Hoshea son of Be’eri was a prophet in the northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BCE, in the years before its destruction by Assyria. His book stands first among the Twelve Prophets (Trei Asar).
Hoshea was commanded to marry Gomer, an unfaithful wife, as a living picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God, and of God’s love that never gives up on His people. His prophecies move between rebuke and tender promises of return and renewal.
His closing chapter begins “Shuva Yisrael” – “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God” – and is read as the haftarah of Shabbat Shuva, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. According to Tzfat tradition he is buried in the Old Cemetery of Tzfat.
