The study subjects the whole of the Book of Hosea to an examination of its redaction history; starting from a nucleus in Hosea 4-9 it comes to the conclusion that it only grew to its present form in a successive manner. According to this, the historical reviews from Hosea 9,10 and the symbolic biographical actions in Hosea 1 and 3 represent later editorial layers. Thus a historical literary and theological link is formed spanning the period from the beginnings of prophetic writings in the 8th century BC to their reception in Qumran.