Ehud Ben Zvi's Hosea features a comprehensive introduction and careful commentary with special attention to themes of exile and restoration, as well as extended discussion of didactic prophetic readings. An excellent form-critical interpretation of the book of Hosea, this volume will be a valuable aid to scholars, students, and teachers. Chris Franke — College of St. Catherine "In this volume Ehud Ben Zvi reads Hosea as a book, not as a congeries of oracles. . . The strength of Ben Zvi's interpretation of Hosea is his emphasis on the cohesion of the book as a work meant to be read, reread, studied. Rather than reconstructing details of the life of Hosea the man or placing the oracles of Hosea in a particular historical setting, Ben Zvi shows that events within the world of the book lack specificity. . . In the process of rereading the book, readers can come to new insights as they reflect on YHWH's relationship to Israel through the initial period to punishment and finally to reestablishment of the relationship on more firm ground. Any lovers of bibliographies will be drawn to this book for the depth and breadth of Ben Zvi's references." Martti Nissinen — University of Helsinki "Ehud Ben Zvi has written a commentary on the book of Hosea that interprets the text as a product of the postmonarchical community of Yehud. Rather than focusing on the historical prophet, it reads the book of Hosea from the point of view of the intended audience, the literate members of that community. Ben Zvi's genuinely new and important perspective makes this commentary essential reading to anyone doing serious work on this highly enigmatic prophetic book." Hosea by Ehud Ben Zvi is Volume XXIA/1of The Forms of the Old Testament Literature, a series that aims to present a form-critical analysis of every book and each unit in the Hebrew Bible. Fundamentally exegetical, the FOTL volumes examine the "structure, genre, setting," and "intention" of the biblical literature in question. They also study the history behind the form-critical discussion of the material, attempt to bring consistency to the terminology for the genres and formulas of the biblical literature, and expose the exegetical process so as to enable students and pastors to engage in their own analysis and interpretation of the Old Testament texts. His second work for the FOTL series, Ehud Ben Zvi's "Hosea" features a comprehensive introduction and careful commentary with special attention to themes of exile and restoration, as well as extended discussion of didactic prophetic readings. An excellent form-critical interpretation of the book of Hosea, this volume will be a valuable aid to scholars, students, and teachers. Ehud Ben Zvi is professor emeritus of history and religious studies at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. His previous books on the Hebrew Bible include Signs of Jonah: Reading and Rereading in Ancient Yehud, A Historical-Critical Study of the Book of Obadiah, A Historical-Critical Study of the Book of Zephaniah , and the FOTL commentary on Micah.