God the suffering Father and Israel the abandoned child : Hosea 11 and Psalm 80 in intertextual conversation

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the Bible many metaphors are used to describe God and the relationship God had with Israel. These metaphors developed through the history of Israel and gained new meanings to suite new contexts. During troubled times the metaphors were also adapted to serve their purpose in these troubled contexts. This often led to metaphors that seem to contradict one another. Psalm 80 and Hosea 11 contain metaphors that seem to contradict one another, the metaphors of a suffering Father and an abandoned son. This study wants to examine these texts to understand better why these contradicting metaphors were both part of Israel's thoughts on God and on the relationship between God and Israel. Studies on this topic and on these texts have already been done, but this study wants to add to the discussion by bringing these two texts into discussion with each other. Thus, the study presents an intertextual discussion between two texts, which contain metaphors that seem to contradict one another. The study is an exegetical study of Psalm 80 and Hosea 11 with the intent to bring these texts into discussion with one another in order to gain a deeper understanding of the God-human relationship as given expression in the Bible. Another aim is to see how the conversation between these two metaphors can be understood in present-day contexts.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University