son of Beeri, the first of the minor prophets. He is generally
considered as a native and inhabitant of the kingdom of Israel, and is
supposed to have begun to prophesy about B. C. 800. He exercised his
office sixty years; but it is not known at what periods his different
prophecies now remaining were delivered. Most of them are directed
against the people of Israel, whom he reproves and threatens for their
idolatry and wickedness, and exhorts to repentance, with the greatest
earnestness, as the only means of averting the evils impending over
their country. The principal predictions contained in this book, are the
captivity and dispersion of the kingdom of Israel; the deliverance of
Judah from Sennacherib; the present state of the Jews; their future
restoration, and union with the Gentiles in the kingdom of the Messiah;
the call of our Saviour out of Egypt, and his resurrection on the third
day. The style of Hosea is peculiarly obscure; it is sententious,
concise, and abrupt; the transitions of persons are sudden; and the
connexive and adversative particles are frequently omitted. The
prophecies are in one continued series, without any distinction as to
the times when they were delivered, or the different subjects to which
they relate. They are not so clear and detailed, as the predictions of
those prophets who lived in succeeding ages. When, however, we have
surmounted these difficulties, we shall see abundant reason to admire
the force and energy with which this prophet writes, and the boldness of
the figures and similitudes which he uses.
2. HOSEA, or HOSHEA, son of Elah, was the last king of Israel. Having
conspired against Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, he killed him,
A. M. 3265; B. C. 739. However, the elders of the land seem to have
taken the government into their hands; for Hoshea was not in possession
of the kingdom till nine years after, 2 Kings xv, 30; xvii, 1. Hoshea
did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not equal to the kings of Israel
who preceded him; that is, say the Jewish doctors, he did not restrain
his subjects from going to Jerusalem to worship, if they would; whereas
the kings of Israel, his predecessors, had forbidden it, and had placed
guards on the road to prevent it. Salmaneser, king of Assyria, being
informed that Hoshea meditated a revolt, and had concerted measures with
So, king of Egypt, to shake off the Assyrian yoke, marched against him,
and besieged Samaria. After a siege of three years, in the ninth year of
Hoshea’s reign, the city was taken, and was reduced to a heap of ruins,
A. M. 3282. The king of Assyria removed the Israelites of the ten tribes
to countries beyond the Euphrates, and thus terminated the kingdom of
the ten tribes.
considered as a native and inhabitant of the kingdom of Israel, and is
supposed to have begun to prophesy about B. C. 800. He exercised his
office sixty years; but it is not known at what periods his different
prophecies now remaining were delivered. Most of them are directed
against the people of Israel, whom he reproves and threatens for their
idolatry and wickedness, and exhorts to repentance, with the greatest
earnestness, as the only means of averting the evils impending over
their country. The principal predictions contained in this book, are the
captivity and dispersion of the kingdom of Israel; the deliverance of
Judah from Sennacherib; the present state of the Jews; their future
restoration, and union with the Gentiles in the kingdom of the Messiah;
the call of our Saviour out of Egypt, and his resurrection on the third
day. The style of Hosea is peculiarly obscure; it is sententious,
concise, and abrupt; the transitions of persons are sudden; and the
connexive and adversative particles are frequently omitted. The
prophecies are in one continued series, without any distinction as to
the times when they were delivered, or the different subjects to which
they relate. They are not so clear and detailed, as the predictions of
those prophets who lived in succeeding ages. When, however, we have
surmounted these difficulties, we shall see abundant reason to admire
the force and energy with which this prophet writes, and the boldness of
the figures and similitudes which he uses.
2. HOSEA, or HOSHEA, son of Elah, was the last king of Israel. Having
conspired against Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, he killed him,
A. M. 3265; B. C. 739. However, the elders of the land seem to have
taken the government into their hands; for Hoshea was not in possession
of the kingdom till nine years after, 2 Kings xv, 30; xvii, 1. Hoshea
did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not equal to the kings of Israel
who preceded him; that is, say the Jewish doctors, he did not restrain
his subjects from going to Jerusalem to worship, if they would; whereas
the kings of Israel, his predecessors, had forbidden it, and had placed
guards on the road to prevent it. Salmaneser, king of Assyria, being
informed that Hoshea meditated a revolt, and had concerted measures with
So, king of Egypt, to shake off the Assyrian yoke, marched against him,
and besieged Samaria. After a siege of three years, in the ninth year of
Hoshea’s reign, the city was taken, and was reduced to a heap of ruins,
A. M. 3282. The king of Assyria removed the Israelites of the ten tribes
to countries beyond the Euphrates, and thus terminated the kingdom of
the ten tribes.