ProlepsisOpen in the graph →

Prophecy

“Many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice” (Hosea 3:4-5)

The Wailing Wall, artist’s impression by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1880): Jewish prayer at the foot of the vanished Temple, without sacrifice.
Artist’s impression The Wailing Wall, artist’s impression by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1880): Jewish prayer at the foot of the vanished Temple, without sacrifice. — Jean-Léon Gérôme, Wikimedia Commons · Domaine public

● Written before, according to historians

Written c. 750–725 BC according to tradition; c. 750–550 BC according to historians. Event: 70 AD.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. The prophet Hosea, around 750-725 BC, announces in the book of Hosea that the Israelites will remain for a long time without king, without prince, without sacrifice and without idols, then that they will return to their God and to “David their king”.

What happened. In 70, the daily sacrifice ceases at the Temple in Jerusalem, which is destroyed, and an attempt at rebuilding fails in 363. Since then, Judaism no longer offers sacrifices, has neither king nor high priest, and does not practice idol worship either. The return to “David their king”, announced next, has not come about in any verifiable way.

What is still debated. Hosea was addressing the northern kingdom, and his announcement may first have in view the Assyrian exile of 722 BC or the exile in Babylon, two periods that were also without king or sacrifice.

Why it is striking

The verse combines two absences one would not expect together: no more Temple worship, but no more idols either. This has been the situation of Judaism for nineteen centuries, read this way by a Jewish commentator as early as the 12th century. Other exiles could also fit.

Main objection (in French for now)

Osée s’adresse au royaume du Nord ; le premier accomplissement naturel est l’exil assyrien de 722, ou l’exil babylonien (586-538), qui fut lui aussi une période sans roi ni sacrifice.

The text (World English Bible)

For the children of Israel shall live many days without king, without prince, without sacrifice, without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.

Hos 3:4

Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.

Hos 3:5

Sources