The female imagery in the Book of Hosea. Considering the marriage metaphor in Hosea 1-2 by listening to female voices

The female imagery in the Book of Hosea is a serious bone of contention for many scholars, but nowhere is it so severely debated and criticised as in feminist circles. This article focuses on contributions to the debate by female scholars only. The authors are grouped into three categories: pre-feministic or uncritical, feministic or critical, and post-feministic or innovative, based on their handling of the female imagery in Hosea. It seems that an impasse is reached in the feminist debate versus the dominant (male dominated) debate, since both take a similar dualistic perception of reality, with a polarity between material and spiritual matters. Progress in the debate seems to be possible if one recognises that such a dichotomy is not the only way to approach the female imagery in Hosea.