Janzen, J. Gerald.  “Metaphor and Reality in Hosea 11.” Semeia 24 (1982): 7-44.

Abstract

Among the various modes of divine address to Israel found in Hosea is that mode which takes the form of a question.  It is the purpose of this paper to explore the theological implications of this mode of address in Hosea, especially in the climactic instance in Chapter 11.  This exploration is based on a consideration of what it means to ask oneself a question, what it means to ask the same question of another, and what it might mean for God to ask questions of self and of others.  It is proposed that such an approach enables a fresh angle of vision on the biblical portrayals of covenant as a temporal dynamic.  It is proposed also that the questioning mode of address in Hosea 11 confronts the impasses in the covenant relation in such a way as to indicate the gravity of the factors making for the impasse and yet (in virtue of its questioning mode) to intimate the possibility of an open future for the covenant relation, a future which imparts eschatological character both to human life and, it may be, to the life of God.