6. Parallel Texts In discussing the parallel texts, a comparison will be made between the text of Hosea 3 and other significant texts of the Old Testament, the New Testament and extra biblical source. Here, we shall majorly establish how Hosea 3 resonates with some selected texts from the two Testaments and some extra biblical source.
6.1 Resonance of the Text in the Old Testament
R. Abma in his celebrated Bonds of Love has laboured to expose other Biblical texts in the Old Testament that resonate with the text of Hosea 3. He identifies the imagery of marriage as the common thread that links these texts. The texts have a commonality in that they contain a communication purpose. Furthermore, a three-part model is developed in order to investigate the communication effects of the text
Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? No, because of your sins you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was put away. 2 Why was no one there when I came? Why did no one answer when I called? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? By my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water, and die of thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering.
The marriage imagery is quite evident in this test from Isaiah 50:1-3. It follows the schema of Hosea 3. In both texts, Divine command precedes. Yahweh was not overcome by any other power. Accordingly, no one should doubt Yahweh’s ability to save. This is what we also see in Hosea. Further still, in Isaiah, the opening image is full of meaning;
The wife put away and the children sold, in accordance with Hebrew law (Dt 24:1-4, Ex 21:2-7). There has been separation but God has had no part in it. He has not drawn up a “bill of divorce” or handed his own children over to a