{"id":75928,"date":"2020-06-12T15:11:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T12:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=75928"},"modified":"2020-06-12T15:11:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T12:11:04","slug":"gomer-the-silenced-symbol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/gomer-the-silenced-symbol\/","title":{"rendered":"Gomer, The Silenced Symbol"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"75928","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":74351,"related_cahpter":"501","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But she symbolizes the powerless people of Israel\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

The names God instructs Hosea to give his, and his wife Gomer\u2019s, children in Hosea 1 represent the degradation of Israel\u2019s relationship with divinity. God commands Hosea to name his children Jezreel; \u201cfor, I will soon punish the House of Jehu for the bloody deeds at Jezreel,\u201d (1:4) Lo-ruhamah; \u201cfor I will no longer accept the House of Israel <\/span>nor pardon them<\/span><\/em>,\u201d (1:6) and Lo-ammi; for you are <\/span>not My people<\/span><\/em>, and I will not be your [God]\u201d (1:9).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like so many other Biblical characters, Hosea\u2019s children possess names imbued with symbolism. Among dozens of other examples, Eve \u201cbore Cain, saying, \u2018I have gained (<\/span>kaniti<\/span><\/em>) a male child with the help of the LORD\u2019\u201d (Gen. 4:1). And Sarah named her son Isaac (<\/span>yitzchak<\/span><\/em>) because \u201cGod has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh (<\/span>yitzchak<\/span><\/em>) <\/span><\/i>with me\u201d (Gen. 21:6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These biblical names, or biblical <\/span>namings<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>provide insight into the mind of the namer. Isaac\u2019s name illuminates Sarah\u2019s excitement and insecurity over birthing a child in her old age in a narrative that doesn\u2019t otherwise supply ink for Sarah\u2019s thoughts. Similarly, Eve is mute after that first sin, except for the two verses naming her sons Cain and Seth. These seemingly trivial namings lend a voice and an opinion to the frequently silenced female characters of the Tanach.<\/span><\/p>\n

This realization about namings makes Gomer\u2019s absence in Hosea 1 even more troubling. At the beginning of the chapter, God commands Hosea to marry a \u201cwife of whoredom\u201d (1:2). The marriage is, of course, a cosmic metaphor for God and the People of Israel, a whoring nation. The story is disturbing: both because Gomer and her children are used as divine props in a moral directive and because of God\u2019s utter rejection of Israel. God naming Gomer\u2019s children while she remains silent only reinforces her identity (or lack of) as a symbol. Gomer exists as a rhetorical device rather than as a person with thoughts and opinions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is appropriate that in the marriage metaphor Israel is represented by a mute \u201cwife of whoredom.\u201d In the divine-human relationship, God is omnipotent and Israel has no power, no voice. How better to represent this dynamic than through the marriage of a man to a woman with no rights, no voice, and no status in the community because of her \u201cloose morals.\u201d And this woman is not even afforded the words to name her own children, the one prerogative of the biblical woman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This chapter objectifies and silences Gomer in order to convey Israel\u2019s impotence. But as a woman in ancient society, Gomer is powerless before the chapter even starts. The biblical woman lacks a voice in the face of her husband just like Israel lacks power in the face of God.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":75929,"id":75929,"title":"hos1-silenced woman","filename":"hos1-silenced-woman.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos1-silenced-woman.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/gomer-the-silenced-symbol\/hos1-silenced-woman\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hos1-silenced-woman","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75928,"date":"2020-06-12 12:10:06","modified":"2022-08-28 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