath like aflood." (Hosea Chapter 5 verse 8)The Benjamites at first defeated the combined Israeli and Judean forces.
Once againwe have a prophet preaching, 'Kill them!'"The Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel, where they sat before theLord lamenting, and offered whole offerings and shared offerings before theLord. They enquired, 'shall we continue to attack Benjamin.' Phineas thepriest (replied in the name of God), 'Attack them!'" (Judges Chapter 20 verse 26)
("Ephraim has become a whore. Theirmisdeeds have barred the way back to God, for the immoral spirit that dwellswithin them has prevented them from knowing God. Israel's arrogance cries outagainst them. Their guilt is their downfall. Though they go with sacrifices ofsheep and cattle to seek God, they will not succeed, for God has turned away fromthem. Blow the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah, sound the battle cry inBethaven. Look behind you, Benjamin!") (Hosea Chapter 5 verse 3)
"The Israelites put men into ambush all around Gibeah. They killed 25,100 Benjamites. The men in ambush then put all the inhabitants of the town ofGibeah to the sword. They surrounded the Benjamites and hemmed them in, andshowed them no mercy. They pursued those who were fleeing and cut down another18,000. They picked off the stragglers they found on the road, killing 5,000,and continued pursuing them until they had killed another 2,000. The Israelitesthen turned back to deal with the remaining Benjamites, and put to the sword allthe people in the towns and the cattle, and every living creature. They burnedevery town down." (Judges Chapter 20 verse 35)
("How shall I deal with you, Ephraim? Howshall I deal with you, Judah? Your loyalty is like the morning mist thatdisappears. That is why I have cut them to pieces by my prophets, andslaughtered them with my words. My judgment goes forth like light, for Irequire mercy not sacrifice; acknowledgment of God rather than whole offerings. Like marauders who lie in wait to ambush a man, so did bands of priests. Theymurdered people on the road.") (Hosea Chapter 6 verse 4)Just as the story of Jezreel became a paradigm in Hosea's prophecy, so the story of the attack on the Benjamites is alluded to again and again in laterchapters. The prophecies of Hosea thus have a double meaning, and describe thecurrent situation (Baal worship, human sacrifice, murderous priests) byemploying allusions to past events, such as Jezreel, and the Benjamite massacre.
"The guilt of Ephraim stands revealed. They are thieves breaking into people's houses, bandits raiding the countryside...The King joins himself with arrogantmen, and their hearts burn with intrigue...I long to deliver them but they telllies about God...Their leaders will fall by the sword because of all their angrytalk...Though they offer animal sacrifices, God will not accept them. Theirguilt will be remembered and their sins punished. Let them go back toEgypt...They are deep in sin as in the day of Gibeah. Their guilt will beremembered and their sins punished...Now it will be Ephraim's turn to bring hischildren out for slaughter...Since the time of Gibeah they have sinned. Therethey took their stand in rebellion. Will not war now overtake them in Gibeah? They will be punished for their two shameful deeds...(the 'second shameful deed'is another reference to Gibeah where Saul was crowned as the first king. "Youhave rejected God and said, 'no, give us a king.'" (1 Samuel Chapter 10 verse 19) "Where isyour king now, that he may save you? 'Give me a king,' you said." (Hosea Chapter 13 verse 10) Ephraim gave bitter provocation. He will suffer for the blood he has shed." (Hosea Chapter verses 1, 5, 13; Hosea Chapter 8 verse 13; Hosea Chapter 9 verses 9, 13; Hosea Chapter 12 verse 14)
And finally a reference which indicatesthat Hosea was a manuscript critic.
"Ephraim's guilt is tied up in a scroll. Their sins are kept on record." (Hosea Chapter 13 verse 12)
It is also interesting to note that Hosea was not the only prophet to refer back to the Benjamite slaughter. In Jeremiah we find the following reference toRachel's children, a passage that was taken out of context in the beginning ofthe book of Matthew, and used to describe a fictional slaughter of all Israelichildren by Herod. There is no historical record of such a slaughter ever taking place. Josephus, who even mentions inconsequential characters and details, makes no such mention of such a scandalous thing taking place, and, if it did happen, one would expect it to also be engraved permanently on the memory of the Jewish people. It is not, because it never happened. Rather what we have here is an example of a fiction being joined together with a misquoted biblical passage.
Keep in mind that the war Hosea protested against was between Ephraim and Benjamin, with Ephraim urging Judah to intervene on their side. Next note that Rachel had only two children, Benjamin and Joseph, and Ephraim was the son of Joseph. Put the quotation back into context in Jeremiah and you will find that it also refers to this war. Remember that Ramah is located in the territory of Benjamin.
"Lamentation is heard in Ramah. It isRachel, weeping for her children, for they are no more." (Jeremiah Chapter 31 verse 15)
Thisis followed by a passage laying guilt upon Ephraim.
"I listened intently. Ephraim was rocking in his grief. 'I was like a calf unbroken to the yoke. Youdisciplined me, and I accepted your discipline. Bring me back, and let mereturn, for you are my God. Before I was punished, I went astray. Now that Iunderstand, I am cut to the heart. In shame and remorse I reproach myself forthe sins of my past." (Jeremiah Chapter 31 verse 18)
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