Adoption, with Andrew King: Hosea 1:2

Exegetically Speaking

In the NIV of Hosea 1:2, the prophet is told to “marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her.” The Hebrew wording arguably intends the idea, “and adopt her [already born] children.” The larger concern is less with marriage than with household. Dr. Andrew M. King is Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College, and co-director of Every Voice: A Center for Kingdom Diversity in Christian Theological Education. In addition to other things he has published Social Identity and the Book of Amos and he is currently writing a commentary on Hosea in the Pillar Old Testament Commentary series (Eerdmans, forthcoming).