The Torah Atlas

person · P0039

Hoshea הושע בן בארי

First of the Twelve Prophets. Prophesied to the northern kingdom in its final generations, casting Israel's betrayal of God as a broken marriage and its future restoration as a renewed betrothal. The superscription of his book spans the days of Uziyahu through Chizkiyahu. Per the Rambam he received the Oral Torah from Zechariah ben Yehoyada and transmitted it to Amos.

I. Who

Hebrew
הושע בן בארי
Also known as
Hoshea ben Be'eri, Hosea
Era
bible
Received the mesorah from
Zechariah ben Yehoyada
Transmitted the mesorah to
Amos

II. When

Traditional
c. 3110–3200 AM
Academic
fl. c. 750–722 BCE (last decades of the Northern Kingdom)
Lifespan (traditional)
≈90 years
Precision
approximate

V. How do we know

ClaimEvidenceConfidenceSources
Received the Oral Torah from Zechariah and his court, and transmitted it to Amos — the twelfth link in Rambam's forty-generation chain.
Confidence is for the chain as stated by the Rambam.
 rabbinic ★★★★★
"The word of God that came to Hoshea ben Be'eri, in the days of Uziyah, Yotam, Achaz, Yechizkiyah kings of Yehudah, and in the days of Yeravam ben Yoash king of Israel."
Confidence is for what the biblical text states.
 biblical ★★★★★
Hoshea married Gomer daughter of Diblaim.
The marriage is directly narrated.
 biblical ★★★★★
The children named in the family narrative were a son Yizreel, a daughter Lo-Ruchamah, and a son Lo-Ammi.
All three names are stated in the text.
 biblical ★★★★★
Hoshea later narrates acquiring a woman for fifteen pieces of silver and quantities of barley.
The text does not explicitly name this woman as Gomer, so their identification should not be treated as certain.
biblical ★★★★☆
Traditional placement c. 3110–3200 AM per the superscription's kings in Seder Olam reckoning; academic dating c. 750–722 BCE. The two systems are stated separately and never merged.
Schematic traditional dating.
 tradition reconstruction ★★☆☆☆