Tijdschrift , Biblical Studies on the Web, , Andreas SCHERER, "Vom Sinn prophetischer Gerichtsverkündigung bei Amos und Hosea" , Vol. 86(2005) 1-19.
Recently it has been proposed that announcements of judgment,
like the ones to be found in the minor prophets Amos and Hosea, on principle are
to be considered as vaticinia ex eventu. Even the traditions of
salvation, employed to reinforce different kinds of reproach, are held to be the
work of learned redactors. However, these hypotheses are supported neither by
the evidence from the ancient Near East nor by the logic underlying prophetical
proclamations of judgment themselves, for sheer announcements of punishment
could only be meaningless in times of doom as well as during periods of
recovery. Old Testament prophecy of doom is no complete stranger among the
religions of the ancient Near East. It owes its uniqueness not to the kind or
genus, but only to the complexity of its message.