Love, Marriage and Domestic Violence in the Book of Hosea

Wednesday, October 11 at 8 pm

Love, Marriage and Domestic Violence in the Book of Hosea

David Bosworth – The Catholic University of America

The Hebrew Bible is replete with episodes of war and violence. One less explored facet of this presentation includes intimate partner violence in the biblical Book of Hosea. In many of the prophet Hosea’s passages, God appears as an abusive husband. What is a reader to do? Is there a way to examine this difficult narrative and make it edifying in today’s world? Yes, perhaps there is a useful pathway to understanding these passages.

The Hosea text may serve as a case study in how some violent biblical texts can be examined such that it can impel us to become better lovers of God and neighbors. If we transform our obvious discomfort with personal violence into curiosity, then we may be able to apprehend these destructive forces in such a way that we also discover multiple correlations in Hosea that teach us non-intuitive truths about intimate partner violence.

For questions or to request accommodations contact:

Donald O Kane