Situation und Szene. überlegungen zum Verhältnis historischer und literarischer Deutung prophetischer Texte am Beispiel von Hos 5,86,6

Abstract

Historical exegesis is highly interested in the historical situation as a shaping reality behind a given biblical text. This article claims that more attention has to be given to scenes as the literary pattern, which forms especially the dramatic speeches in prophetic books of the OT. This is exemplified by an exegesis of Hosea 5,8-6,6. Since A. Alt it is widely accepted that the situation behind this text is the so-called Syro-Ephraimite War. Our exegesis comes to the conclusion that not one historical situation is shaping the text but a set of traditional literary scenes or motives. Among these are : the levy of the Israelite tribes according to Judges 5, the assembly of the tribes and a lamentation-service. Especially in Hosea 5,13 there are allusions to the Assyrian-Israelite covenants and conflicts during the period of Assyrian hegemony. In Hosea 5,8-6,6 these traditional and historical motives are transformed into a sequence of speeches arranged in three dramatic scenes (Hosea 5,8-9a ; 5,9b-15 ; 6,1-6)