E74: Hosea B - Who is Gomer?
The Bible in 30 Seconds or Less | Old Testament: Minor Prophets
Who is Gomer? By all accounts she was an eset zenunim, that is, one who acts like a harlot, ordered to marry Hosea so that Adonai can make a point. Does that bother you? That God would slut shame a woman to make his point? Well, it bothered me so let's flip the story: Who is Gomer? A strong, powerful woman. To act like a harlot was one who had agency over her body, one who is not controlled by the patriarchy and made systems of male dominance come crawling back on their knees. So this is how I read the story of Gomer: that when we break out of systems of white, patriarchal, heterosexist supremacy we begin to see the freedom we have to not accept oppression but to stand in freedom.