Глава 10

Os.10:1. The grapes are good for Israel, their fruit is plentiful. Many Prophets gave it this name; Thus Isaiah cries: “The vine of the Lord of hosts, the house of Israel is” (Isaiah 5:7). And before him, David said: “Thou hast brought grapes from Egypt” (Ps. 79:9). And through the mouth of Jeremiah God says: “I planted fruitful grapes for you, all true” (Jer. 2:21). And the Lord says in the Gospel: “A certain man planted grapes, and went away as a laborer, and went away” (Luke 20:9). Therefore, here too he calls Israel good grapes, and their fruit abundant, not because of piety and other virtues, but because of the multitude of children; and expressed this by saying: Multiply the treasures according to the multitude of its fruits, that is, having multiplied and become numerous, they began to build churches for idols everywhere. Reward the church according to the blessings of its land. Proud of My blessings, they erected monuments to idols. Os.10:2. Dividing your hearts; because they were not zealous for them either, but they honored first one and then another idol. And I will give them over to death and slavery, and I will turn the idols into nothing. Then the Prophet teaches them in what words they should repent. Os.10:3. Now they say: There is no king in us, because we do not fear the Lord: what will the king do to us? Hos.10:4. Verb words of apology are false, bequeath a covenant. We did not receive any help from the king, and we should have placed our trust in God, who provides for us in every possible way, but we put our faith in a man who does not tell the truth, but constantly invents pretexts, and enters into agreements with one or the other. But you will be punished for this iniquity, says God. The court will vegetate like a troscot on the ice. Just as wheatgrass grows freely on uncultivated land, which is not disturbed by a spade and not torn apart by a plow, so conveniently will the punishment sent by Me befall you. Hos.10:5. By the calf the house of On will have those who dwell in Samaria, i.e. They will constantly be in front of the idol, asking him for help. His people mourned over him, and because they had angered him, they would rejoice over his glory, because they had departed from them. Not only did they not receive any help from this, but they cry and lament, seeing him cast into dishonor. And therefore Hos.10:6. And having bound him, he took him as a gift to King Jaarim as a gift. Seeing his powerlessness, they poured it, took it as a gift to the king of Egypt, and asked the king to be their assistant; but we didn’t get any help here either: Ephraim, it is said, will accept shame, will be ashamed of his advice; because his deliberations are filled with foolishness; he should have approached God, but he asks for help from idols and people. Then the Prophet reveals how the king of Samaria, like “hustle” carried away by strong water, will turn into nothing, how the July altars, which served to the wickedness of the Israelites, will be destroyed to the ground, and the places of the trenches will be overgrown with thorns. After this, wanting to show the greatness of the disasters, he added: Hos.10:8. And they shout to the mountains, fall on us, and cover us with a hill. So great will be the burden of evils during the invasion of enemies that everyone would rather be buried in the cracked earth, or under suddenly fallen mountains, than to endure these disasters. They will be tolerated as punishment for their frantic devotion to idols. For ever since they loved to spend time on the hills and at the altars created there, they retreated from serving Me; however, there will be no more of them there. Hos.10:9. Warrior, against the children of untruth Os.10:10. When their punishment comes, according to My desire, people will gather against me, sometimes they will be punished for their two iniquities. God calls two untruths: firstly, that they abandoned God, and secondly, that they preferred something that does not exist to something that exists. For this is also evident in Jeremiah; It is said: “My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken the fountain of living waters for Me, and have gone and dug up broken treasures for themselves that cannot contain water” (Jer. 2:13). Os.10:11. Ephraim is a learned young man who loves debate. He became like a young woman who does not give in to the yoke that is placed on her, and tries to throw it off herself. I will find it in kindness, However, I will humble her proud neck. I will sit on him and teach him to walk decently. I will not yet betray him to the Assyrians, but I will destroy Sennacherib’s power; because Judas still shows in himself the virtue of Jacob, and therefore he takes advantage of My providence for him. And this makes us understand the virtue of Hezekiah, for which all the people enjoyed God’s help. After this, the Prophet again turns to the exhortation and says: because Judas, showing fatherly virtue in himself, overcomes his enemies; so are you Os.10:12. Sow to yourselves in truth, gather the fruit of life; because for yourselves, and not for God, what is sown is sown, and what is reaped increases. Shine upon yourself the light of knowledge. For first one must take care of other virtues, and then boldly begin to know the divine. When the time is right, seek the Lord, when the harvest of righteousness will come to you. Similar to this is what was said by David: “let us precede His face in confession” (Ps. 94:2). While His long-suffering continues, you will show a change for the better in yourself in order to reap the fruit of righteousness. Os.10:13. How often is wickedness in silence, and how much is its fruit? Having fallen into wickedness, you should have healed these ulcers with the medicine of repentance, and not remain silent, but confess that you have done something bad. The fruit is deceitful, because you trusted in your chariots, in the abundance of your strength. He calls vain hope false food; because, relying on crowds and chariots, Israel received no benefit from it. Os.10:14. And destruction will arise among your people, and all your walls will perish. And crowds will not bring you any benefit, and fences will not bring you safety. Just as Prince Salaman died from the house of Arbeilov, 4 during the days of the war his mother broke his children, Os.10:15. This is what I will do to you, O house of Israel, because of your wickedness. Others say that this was said about one prince, who at that time did this and suffered for it. But in my opinion this was said about the prince of Midian, whom Gideon took captive and killed; because divine scripture accuses him of cruelty. Blessed David also mentions him, saying: “Put down their princes like Oreb and Zib, and Zebea and Zalman” (Ps. 82:12). Therefore, the Prophet says: how Salman suffered final destruction; because “in the days of war” he broke his mother about her children: “I will do the same to you, the house of Israel, from the face of your malice.” According to the translation of the seventy: “from the house of Jeroboaml.”