A Brief Note on Hosea 2:18
Copyright © Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. (March 8, 2025)
All Rights Reserved
“For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, So that they will no longer be mentioned by their names. On that day I will also make a covenant for them With the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, And the crawling things of the ground. And I will eliminate the bow, the sword, and war from the land, And will let them lie down in safety” (Hosea 2:17-18).
In this passage, God makes a covenant with “the animals of the field, the birds of the sky, and the crawling things of the ground” (Hos. 2:18). This wouldn’t be the first time that God’s covenantal dealings extend to non-human life. In fact, the very first covenant that God makes encompasses the animal community (Gen. 9:9-11). As with the Noahic Covenant, God’s actions in Hosea would benefit, both, man beast alike.
Throughout Hosea, the problem in Israel was Baal worship, and the solution to the problem would be purging the land of Baal worship by ridding it of the Baal worshipers (Hos. 2:13; 4:5-6, 12–14; 9:10, 15; 13:1-2 ). And the verse leading up to verse 18 highlights this theme (Hos. 2:17).
With that said, bestiality ran rampant in the Baalite religion. From the Canaanite epic, The Baal Cycle, Baal himself is praised and exalted for engaging in the practice: “Mightiest Baal hears; He makes love with a heifer in the outback, A cow in the field of Death’s Realm. He lies with her seventy times seven and mounts her eighty times eight; She conceives and bears a boy.”[1] As Clay Jones writes, “There should be no surprise that bestiality would occur for the Canaanites since the god they worshiped practiced it.”[2]
Clay goes on to describe the Canaanite practices in this regard, the details of which are as disgusting as they are disturbing. In contrast to this, God’s Word prohibits intercourse with animals (Lev.18:23), praises the humane treatment of animals (Pr. 12:10), and condemns the misuse and abuse of animals (Deut. 25:4, Exod. 23:5).
So it is perfectly fitting that a restoration covenant with His people, that remedies the problem with Baalism, would likewise restore the proper relationship that man is to have with the creatures of whom he’s been given dominion (Gen.1:26, Gen. 2:15).
Understanding Hosea 2:18 in its proper context makes it relevant for us today. As God’s image bearers on earth, we need to honor God’s covenant with animals. We should be setting the standard by opposing all forms of animal abuse and fighting for the humane treatment of all of God’s creatures.
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[1] Mark S. Smith, trans. Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, Simon B. Parker, ed., (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 1997), 148
[2] Why Kill the Canaanites’ Animals? https://tinyurl.com/3vyfezwu
