I am fascinated by the way the way the Hebrew Bible correlates the relationship between God and the Jews with the relationship between a man and a woman. Setting aside the fact God often exhibits female qualities, it usually is depicted as a stern but loving father figure. At the same time, the Jews often are depicted as the subordinate females who only get it right half the time and often are beaten up by God for no apparently good reason. Even the “strong” women in the Hebrew Bible find themselves as second-class citizens, as in Ruth.
On the positive side there is Song of Solomon, which, if it is indeed about the relationship between God and his people, makes the relationship sound salaciously attractive.
The male-female relationship in Hosea curiously parallels the relationship between God and the Jews in Isaiah in that the masculine character suddenly turns from abusive to forgiving in a seemingly capricious manner.
Isaiah starts by lambasting Judah with statements like:
Instead of perfume there will be a stench;
and instead of a sash, a rope;
and instead of well-set hair, baldness;
and instead of a rich robe, a binding of sackcloth;
instead of beauty, shame.
Then, Chapter 4 starts with one very brief request that God take away the disgrace he, himself, had heaped upon them:
Seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying,
"We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes;
just let us be called by your name;
take away our disgrace.”
And the reply is immediately affirmative:
On that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel.
In Hosea, which ostensibly is about the relationship between a man and a woman, there is this odd and transition between Verses 13 and 14 in Chapter 2. Between these two verses the man moves from disdaining his whore of a wife to being forgiving and loving:
I will punish her for the festival days of the Baals,
when she offered incense to them
and decked herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
and forgot me, says the LORD.
Therefore, I will now allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
The fact he can be a cruel disciplinarian one moment and a lover the next is disconcerting. He doesn’t sound like good husband material to me.
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Fascinating post. It’s amazing how many different sources reflect that same type of language to make an allegory of Israel’s love for God. It got me thinking, it is interesting that the ancient author’s view of God would reflect their understanding of relationships (i.e. one sided, patriarchical, etc). Is it possible that our modern understanding of God reflects our modern understanding of relationships as well? Certainly, we don’t view God as an equal today, but I am struck by the friendly tone we often use to describe a relationship with God, one of compassion, love and forgiveness. Doesn’t this seem to be reflected on what we view a good relationship to be?
ReplyDeletePeople often say "relationship is never easy." It's so true and we learn so much about ourselves through different relationships. Relationship with God is the most tricky one, because we cannot touch the person. God is somewhere, maybe up on the air, or maybe right beside you. Who knows where He is. I reckon such ambiguousness in the relationship with God made humans think, contemplate, and praise Him.
ReplyDeleteThinking about our relationship with God is a tricky thing. In the communities I am a part of, God is often described in terms of "loving, compassionate, gentle." All terms that have near nothing to do with the God you described so well in your post.
ReplyDeleteHas God changed or have we? Many times God is kept at arms-length--"God is so powerful and mighty; how can I possibly understand what God is like or how I can I relate to something I don't understand?" How do we move (ourselves and others) out of the discomfort and into a more personal relationship?
This is fascinating stuff, and yes, a lot of the gendered language in the passages we've been reading is very disconcerting. It's certainly given me a lot to think about in the past few weeks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. I too have been surprised to read some of the metaphors comparing God and Israel to a relationship between a man and a woman.
ReplyDeleteHosea in particular was disconcerting to me, especially the part you mention about the transition between verses 13 and 14. Actually I wonder whether those two verses are really two parts of the same abusive relationship.
As I understand domestic violence, the pattern of abuse is most often followed by a "honeymoon" phase in which the abuser tries to woo the loved one back. Once they are together again, small resentments start to build up while the couple tries to pretend that things are better between them. Eventually, the build-up of resentments explodes once again into physical abuse.
If this is a metaphor for the love between God and Israel, it must be read with great caution.