I find a lot of tension in the story of Leah and Rachel. On the one hand, the (male?) narrator measured the women by the number of sons they bore and in the case of Rachel on her physical beauty as well. Continue reading Rachel & Leah: God Wrestlers
“When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ‘Go, get yourself a promiscuous wife and children of promiscuity… so he went and married Gomer daughter of Didlaim. She conceived and bore him a son…” (Hosea 1:2-3)
So begins a description of Hosea’s marriage with Gomer. As the Lord instructs, the prophet names the three children she gives birth to as “Jezreel” (“for I will soon punish the house of Jehu [aka Israel] for the bloody deeds at Jezreel”), “Not Accepted,” and finally “Not My People.” Gomer gets the idea–her husband does not accept her or her children. Continue reading Gomer: Give a Hearing to the Silenced