Hosea, KJV of NT Osee. [Heb. HoÆsheaÔ, probably an apocopated form of HoÆshaÔayah, "Yahweh saves"; Gr. O÷se µe. The name occurs on ancient Hebrew seals] The last prophet whose ministry was devoted exclusively to the northern kingdom of Israel; first of the so-called Minor Prophets. His father, Beeri, "my well," was presumably a member of one of the families of an unspecified northern tribe. Hosea bore his message during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and Jeroboam II, the last strong king of the northern kingdom (Hos 1:1), beginning some years prior to 753 b.c. and continuing until some time after 729 b.c. During these years he witnessed the moral and political collapse of the northern kingdom and sought unsuccessfully to stay the course of apostasy and national disintegration. The fact that only 1 king of Israel (Jeroboam II) is mentioned, but several kings of Judah who lived after Jeroboam, may suggest a later ministry in the southern kingdom of Judah -- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary.