How we cite our quotes:
Quote #4
The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for at the proper time he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb […] Although he may flourish among rushes, the east wind shall come, a blast from the LORD, rising from the wilderness; and his fountain shall dry up, his spring shall be parched. It shall strip his treasury of every precious thing. Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword, their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open. (NRSV Hosea 13:13, 15-16)
The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children […] Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. (KJV Hosea 13:13, 15-16)
This is the Minor Prophets’ gender perfect storm. In verse 13 Israel is no longer an adulterous woman in the sex trade. She’s a man, but in a pointed insult to his manliness God likens him not only to a woman giving birth, but a child who suffers mental development issues due to a problem with the delivery. Then the passage whipsaws back to being a man whose, uh, flowing waters have gone dry. In other words, he’s impotent. The curse sequence ends with Israel transitioning into a pregnant woman who gets brutally murdered by Assyrian invaders while God pretends to look the other way. The depiction of women and gender in this prophecy is understandably controversial, but some scholars contend that in context it’s still not as bad as Knocked Up.
Quote #5
All her images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste; for as the wages of a prostitute she gathered them, and as the wages of a prostitute they shall again be used. (NRSV Micah 1:6-7)
And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. (KJV Micah 1:6-7)
The wealth that Israel acquires through foreign trade is essentially the same as money received for prostitution. If the prophet Micah were alive today, he’d be on the writing staff of Mad Men.
Quote #6
The women of my people you drive out from their pleasant houses; from their young children you take away my glory forever. (NRSV Micah 2:9)
The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. (KJV Micah 2:9)
Men are supposed to provide for women and children, not cast them out on the street. Once again, women are portrayed as passive victims of their husbands’ behavior.