that the first effective opposition to the images of Yahweh dates from Hosea.

Amos and Hosea agree in rejecting the popular religion, and they agree further in stating their positive programme. What Yahweh desires is not sacrifice, but kindness, love of man for his fellow man (6 : 6). Yahweh is a God of justice, and from the house of Jehu he will require the blood shed at Jezreel (14). The declaration is the more remarkable in that the blood shed at Jezreel was shed in obedience to the prophetic champion of the rights of Yahweh. It does not seem extravagant to conclude that the prophets have discovered the vanity of political remedies for moral evils. The frequent changes of dynasty in this period instead of bringing about a better state of things had rather aggravated the corruption of the people, of which indeed it was the fruit and evidence. It is sometimes said that Hosea rejected the kingship and desired a return to the old tribal organisation; but this is far from evident. He does, indeed, believe that the existing rulers are not the men to save the people. "They make kings but not of my will; they set up princes but not of my knowledge" (8: 4). What the prophet attempts to set forth is the vanity of political devices. Whether a king after God's own heart would be able to help he does not say. The actually existing monarchy is of no avail: "Where is now thy king that shall save thee? And thy rulers that they may vindicate thee? Concerning whom thou saidst: 'Give me a King and princes!' I gave thee a king in my wrath, and I take him away in my fury" (13: 10 f.). Distrust of political devices extends, as we should expect, to the current diplomacy: "Ephraim is like a silly dove without understanding; now they call to Egypt, now they go to Assyria" (711). "When Ephraim saw his sickness and Israel his wound, then went Ephraim to Assyria and sent to the great king; but he is not able to cure you, neither will he heal you of your wound" (5:13). The very nations to whom they appeal will be the instruments of their destruction: They shall not dwell in Yahweh's land; Ephraim shall

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return to Egypt and in Assyria shall he eat unclean food" (9:3).

This recapitulation of the main points of Hosea's teaching gives little idea of the passion which filled his soul. The situation as he regarded it was indeed desperate, and he was in a heat of indignation and grief. The invasion of the land seems to him so imminent that he urges the blowing of the alarm at once (5: 8-10). The greatness of the love which Yahweh has had for his people is the measure of the wrath, now that his wooing has been rejected. Yet there is a struggle as his love still tries to assert itself: "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I cast thee off, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? My heart revolts within me, my compassion is kindled. Yet shall I not execute the fierceness of my anger? Shall I not destroy Ephraim? I am God and not man, the holy one in the midst of thee, and I must come in wrath" (11:8f.). The ordinary translation reverses the meaning of this passage; the conflict in the heart of Yahweh results in the determination to go on with the work of punishment. The allusion to his holiness, the quality which separates God from man and which reacts against human sin, is the pledge that he will execute justice however much his love may plead for the offender. If we were in doubt the following passage would check any illusion: "Therefore am I unto them like a lion; as a leopard will I watch by the way; I will meet them like a bear robbed of her whelps, and will rend the enclosure of their heart; there will I devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tear them in pieces" (13: 7 f.). The culmination of this chapter, which is, in fact, the culmination of Hosea's preaching, is in the same tone: "Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? shall I redeem them from death? Rather, bring on thy plagues, O Death! Hither with thy torments, O Sheol! Repentance shall be hid from my eyes" (13: 14).

Such passages seem to leave no room for hope, and in view of them we cannot suppose those sections of the book of

Hosea which predict a restoration to be genuine utterances of the prophet. An utterance which seems at first blush to express the repentance of the people is introduced only to show their incurable levity: "In their affliction they will seek me and say: 'Come let us return unto Yahweh, for he has torn and he will heal; he has smitten and he will bind us up"" (6:1). The answer of Yahweh is: "What shall I do to thee, Ephraim? What shall I do to thee, Israel? Your piety is like the morning mist, like the dew which soon melts away. Therefore have I smitten them by the prophets, have slain them by the words of my mouth" (6:4). The immediate context gives a renewed declaration of the people's wickedness, and makes it clear that the prophet had no confidence in any professions of repentance. Whether an individual here and there was impressed by the preaching of the prophet does not appear. These preachers, as we have seen, were thinking of the nation as a whole.

Our study should make clear to us the contribution made by Hosea to religious thinking. To him Yahweh is not simply the God who requires justice between man and man; he is the God who seeks the love of his people, a love that will manifest itself in the doing of his will. It was because the love was rejected that he was compelled to punish, though his own heart was torn by the necessity. What will become of him when his people is destroyed is a question not raised by the prophet. Doubtless the faith which was so deeply convinced of his love, his power, and his justice was content to leave the future with him. It does not even appear that Hosea was a monotheist in our sense of the word; the bitterness with which he declaims against the Baals indicates that he had some sort of belief in their real existence, and his declaration that other lands than Yahweh's are unclean shows that in his view other divinities had power there. Yet the vividness with which Hosea conceived the relation of Yahweh to Israel as a marriage prepared the way for monotheism, 1 The concluding exhortation of the book (14 : 2-10) must be judged like the conclusion of Amos.

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for it impressed upon the people the thought that Yahweh tolerates no rival in the affections of his people. Both Jewish and Christian thinkers have given prominent expression to this conception of Hosea.

CHAPTER VIII

ISAIAH

WITH the fall of Samaria in 721 northern Israel ceased to play a part in history, and the mission of the Hebrew race was intrusted to Judah. With reference to religion we may say that the centre of interest had shifted to Judah before the fall of Samaria, for Isaiah, one of the most influential of the prophets, began his career about 740. Before studying him we may briefly notice his contemporary, Micah, fragments of whose discourses are embedded in the book which bears his name. We might suppose Micah to be the man who transplanted the prophetic movement from Israel to Judah, for he seems to have been a disciple of Amos. Like Amos, he was a simple-hearted countryman who was revolted by the corruptions of city life. His conception of his office is like that of the older prophet-he regards himself as a plain-spoken warner, "full of might by the spirit of Yahweh, to declare unto Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin" (Micah 3:8). As the transgression of Israel was concentrated at Samaria, so the sin of Judah was concentrated at Jerusalem (1:5). The phenomenon is too familiar to need comment; in the great cities vice makes itself more odiously visible than in the smaller towns and villages. In the cities the rich and the devotees of pleasure congregate, and there they find those who minister to their profligacy. This is what impressed the preacher who was accustomed to the simple life of the country.

The details given by Micah are much like what we read in Amos. The nobles are covetous and oppressive; they devise iniquity on their beds and when the morning comes