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Hos.7:1–2. And the iniquity of Ephraim and the wickedness of Samaria will be revealed, because I have committed a lie: and the thief will come in to him, leading the thief in his way: let them sing together, even as they who sing in their hearts. The Lord of all truly good things is by nature and “merciful..., long-suffering and abounding in mercy” (Joel 2:13). As long as He endures those who sin for a long time, their crimes are, as it were, hidden; when He begins to get angry and sends punishments and does not allow one to enjoy peace, then the crimes become clear, seem as if already open and, as if exposed in the middle, are usually visible to the eyes of everyone. This will now happen, he says, to Ephraim and Samaria. By Ephraim here we mean the royal family in Samaria, from which Jeroboam and his descendants came. By Samaria we mean those who are in Samaria, that is, the ten tribes. He says that their sins will be revealed for such reasons, “as if I had committed a lie,” performing an empty and putrid service and becoming artists of idols, as I said, and “like a thief,” that is, a robber, “will come in to him,” instead: a thief who commits robbery on the road came in and found rest and stopped with him, so that it is clear from this, he says that they have a concordant heart, in tune obvious and unanimous. So some robbed those who wanted to go to Jerusalem, while others shared their crimes, wickedly receiving a portion of the loot. And the Jewish leaders rejoiced when those who believed in Christ were subjected to strong attacks, and became participants in the attack and robbery of others, rejoicing in the persecution of the faithful and accepting Satan into their souls and hearts as a kind of thief, depriving their souls of all piety, so that they would have a heart in agreement with him. Just as “be joined... The Lord has one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17): so exactly, I think, whoever cleaves to Satan will have one heart with him. Hos.7:2. I remembered all their malice: now, having beaten them, advise them against my face. While we still sin tolerably and moderately, like people and having a nature receptive to evil, until then God, according to His characteristic love for mankind, does not exact from us: for “I know our creation, I will remember it as the dust of us,” according to the word of the Psalmist (Ps. 103:14). But as soon as we do something great, extraordinary and truly unbearable, which finally irritates even the meekness of the judge and, as it were, involuntarily arouses him to anger: then He, so to speak, turns to the memory of the sins committed by some. Therefore, he speaks of Ephraim and Samaria: “I have remembered all their evil.” It seems that here too the prophetic word wants to hint to us about the former. In My goodness, he says, I forgave the murder of the Shechemites, who died from Levi for insulting Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, but since they committed murder now, I will remember their ancient untruth and punish them for their former sins, as murderers and cruel people. Therefore, “having beaten them,” he says, “counsel them,” as if he were saying this: they are already besieged by their own wicked desires and plans; they once beat up the inhabitants of Shechem through wickedness and deceit; now they beat up even those who turn to God like robbers. Since sins that exceed every word are finally “against my face”: then I, he says, will condescend to such iniquities and will not ignore or postpone punishment for them. “Consult them in the practice of the Jews” and in what they plotted against Christ; for they killed the prophets while God was patient with them. But after they became the murderers of the Lord, “the God of all men remembered all their iniquities.” Hos.7:3. With your malice you made kings happy 109 and with your lies princes. Those who strive to do good and live in accordance with the law, he says, should have propitiated the Savior and pleased the Savior and the One who has an invincible strength for this. They, having become very careless about what was necessary for their life and useful for their well-being, did not do this and did not consider insulting God. They pleased their kings and leaders, bringing them joy with their readiness for everything pleasing to them and causing offense to God for the pleasure and pleasure of the seducers. He again denounces the fact that they followed Jeroboam and the leaders subordinate to him and immediately agreed with the one who conceived the service of the golden calves and wanted to unlawfully lead them to another service. Yes, it was necessary for those who have true love for God to courageously oppose their plans and very shameful enterprises and try to prevent the madmen, so that they would not be in a particular hurry to give them pleasure. This saying receives its true meaning if we again understand it in relation to the crucifiers of Emmanuel. By telling lies about him and slandering him, they brought joy to Herod and Pontius Pilate and the rulers of the synagogue. So the divine Peter at one time said to the Father and God of all: “For in this city you have gathered together in truth against your holy youth, and you have anointed him, and Herod and Pontic Pilate with the tongues and people of Israel” (Acts 4:27). Hos.7:4–5. All who commit adultery, like a furnace, are burned to bake by the flame, from the mixing of fat, until it is fermented... 110. Day 111 of your kings. Here we are clearly told that in some way they amused the kings with their atrocities and the lies of their leaders. This is the historical meaning (of this saying), which if anyone considers, he will perfectly understand the meaning of the prophecy. So, when the ten tribes revolted and the wicked Jeroboam reigned over them, he was greatly afraid that they, going to Jerusalem to celebrate the holidays established by the law, would gradually gain the disposition to again submit to the power of Judah, and, remembering the ancient customs, would not kill him or forcibly take away his power over them. For this reason, he, hated by God and pitiful, plots to sanctify golden heifers for them and comes up with a method of wicked idolatry and decides to establish new holidays for the heifers, as the Jewish tradition says about this (1 Kings 12:26-32). So, at the beginning, he was quite afraid, lest those who sympathized with the ancient service devoted to them from their fathers would abandon his power, or kill him, as I said, and having rejected his plan, they would again decide to return to the former king, experiencing grief and just indignation at the sight of the insult of Moses and their trampling of the divine commandment. Therefore, being as cunning as a fox, he sent out many in Israel who suggested and said that they should make a calf and re-establish their own holidays and ask the king himself about this. When he saw that the people were very inclined towards this, unanimous and agreed with those who intended this, then in the assembly of everyone he openly proclaimed that the golden heifers should be worshiped and appointed the fifteenth day of the eighth month as the day of the holiday, as it is written (1 Kings 12:32). When Jeroboam said this, the people approved of him and exclaimed: “This is the king’s day, and therefore we will listen to his intentions,” and decided to console him with other similar approvals. Those in power followed the people, agreeing and approving of it. This is what the prophetic word reminds us of in this case. “Everyone who commits adultery,” he says, “is like a furnace that burns in the fire.” Having given themselves over to spiritual fornication or apostasy from God (this is fornication), they became like red-hot ovens, ready to cook what would be put into them. They were filled with flame - obviously heat and, as it were, inflamed lust. They were like rich dough that already had leaven, but was completely leavened on the day of their king, when, as I said recently, Jeroboam openly declared that it was necessary to offer sacrifices to heifers and celebrate holidays in their honor, and they cried out to this: “This is the king’s day,” as tradition testifies to this, as I said. It was then that everything became completely sour, that is, the decree confirming wickedness finally took place. So, having souls inflamed with ardent and uncontrollable desires for crime, and as if leavened in this way on the day of the king, they reached extreme wickedness. The Jews again did the same thing in relation to Christ. Speaking lies for His glory and little by little distracting the people from loving Him, the scribes and Pharisees committed spiritual fornication, turning the multitude away from Him. Hos.7:5–6. The princes began to be enraged by the wine, having struck out their hand with the destroyers: beforehand the furnace of their hearts became burning. Here, it seems, he speaks of wine from the vineyard of Sodom, which intoxicates the hearts and darkens the mind and fills it with destructive, abominable blindness. So, when some expressed indignation at the innovation of heifers and holidays in honor of them, many of the princes were inflamed with anger. And so that unnoticed there would be a multitude of the most prudent people who were silent and did not raise their voices in praise (of the innovation), they stretched out their hands to the people and cried out as loudly as possible: “this is the king’s day,” and approved of wicked morals. So, having drunk with the wicked drink, he says, they indulged in anger and against those who did not agree to such shameful deeds, they gnashed their teeth, stretching out their hands “with the destroyers.” He calls the crowd of people “destroyers.” They, as I said, sympathized with this, although they were obliged to lead to piety and open the way to useful things. But they, he says, were inflamed at heart and took into their souls the destructive flame of criminal lust. Hos.7:6. When Ephraim rushed to sleep all night long, he was satisfied, and in the morning it was, and it burned like a flame of fire. I have already said that Jeroboam, hated by God, was in great fear while he was still only plotting wicked enterprises. He thought, and quite rightly, that Israel might be indignant if he knew that he wanted to make no difference to the violation of his fatherly customs. When he announced to the people that they must worship heifers, and when the people willingly accepted his plan and, together with the princes, expressed approval, as if they were thinking and acting correctly; then he freed himself from fear and got rid of suspicion, and finally became complacent and full of joy. So, “they will always strive”, that is, while they were falling into destruction and destruction, bowing to his proposal and agreeing with him and approving of the violation of love for God; then he says: “O Ephraim, that is, Jeroboam from the tribe of Ephraim, you slept all night.” He seems to say this: if previously he spent nights without sleep from fear and suspicion: then, freed from worries, he indulged in pampering and lay all night on soft beds: when morning came, he turned out to be hotter than the others: “he flared up like a flame of fire,” and he became heated along with the people, not deigning attention, so to speak, to the thought of delay, but carrying out, and very quickly, the order about wicked enterprises. Hos.7:7. They all warmed themselves like the furnace of their hearts 112 and devoured 113 their judges. All their kings have fallen, do not pray to me in them. It is true what I said: for those who were near the accursed Jeroboam became heated and burned like a flame of fire. But did this wickedness continue, which he carried to such insolence? No way, he says, for “everyone was warmed up” and after him the former and the destructive fire of such heat destroyed all their judges, and killed all the kings who followed him. And this is because among them there was no one who wanted to worship Me and propitiate the God of all and who had the praise of true knowledge of God. Hos.7:8. Ephraim himself became mixed up with his people, Ephraim quickly became unleavened and unleavened. He strongly condemns those who from the tribe of Ephraim received royal power over Israel in Samaria, because they were not accustomed in their aspirations to rise above those under their control and the crowd of people: but they agreed with them in everything and easily agreed, although, as leaders, they had to guide them to good and with the most lofty thoughts to see what could serve them for salvation. But they did not do this, but mixed with the crowd, suffering all the same unreason and, moreover, constancy in evil and stubbornness of the will, relentlessly doing what was decided, even if it served as a source of evil and destruction for them. In this way Ephraim became “unleavened bread that cannot be changed”; says this, borrowing an image of expression from bread that is baked on stones and which, if no one turns them over, must of course burn and finally turn out to be unusable and, due to excess flame, lose their edibility. Hos.7:9. And his strength was eaten by strangers, but this one was not understood: and gray hair appeared on him, but he was not known. He calls strangers and foreigners, I say the Persians, and the neighboring Moabites and Edomites and the Syrian peoples, who, as it were, devoured Ephraim. Having called it unleavened bread, he continues to adhere to the same way of speaking. Countless people call it a fortress, since in particular the tribe of Ephraim was very rich in the male population and, as a result, was overly proud, imagining that it would be terrible and invincible even for the leaders or military commanders of the Assyrians themselves. When they decided to wage war against them, they were easily exterminated and taken into captivity. But “he did not understand,” he says, that is, he did not understand the cause of the disaster, although based on what happened to him, he should have come to know it. Since what is sometimes not visible through reflection, experience often makes obvious. But it is better, of course, to understand what is useful without waiting for experience. And if this had not happened to be achieved, then the victims would still have the opportunity to understand from experience itself what is necessary and useful for them. So Ephraim, he says, “is not known,” although he is gray-haired, that is, a lot of time has passed and he had enough means to finally come to his senses and understand how this happened to them. Because they offended Him who is able to save, they were subjected to terrible and unexpected disasters. Os.7:10. And the reproach of Israel shall be humbled in his face: neither shall he return unto the Lord his God, nor seek him in all these. Explains what he said before. Again he explains the words: I did not know, although Ephraim was gray-haired. The insolence, he says, of Israel, that is, the retreat that he conceived as a result of pride and thanks to which he turned aside to foreign gods, dishonoring the true and by nature God, will return to his face. As if he were saying this: he himself will be the culprit of his own humiliation and dishonor; for this is what it means: to return to something in the person of someone. But although he underwent such suffering, he again did not know God. And they did not think about turning to Him; on the contrary, being in the most terrible calamities, they were cruel, insensitive and suffered greatly from a lack of love for God. And this is the vice of extreme insensibility and clear evidence of madness reaching the last degree. Hos.7:11–12. And Ephraim was like a crazy dove, without a heart. Egypt prayed, and the Assyrians departed. As they come, I will lay my slaughter on her, like the birds of the air I will overthrow. I will punish them in the hearing of their sorrow. Again we must recall what is written in the fourth book of Kings (2 Kings 17); for in this way we will easily understand the meaning of the proposed words. Hoshea, the son of Elah, reigned over Israel in Samaria. The Assyrian Salamanasser sent messengers to him, autocratically demanding from him the usual gifts and as if wanting to impose tribute on Israel. But Hosea renounced slavery and prepared to resist in case the Assyrians wanted to make war on Israel. Then he sent ambassadors to Zoar, king of Egypt, asking him for help; for he thought that in an alliance with him he would defeat the Assyrians. But the Assyrian, greatly offended by this, undertakes war against Israel. Then Hosea became his slave, and with him the captive Israel himself was resettled from Samaria. So Ephraim turned out to be the most foolish dove, having simplicity to his own detriment. So Christ says: “become... wise like a serpent, and your goals like doves” (Matthew 10:16): for simplicity of morals and a pure mind justly deserve all approval. In the absence of prudence, simplicity is disastrous and is something other than stupidity. So Ephraim is mad; how or in what way? He called on the Egyptians for help, but went as a prisoner to the Assyrians when Zoar was unable to provide help. Then, wouldn’t it have been better for him to seek protection not from people, but from above and invincible? Therefore, the God of all things through the mouth of Isaiah said: “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who trust in horses and chariots” (Is. 31:1). And that it was not without the will of God that the hand of those who help them weakened, he showed by saying that those who go, he will catch them like little birds, throwing a net or snare over them, as it were, and not allowing them to exalt themselves, but bringing them down, as it were, from a height to the ground, that is, from a state of being too proud and arrogant, to a disposition of spirit distinguished by modesty and moderation, and befitting those who have fallen under the power of their enemies. Then he says that “I will punish them in hearing their sorrow,” wanting, as I think, to express the following. Rumors about what was about to happen preceded the event itself, and the terrible rumor terrified those living in Samaria. So they were admonished, hearing about the disaster that had not yet befallen them. And if they were wise, then even this would be enough for their conversion. But being extremely insensitive and having a cruel, insensitive soul and greatly suffering from disobedience, they were not brought to their senses by the event itself. Os.7:13. Woe to them, because they jumped away from Me: they are fearful, because they did not honor me. And with these words it clearly indicates to us that the cause of their disasters is apostasy from God. Just as those who are physically ill would themselves be recognized as the culprits of the cruelty of their suffering if they did not accept doctors and the means with which they could calm the suffering: so we, by removing ourselves from the love of God, harm ourselves immeasurably. After all, nothing will help someone who insults God. So they became pitiful and damned because they separated from God. By wickedly worshiping false gods and giving them divine honors, they will be subject to grief, since “if God shuts against a man, who will open?” according to what is written (Isaiah 22:22). Hos.7:13–14. I have delivered, but these things I have spoken against me lie to. And they did not cry out their hearts to me, but wept 114 on their beds: I cut myself off for the wheat and the wine. Again he suggests that He sends punishments in accordance with everyone’s sins. They grumbled against God, who freed them and brought them out of the house of slavery “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (Ps. 135:12), as it is written, and delivered them from the dominion of the Egyptians. They humiliated the glory of God, giving thanks for what they received to unclean demons and the works of their own hands: there they made a calf in the desert and wickedly calling him a deliverer, in a frenzy they said: “These are your gods, to Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:4). So, giving divine honors to statues and demons, offering them grateful sacrifices and assigning them the advantage of the highest glory is an insult and impudence against God and the clearest humiliation of Him. And not only did they blame God, as I said recently, but they also completely rejected even any idea that those living in the world receive everything they need for life only from Him. “And their hearts did not cry out to me,” he says: that is, they did not seek anything from Me, although they felt and believed that I was the author and giver of every good. From here we can also learn that God does not require loud cries, but the disposition of the mind and heart. And so they did not cry out to God, but unbridledly indulged in carnal pleasures, so that they wept on their beds. This is evidence of shameful morals, a reprehensible tendency to fornication and a soul devoted to pleasure. To fall into such a shameful state and worthy of all disgust is characteristic only of those who have tried to forcibly pervert the advantages of men into the morals and appearance and voices of women. They become effeminate and extremely effeminate and reach the highest degree of impurity in people. But the words: they are “about wheat and wine,” seem to me to have the following meaning. Giving thanks to their idols for the fertility of the fields, for bread, I say, and wine, they wanted to perform the so-called sacraments. As if inspired and going into a frenzy, making cuts with iron on the chest and on both arms and wickedly, as if sacrificing their own blood to the statues, they became guilty of extreme alienation from God. Another prophet may also reproach them for this, saying: “devour men, for the calves have become scarce” (Hos. 13:2). This is enough to cause the greatest insult to the sovereign God over all, to Whom it was proper to offer thanksgiving, and not to madly give the glory due to Him to trees and stones. Hos.7:15–16. I punished Bysh 115, and I... 116 strengthened their muscle, and thought evil against me. Having been seduced by anything, I was like a bow tense. Points to another type of their ingratitude, exposing them as wicked and careless. I, he says, although they were once no different from dumb animals and were very foolish, guided them with the law and made them wise, knowing what is useful, leading the way of righteousness and the practice of all decency, so that they already joyfully said about themselves: “Blessed are we to Israel, for what is pleasing to God is more reasonable for us” (Bar. 4: 4). However, My favor towards them was not limited to this; but I made them very strong and quite capable of defeating anyone who wants to fight and rebel against them; They easily defeated many and great nations. In relation to Me, God the Giver of so many blessings, they turned out to be wicked, that is, despisers and apostates. And their method of seduction was “nothing at all”; for the image, made by hands from sensual matter, was completely nothing. If only they had invented something better; then their crime would naturally have some justification. But since this cannot in any way be compared with God; but there is nothing more than laughter and insignificance and the like: then there is no sufficiently convincing justification for their seduction and so “being seduced by nothing.” And moreover, they were “like a bow tense”, not disposed to repentance, and did not lag behind what led them to such shame and foolishness. You need to know that others, explaining this, read: “it was like a bow facing the opposite direction” (αντεστραμμένον). implying that Israel did something similar again. Like a bow, they had to be drawn against the enemies and shoot hard at those who were plotting an attack on them; but they did not notice that it was as if they were cruelly hitting themselves with arrows from their bows. And indeed: having offended God in the above ways, what else did they find themselves doing but turning their own hands against themselves? But the proposed words can be explained in another way, if anyone wants. The God of all people drew Israel as his bow, fighting against the dominion of the devil and opposing the error of idolatry: for of all the nations living on earth, only Israel, following the commands of the law, rejected the worship of idols and was devoted to the true and by nature Ruler of all. But they turned to the opposite: for obliged to do the above, for the sake of the glory of idols they armed themselves against God. And so they became, as it were, a bow turned against and threw arrows in the opposite direction. Hos.7:16. Their princes will fall by the sword for the sake of not punishing their tongue. He says that (divine) wrath will befall not only those subordinate to their superiors, but will strike, and very threateningly, those who are accustomed to enjoying the highest honors. “They will fall by the sword” and the cause of their disasters will be the impudence of their tongue: for truly it is “unpunishment” (madness) to say to a tree: “Thou art my God, and to a stone: Thou hast begotten me” (Jer. 2:27). The same could be said with all justice by Emmanuel, against whom the scribes and Pharisees directed their unbridled tongue, although He educated and strengthened them, obviously spiritually. But they, not taking any of this into account, “went astray at all”; for they turned to the teachings and commandments of men and became like a bow turned in the opposite direction, wickedly throwing arrows against their Master, for Whom, on the contrary, they should have courageously fought and tried to defeat His opponents, as did His true disciples from among those who believed in Him. In Slav. king as Complut. ἀυτό, glory. then everything, following the reading ἀυῖὸ ολον. Slav. In the days of your kings these words are referred to the following verse, as in the authoritative text LXX, Ital., Vulgate and Heb. In Slav. No. words of their hearts and added: zhegoma, according to a well-known discrepancy. In Slav. fire to eat, according to a well-known discrepancy. In Slav. added: on me. You might be interested in: