Text: Hosea 12:5
OT Text Referred to: Genesis 35:11-15
Subject: Bethel Covenant Renewal and Divine Name
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Genesis 35:11-15 records God's second Bethel appearance to Jacob, where He identifies Himself as אֵל שַׁדַּי (El Shaddai, "God Almighty"), reconfirms the Abrahamic promises of nationhood and land, renames Jacob as Israel, and Jacob responds by setting up a pillar (מַצֵּבָה, matstsevah) and calling the place Bethel. Hosea 12:5 alludes to this scene by declaring "the LORD is the God of Hosts — the LORD is His name of renown (זִכְרוֹ, zikhro)." The prophet's emphasis on the divine name as Israel's "memorial" challenges the northern kingdom: the God who made covenant promises at Bethel is identified not as the golden calves now installed there (1 Kgs 12:29) but as YHWH Tseva'ot. Hosea thus reclaims Bethel's original covenantal significance from its corrupted cultic associations in his own day.