'Salvation'), also known as Osee[1] (Ancient Greek: Ὡσηέ, romanized: Hōsēé), son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BC prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea.

[3] The period of Hosea's ministry extended to some sixty years, and he was the only prophet of Israel of his time who left any written prophecy.

[5] Ehud Ben Zvi’s interpretation of Hosea as a product of Persian period literati constructing didactic prophetic readings has spurred much debate.

Rashi explains in Sotah 34b that Joshua is a compound name of יה (Yah) and הושע (hōšēaʿ), "God may save".

The name of Hosea's daughter, Lo-ruhamah, which translates as 'not pitied', is chosen as a sign of displeasure with the people of Israel for following false gods.

Christians also take the buying back of Gomer as the redemptive qualities of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

[19] Therefore, many Muslim scholars, such as Ibn Ishaq, speak of Hosea as one of the true Hebrew prophets of Israel.

Several haftarot are taken from Hosea, including those for Vayetze, Vayishlach, Bamidbar, Naso, Shabbat Shuvah, and (Sephardic only) Tisha B'Av.

[11] The character Hosea Matthews in the video game Red Dead Redemption 2 is named after the prophet.