Abstract:
This research deals with the root shûb (“to turn back, return”) in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the literature attributed to the prophets of the eighth century BC. It is demonstrated that, among the occurrences of shûb, there are passages, such as Am 9:8-15, which are characterized by a tone of judgment and salvation, while there are others, such as Mic 5:2, which are pronounced exclusively in a tone of salvation. The aim, therefore, is to explore the possible meanings of shûb, with particular attention to Am 2:6-8 and Hos 11:8-11. The research problem is this: From the semantic variety of the root shûb, from the perspective of its use in the Old Testament prophetic literature, what are the probable theological meanings contained in the pericopes of Amos 2:6-8 and Hosea 11:8-11? The research was developed in four chapters. The first chapter undertakes a classification study of biblical and extrabiblical statistics related to shûb and associated or equivalent terms. The second chapter focuses on blocks of books in the Hebrew Bible, trying to identify the various meanings of shûb and its derivatives. The third chapter seeks to examine the most recent research on shûb in literature attributed to eighth-century prophets, starting from three main approaches: shûb in words of salvation, shûb in words of exhortation, and shûb in words of disgrace. The fourth chapter performs an exegetical study of Amos 2:6-8 and Hosea 11:8-11. With this, an attempt is made to prove the following: in the Northwest Semitic family, several roots similar to the Hebrew root shûb are attested; the root shûb has a range of meanings in the Hebrew Bible. What's more, according to current research, in literature attributed to eighth-century prophets, shûb has different subjects and tones of application. About the central problem, it was possible to conclude that God's predisposition to overcome his own judgment in favor of those he loved (Hos 11:8-11) and his power to preserve decrees and change decrees (Am 2:6-8) reveal that only he, Yahweh, never the human condition, was the reason for salvation.
