Who is Gomer?



WHO IS GOMER?


Hosea and Gomer
 

The Book of Hosea is a book of the Nevi’im, or Prophets, in the Jewish scriptures. It is a part of “the 12” or Trei Asar, which is made up of other prophets’ books as well. As the book begins, Hosea is told by the protagonist, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” (Hosea 1:2) The woman he chooses is Gomer. We are told very little about her outside of her being a prostitute as well as a wife and mother.

Like other women discussed in the Hebrew scriptures, these roles are discussed as the only significant parts of her story. However, Gomer, like other literary characters, is more complex than the details provided illustrate. Who is she and why does her story matter? The details provided on a base level are not out of the ordinary for other women in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish scholars, her story is not as basic as it may seem.

Tamar Kadari claims Gomer’s name is indicative of her profession. Physical desires would be sated with her services. Gomer is the Hebrew word for sate. Kadari cites Midrash, saying Gomer’s mother, Diblaim, has a name that is a form of the word dibah, the word for “slander” or “ill-repute.” Rabbis discuss a “like mother; like daughter” scenario. Through this association with sin and the Jewish perspective of names being connected to the soul, it would seem as though Gomer would be destined for a sinful life. This is not the case, as she is taken back by Hosea after the protagonist told him to cast her out.

 Gale A. Yee claims the story of Hosea and Gomer is metaphorical. She claims that the couple’s story is a parallel between God’s symbolic marriage with unfaithful Israel. While, as Yee points out, the facts of the relationship cannot be known, the story is no less powerful. Gomer is immortalized in literary texts read by people of multiple religions, even today. According to an article written by Laurie Hanna, a study found that there are “just 93 women mentioned in the Bible and they speak only 1.1 per cent of the time.”

That number of women includes those in the Christian Bible as well, so it would be decreased when looking only at the Hebrew Scriptures. The fact that Gomer’s story was published in a book written and read by men in a patriarchal society is, like many other women’s stories, significant. Her story’s significance transcended her gender thousands of years ago.

Her story has another plane of significance in Judaism today. While she is not associated with a Jewish holiday like other women discussed this semester, she is related to Ashkenazim.  According to Jewish Virtual Library, “Ashkenaz refers to a people and a country bordering on Armenia and the upper Euphrates; listed in Genesis 10:3 and I Chronicles 1:6 among the descendants of Gomer.” This term has been applied to Jewish people for centuries and is associated in particular with those living in Europe, and those in Poland-Lithuania. Ashkenaz is usually associated with German Jews and their traditions. Ashkenazim live in many places throughout the world. This information is personally significant to me because while I am Catholic by practice, I have Jewish ancestral roots.

Gomer’s place in the Jewish literary cannon, as well as her genealogical impact on certain groups of Jewish people today, is representative of the power of her story. This continued influence of a woman’s story and rise from fallen woman to wife and mother is significant in detailing who the protagonist is, and what he can do for the people most forgotten by society, as the Jewish people claim he has done for other Jewish women and others throughout history.













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHY DOES THE PROTAGONIST REFER TO HIMSELF WITH A PLURAL PERSONAL PRONOUN IN GENESIS?

Image
WHY DOES THE PROTAGONIST REFER TO HIMSELF WITH A PLURAL PERSONAL PRONOUN IN GENESIS? Why would God use the word  us ? I am referring to the use of the plural pronoun in  Genesis 1:26 . In the interest of presenting a variety of viewpoints, I will examine the verse’s literary context as well as scholarly, Jewish, and Christian viewpoints on the answer to this question. Genesis 1:26 is the verse in which the plural pronoun us first appears. The verse is from the first book of Hebrew scriptures, Sefer Bereshit. Sefer Bereshit is the first book of the Torah. In English translations, Sefer Bereshit is called Genesis. At the beginning of the book, the creation account of the world is told. After the creation of the heavens and the earth, including its terrain and animal inhabitants, the protagonist, who is called God, creates man:  “God created mankind in his own image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he c...
Read more

What is the Significance of Esther's Names?

Image
Queen Esther The Book of Esther, known as The Megillah in Jewish tradition, is the second book in the Hebrew Scriptures named for a female protagonist. It is part of the Ketuvim , or Writings. The Hebrew word megillah translates to scroll. Esther’s story, typically read from a scroll, is one of five megillahs found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Names are significant in Judaism, as are the Jewish texts that reference Esther’s names. When reading the Bible as a work of literature, it is important to consider the significance of the naming of a character. A traditional Jewish holiday is also tied to Esther’s story, and consequently, her names. Names are significant in many cultures around the world. This is especially true for names of Jewish people. According to the Midrash , one virtue that delivered the Jewish people from Egypt was their decision to not change their names. Names were linked to redemption, language, and separting o...
Read more

What is the Significance of Hannah's Story?

Image
What is the Significance of Hannah's Story? Hannah presents Samuel at the temple. Part of the Nevi’im , 1 Samuel provides an historical account of the narrative of the Hebrew people. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, is introduced as the book begins. We are told little about her, other than that she is barren but still loved and cared for by her husband ( 1 Samuel 1:5 ) and that she is a woman of faith, as evidenced by her prayer in later verses. Hannah’s story, like that of many other women in the Hebrew Scriptures, is significant for reasons more prolific than those evident during an initial reading of the text. Hannah’s story is significant not only from a cultural perspective, but also from the significance of her role as the mother of a future leader, when considering her relevance in Judaism, and as a character foreshadowing Mary, who is presented as the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, in the New Testament. During the time of the ...
Read more