The complex and violent metaphorical discourse of Hosea 2 has elicited a variety of interpretive approaches. This study explores the text from the perspective of rhetorical criticism. The classical conception of rhetoric as the art of persuasion and the function of metaphor within persuasive discourses and social settings correlate with the oracular characteristics of Hosea 2 and illuminate its use of specific metaphors. A reading of Hosea 2 from this perspective proposes that the prophets of Israel may have functioned in a manner similar to the orators of ancient Greece, who delivered extended rhetorical discourses designed to discern meaning in contemporary events and to persuade audiences.  Chapter 2 is where we very clearly see the truth that we discovered in chapter 1; that God’s tolerance of unrepentant sin will run out, but even in the midst of that, his love will never stop for his beloved people. In the first part of this chapter, we see God’s mercy and kindness running out as he describes the way that he will discipline his unfaithful people. Throughout all of that, we see just how far God is willing to go to bring his people back to Him. And then in the second part of the chapter, we see the depth and beauty of God’s unfailing love for his people when they finally return to him.


 


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