oa Bookends Themes? Maleachi, Hosea en het ‘Boek van de Twaalf’

In recent research a consensus seems to have emerged regarding the basic redactional and theological unity of the twelve books of the ‘minor prophets’. Although the thesis has been severely criticised, it has become almost self-evident for many scholars. If these twelve prophetic books belong to one redactional unity, literary relations between the first and last books of this corpus become interesting. Three of these assumed examples of intertextuality are investigated in this article: Yhwh’s love for Israel,. Yhwh’s creation of mankind, and marriage as a metapher of the covenant between Yhwh and his people. It is concluded that none of these examples can support the thesis of the basic redactional unity of the Book of the Twelve.