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      Rain, dew, flourishing plants as images of monolatry and righteousness: The weather imagery and its meaning in Hosea

      research-article
      HTS Theological Studies
      University of Pretoria
      imagery, metaphor, Polemic, justice, Ba'al-cult

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          Abstract

          Weather imagery plays a major role in Hosea. Hosea 2 recalls the image of an unfaithful wife; Hosea 4:2-3 describes the withering of the land; in 6:3; 10:12; 14:6, the several types of precipitation draw attention to the utterance of YHWH or the requested righteousness; in 9:10.13.16; 10:1; 13:5; 14:6.8, Israel is symbolised by different plants that blossom and wither, depending on their relation to Yhwh. In all of these instances, weather phenomena contribute to these images. In this article, I try to catalogue and evaluate the metaphors and concepts to look at how meteorological images convey theological and historical messages, and vice versa how historical events or sociological procedures demonstrate their consequences in nature, especially in the weather. It seems that weather imagery is used to describe the consequences of idolatry, injustice and false politics. These cause drought and famine in a concrete sense, but the withering of Israel figuratively, the last word of the book is a call for repentance that could ensure Israel's well-being once again. With these metaphors, Hosea explicitly delivers a plea for monolatry and righteousness, as well as for equality, in an implicit way. These pieces of evidence can provide a basis for further interpretation from the hermeneutical perspective of the notion called 'interconnectedness'. CONTRIBUTION: This article analyses the weather imagery of the Book of Hosea and contributes to a better understanding of the use of these metaphors in prophetic discourses.

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          Hosea

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            Readings from the Perspective of Earth

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              'Social disorder and the trauma of the earth community: Reading Hosea 4:1-3 in light of today's crises'

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                hts
                HTS Theological Studies
                Herv. teol. stud.
                University of Pretoria (Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa )
                0259-9422
                2072-8050
                2021
                : 77
                : 4
                : 1-7
                Affiliations
                [02] Cluj-Napoca orgnameProtestant Theological Institute of Cluj-Napoca orgdiv1Department of Old Testament Romania
                [01] orgnameUniversity of Pretoria orgdiv1Faculty of Theology and Religion orgdiv2Department of Old Testament Studies and Hebrew Scriptures
                Article
                S0259-94222021000400126 S0259-9422(21)07700400126
                10.4102/hts.v77i4.6670
                ba089908-f46c-4c99-9d15-98f0f1fe6021

                This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

                History
                : 29 March 2021
                : 04 June 2021
                Page count
                Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 57, Pages: 7
                Product

                SciELO South Africa

                Self URI: Full text available only in PDF format (EN)
                Categories
                Original Research

                justice,Polemic,metaphor,imagery,Ba'al-cult
                justice, Polemic, metaphor, imagery, Ba'al-cult

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