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Hos.11:1–2. From now on is the child Israel, and I have loved him, and from Egypt I have called his children 205. As I called, I will also depart from my presence. It seems to us that the speech here is directed against an objection on someone's part. It must be assumed that someone kept in mind or even openly expressed the following: if the descendants of Israel were destined to fall away over time, to withdraw from the face of God, to become vile and hateful, then why were they called at all in the beginning? To this, God, and very naturally, gives an explanation in some way, saying: “baby Israel, and I loved him, I called his child out of Egypt”; There was, he says, Jacob, who was renamed Israel, a simple-minded man; That’s why I loved him, for, he says, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau” (Mal. 1:2), when they were still in bed; therefore, since I loved him, I delivered his children from the greed of the Egyptians. for I show mercy in thousands to those who love me (Ex. 20:6). What about the venerable and chosen for the sake of the fathers? Honored by the gift of freedom, freed from slavery and labor? Did you honor it? Did you try to please the God who protected you with good dispositions? “Not at all,” he says: they fled from the Lord, moved away from the One who Honored, and despised the One who Called. Left - how? Did they individually and little by little deviate from right-thinking and were kidnapped by someone’s cunning? Not at all: they recoiled in the same way as they were called, that is: by the whole council, by tribes, by all clans and by all houses, because this is how they once came out of Egypt. We mentioned that when Pharaoh finally promised to let Israel go and, wanting to know the number leaving him, directly said: “Who and who are they who are coming” (Exodus 10:8), Moses answered: “We will go with our young men and with our elders, with sons and daughters, and with our sheep and oxen” (Exodus 10:9): therefore, the calling concerned all tribes, all people, every clan and house (family). In the same way (it was accomplished) the apostasy, the unseemlyness of which he notes with all his strength, saying: “I will depart from my presence,” for whomever the Lord of all hates will not look upon in accordance with what, I think, is sung in the psalms: “look upon me and have mercy on me” (Ps. 119:132), because it is written that “the eyes The Lord is upon the righteous” (Ps. 33:16), and He Himself in one place says: “On whom will I look: only to him who is meek and silent, and who trembles at my words” (Is. 66:2). Hos.11:2–4. Tii Baal 206 I demand a priest and a sculptured cairn. I 207 bound Ephraim, and took 208 him on my arm, and did not understand, for I had healed the corruption of mankind 209 . I was attracted by the bonds of my love. He reveals His characteristic, immeasurable and God-appropriate goodness, for to bestow blessings on those who already believed and knew Him, and those who decided to worship Him alone would have sufficient grounds and does not go beyond the limits of the natural (everyone, if he wants to act justly, honors his loved one and those who resort to him), but to be the giver of every good for those who are still filthy and have not known Him, this is the height of philanthropy and surprises and proof of truly godly goodness. Therefore, the Savior himself, sympathizing with our situation and as God giving undeserved mercy to sin-loving people, sometimes said: “they do not require the health of a doctor, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12), sometimes: “I have not come... to call the righteous, but a sinner to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). - So, although, he says, 210 ... that is, the descendants of Israel, wandered around Egypt, they had not yet known the true God (- Me), on the contrary: they were convicted of making sacrifices to the Baals, that is, to idols, burning incense to “carved” or idols of the natives. But I, as merciful and good, “are in ties,” he says, “with Ephraim,” despite his rudeness, that is, in general Israel, called here one tribe at a time. And what this means, He Himself explained, saying: “take him on my arm” - likening it to the method of action that is used with babies: whoever takes small children in his arms, as if ties them, putting their legs together (it is necessary, I think, for anyone sitting to tighten their hips and knees). This is what it is: “binds,” just as it is written about Abraham that he bound Isaac his son (Gen. 22:9) when he intended to sacrifice him to God. It should be noted that the Jewish edition, as well as others, do not have: “connections” 211, but supply: “bykh like the milker of Ephraim” 212. That’s how it was in relation to them, they “didn’t understand,” that is, they didn’t understand, didn’t feel that, while destroying others, I was taking care of their correction. This means: “I have healed the corruption of mankind.” First, the Egyptians were destroyed by ten plagues when Pharaoh did not let go: after the Egyptian plagues, the Hittites, Hivites, Amorites, Canaanites and Jebusites perished, over whom, having won a strong victory, Israel inherited the land of promise, and God eased every difficulty for them and gave them the strength to overcome their enemies. So, he says, they do not notice that, by destroying people similar to them, I arranged their well-being and “attracted them,” that is, I bound them and kept them in bonds of love. But, if they were wise, they would, of course, think and reflect within themselves: why were these nations destroyed by God, and we were put in their place? Having thus understood that I hate the lawless one and hold the servant of demons at nothing, they would probably stop doing such things. Therefore, those who want to please God must have sound reasoning, a good soul, and consider anger that befalls others as a warning to be vigilant. But ingratitude is the most terrible thing, and from here it is easy for us to see that one who has fallen into this illness is rightly punished for all the outrages of which he is exposed, since an ungrateful person, he says, is the same as a blasphemer (2 Tim. 3:2). Hos.11:4. And I will be like a man striking his jaw, and I will look to him and help him. Since he said that he loved Ephraim and, like a baby, took him “on the arm”, tied him, as it were, with bonds of love, although he was still nasty and lawless, that’s why he says that he will punish the sinner: “Whom the Lord loves, He punishes, but beats every son whom He accepts” (Proverbs 3:12). Notice how he promises not to deprive God of mercy and (points out) the image of punishment: he says, punishments against them will be like blows on the jaw (cheek) by a person’s hand. One can see in this the rebuke of the father, who dissolves manifestations of anger with pity and love and touches with his hand quietly and lightly, so as not to leave him completely unpunished. And because he loved, he promises to look at him, for - whomever he deigns to honor, he deigns to take care of and helps us, humbling with art and godly power those who are sick with disobedience: if he does not use conviction, then by force he encourages to do good and through sorrows leads us to what is most useful and necessary for us for salvation. Let the God of all hear from us: “in tribulation, your punishment for us is small” (Is. 26:16), - this is a blow (on the cheek), - and in another place: “punish (teach) us, Lord, both in judgment, and not in rage, so that you do not make us humble” (Jer. 10:24), because for the prudent there is teaching (τὸ παιδεύεσθαι) is not bitter, but the punishment (τὸ κολάζεσθαι) is furious and terrible, and unbearable, even more: a deed filled with destruction. Hos.11:5–6. Ephraim settled in Egypt, and Assur himself was its king, as if he did not want to return. And the weapons 213 fail in his cities, and they fall silent into his hand: and they are consumed by their own devices. That it is our departure from God that inevitably brings us to the extreme limit of all evil, when we uncontrollably strive to commit evil deeds and to some exaltation through disobedience, although He calls us to salvation, Blessed Paul also makes clear this, saying: “Be careful, brethren, that you do not deny him who speaks” 214 (Heb. 12:25). But this will be no less clear to us from the text presented (i.e., vv. 5–6). The most unfortunate Ephraim, having left his native land, made, he says, the land of Egypt as if it were his own, fearing the disasters of war: he submitted to Assur himself and bowed his neck under foreign sceptres: to such a degree of humiliation did he fall. And if anyone asks about the reason, he will hear what the Omniscient says: “because you did not want to return”; Therefore, he was captured and fell under the hand of the haters, for “in the cities his weapon was exhausted, and his hand was kept silent,” that is: in not a single city of Ephraim was there found a single man capable of war and able to wield weapons, because the hands of those who had learned to hold them weakened and seemed to be taken away. And since they, for their part, thought and did evil, they will taste the fruits of their own foolishness. These are the bitter consequences that accompany the boldness to offend the Savior through disobedience: and even if someone had the opportunity to get rid of guilt through the mercy of God, negligence will not go unpunished, for we will settle in Egypt, that is, we will be homeless and wanderers everywhere and in everything, having lost not the sensible land to move to another, but the inheritance of the saints (Col. 1:12). We will also fall under the power of Asshur, that is, the prince of this age, we will be his slaves and captives and submissive to his desires due to the fact that our weapons are “weak and silent,” for in no way, in any way, is it possible for sinners to take “the whole weapon of God” (Eph. 6:11) “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). By the sword you can also understand the aspiration of our thoughts, as if the most militant and most God-loving, which, by leading us to the fight against passions and the battle against the devil’s atrocities, we establish a pious and blameless path and crown our head with the decorations of the gospel life. Hos.11:7. And his people are hanging from their habitation: and God will be angry with his honor, and will not lift him up. It is very difficult to express the meaning of the words presented, the connection of speech is difficult and would require a lengthy explanation for those who want to understand. Briefly, what he wants to express is the following. Ephraim, he says, retired to the Egyptians and became subject to the king of Asshur. Further, as if someone asked and said: for what and how did he have to suffer or how Israel became a slave to foreigners, he gives the answers in order and says: firstly, because “you did not want to return,” for, although leniency was shown to him, but even at the same time, he says, he turned out to be careless and disobedient; then because “weapons fail in their cities,” there was, as I said, no one who would resist the Assyrians and would prove skilled in military affairs, when God weakened military strength and struck with some kind of timidity even the very strong in battle. There is another reason for his subordination to Assur. Which one? - The people, that is, Ephraim, so to speak, gravitated towards him - of course, towards Assur, and “from their habitat” wanted to retire to the country of the Persians and Medes. We, of course, do not claim that Ephraim himself wanted this, but, as far as his sins were concerned, it was as if he himself wanted to suffer such disasters, although he could have avoided anger by moving on to something better and more worthy. So: it was as if he gravitated towards Assur and, leaving his homeland, that is, “his dwelling,” senselessly rushed to go to the country thereof (Assur), although God clearly said that he would certainly bring this on him if they did not want to repent. But after they have fallen to such a degree, “God will be angry with him honestly.” Honest, chosen and outstanding among the people are, obviously, kings and leaders, who, together with the common people, were taken away in a pitiful and slavish form, like prisoners of war, because they captivated their subordinates and were a snare for those who, if they themselves wished, could walk the right path (the authorities always guide the subordinates). So they will be humiliated and rejected, although they had the greatest glory, because in any case, greatness is inseparable from royal thrones. However, God will not “exalt” them, for, as I have said many times, the kingdom of Ephraim has ceased. Therefore, especially we, Christians, must beware of the attraction to evil, and if we do not do this, then we ourselves will voluntarily impose the yoke of the devil on ourselves, so to speak, being drawn by love for him and already willingly marching under his power in order to do what is pleasing to him. But if this happens, we will irritate God and thus become base, having an earthly mind and cast down to the ground, since God will leave (us) and will no longer correct us with incentives for good. Hos.11:8–9. What will I arrange for you, Ephraim? Will I protect you, Israel? What shall I put you? As I will arrange for Adam... 216 you, and as with His own, my heart is transformed in him, my repentance is troubled. I will not create my wrath in my wrath, I will not leave Ephraim to be consumed, for I am already God, and not man: I am holy in you. He adds censure, showing that the most severe anger had to be brought upon them, since they committed unrighteousness and dishonored God beyond measure, as a result of which there was no longer any possibility of any leniency left for them. But as the good one, the source and cause of mercy, He stops the movement of anger, not because He corrects an accidental mistake after more attentive reasoning (the divine and ineffable nature is never mistaken in His, completely characteristic of Him, thoughts and actions), but as if rejecting what they were worthy of, and by mercy withholding what was most becoming for them, that is: final destruction and extermination from the very roots. Therefore he says: “What will I arrange for you?” What means, he says, will I use to arrange your affairs? - “Will I protect you” and help you again and make you invincible for those plotting against you? However, how will this happen? – Those who have committed terrible deeds in relation to God should be punished, and not prosper: therefore, rewarding according to deserts and determining punishments commensurate with sins, he says 217: “As I will lay you down as Adam, and as He will make you.” These are the cities of Sodom, which were consumed to the ground by the falling fire. But even this, he says, I will not do, although in fairness it should be: but I will wait (for I have changed my mind) and will not use the most severe punishments - I will not commit complete destruction, although Ephraim has become thin. For what reason? Were they not worthy to undergo this? Yes, he says, but “I am God, and not man,” that is, he is good and does not obey the movements of anger, because such passion is characteristic of people. But why do You still punish, he says, if You are God, inaccessible to anger, but following natural mercy? I punish, he says, because I am not only good, like God, but also holy, I hate unrighteousness, I turn away from the defiled, I reprove the hater of God, I convert the lawless, I cleanse the unclean so that he will again come closer to Me. Therefore, the prophet edifies us, exclaiming and saying: “Seek the Lord, and whenever you find him, call: when he draws near to you, let the wicked leave his ways, and the wicked man his counsel, and let him turn to the Lord, and be shown mercy” (Is. 55:6-7). As a result of this, if we highly value being with God, we must turn away from sin with all our might and remember Him who says: “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11, etc.). Hos.11:9–10. And not deep into the city. The Imam will follow in the footsteps of the Lord. Sometimes in the minds of holy prophets an idea of ​​the future is revealed in all its details, when the Holy Spirit, like lightning, illuminates the subject for them. Therefore, along with their own words, or with words (inspired) from above, from God, they sometimes proclaim the speeches of other people, expressing either repentance, then gratitude, or delight about what God promises to please them with. We will find that even now blessed Hosea experiences something similar. The God of all promised mercy and said that He would not completely destroy those who sinned, because He is God, obviously good, and not a man, for He is not like us, Who is above every creature. They, as if admitting their own sins and in some way being ashamed of the greatest and unexpected grace, promise to put an end to their inventions, as a result of which they stumbled. And what they are, God satisfied us regarding this through the prophet himself: a little earlier, denouncing both Judah himself and Ephraim, he said: “And Israel shall forget what they have made, and erect the churches; Indeed, Ephraim, or Israel, built altars and churches for idols in Samaria, retreated, forgot God and continually insulted Him, not deigning any attention to the direct duty of love for Him. For his part, Judas, although he hoped in God, as having received salvation from Him and through Him in former times, nevertheless provoked anger in many other ways, and especially in the following: when God threatened to send an Assyrian against him who would devastate the land, he began to strengthen his cities, believing that even if God had not wanted it, he would nevertheless be saved and overcome the hand of the warriors thanks to the fortress of the cities. So, when God promises the blessings of mercy even to those who have sinned immeasurably, then those who are being saved say that they will stop foolish undertakings, and at the same time plans. Yes, Judas cries: “I will not go into the city,” that is, I will have God as a wall, I will make my hope in Him a strength, I will take refuge under the protection of the right hand of the one who saves: He alone will be enough for my salvation: I recognize the expectation that when war befalls the earth, I will be saved by entering the city: therefore, “I will not go into the city.” Let Israel, or Ephraim, proclaim something else, that is, “the imam should follow the footsteps of the Lord”; I will leave, he says, my previous sins, henceforth I will follow the laws of God, I will take the God of all as my mentor. If anyone strives for what pleases God, then, in any case, he will know Him alone, he will pay veneration to Him and will not worship anyone else but Him. Hos.11:10–11. As a lion shall roar, before she shall roar, and the children of the waters shall be terrified, 219 they shall fly away like a bird from Egypt, and like a dove from the land of Assyria: and I will set them up in their houses, says the Lord. When the time came and the deadline for Israel to receive liberation from captivity was fulfilled, Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, having assumed power over the Persians and Medes, invaded the Babylonian and Assyrian country with a large army and with irresistible force. Therefore, the prophet Jeremiah, proclaiming the captivity of Babylon, speaks of the Medes and Persians: “they will attack 220 you, and you will be captured, O Babylon, and you will not know 221: you have been found, and you have resisted the Lord” 222 (Jer. 50:24), and about Cyrus: “the lion has risen from his bed... let him make your land a wilderness, and let your cities be ruined, left without inhabitants” 223 (Jer. 4:7). And that the God of all gave power to Cyrus, this is proved by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “This 224 says the Lord... 225 to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I hold, I will subdue the tongues before him, and I will destroy the fortress of kings, I will open the gates before him, and the cities will not be shut. I will go before you, and I will level the mountains, I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and break the chains of iron, and I will give you dark hidden treasures; I will open to you the invisible things” (Is. 45:1-3). Therefore, Cyrus, having defeated and subjugated the Babylonians, freed the Israelites, and they returned and settled in their own land. The prophet Hosea points to this exact event when he says: “Like a lion shall roar.” Who will “roar”? “Of course, Cyrus,” just as if someone decided to say: Cyrus’s war will make a terrible and heavy noise against the Babylonians. When he roars and, as if some kind of lion roars at his opponents, the “children of the waters” will go into a frenzy (from fear): ἐκστήσονται (they will be frantic with fear) says instead of καταπλαγήσονται (they will be struck by fear). The Babylonians call children of the waters, who in cowardice are in no way inferior to the “children of the waters,” that is, those swimming in the water or fish, and, having become, as a result of this state (affected by fear to the point of frenzy), easy to catch and devoid of courage, they will be captured (the fish breed is very prone to timidity, runs away from noise and rushes away from only the shadow of the fisher). So, when Cyrus “roars,” he says, and shouts a terrible and trembling cry of abuse against the land of Babylon, the “children of the waters,” that is, the Babylonians, who are in no way inferior in cowardice to fish, will be struck with fear. Then, like a bird and a dove, those who once fled to it will fly away from Egypt, those kept in captivity will also flee from the land of the Chaldeans, then they will return and settle in their own land. Therefore, if we have the opportunity to have good things, bowing the neck of our minds to God and working for Him alone, let us not voluntarily deviate from offending (Him), incurring upon ourselves, as it were, a self-proclaimed movement of anger, while, as I said, it is possible to enjoy imperturbable happiness, pleasing the Lord with law-conforming behavior and life, and sincerity towards Him. Os.11:12. Ephraim has practiced me with lies, and 226 the house of Israel, and Judah, with wickedness. By nature, being good and merciful, God has no desire at all to strike anyone, but is of necessity provoked to indignation, promoting correction (of the sinner) when someone’s guilt exceeds the limits of counting and measure. This is what he teaches us again with the words that are presented. He says, as it were: wherever He directed and turned his divine gaze - here, here or around - everywhere one could notice the lies and wickedness of Ephraim and Judah. He calls the delights of idolatry and vain worship a lie, and wickedness, probably exaltation against God, for what is not wickedness, terrible and most obscene - to reject the One who is by nature and truly God, and it is senseless to cleave to trees and stones or to worship “the creature more than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25), to begin to crown with honors proper to the Master, what He called into being? Os.11:12. Now I know God, and the holy church will be called Gods 227. “The house of Ephraim and Judah have treated me,” he says, “with lies and wickedness,” but for all that, bringing appropriate reprimand upon them, I will remain good. He knew them that they could not otherwise change for the better, unless they experienced something sad and brought sinners to their senses. So, “I know God,” that is, I knew the way of instruction that was beneficial to them. And this will not be useless for them: for what will happen is that they will be equated with holy churches: as soon as their inherent depravity disappears in labor and sorrow, they will become pure and sanctified and will learn from experience that the sincerity of love for God will be for them the guarantee of all joy and well-being, just as the guilt of apostasy plunges them into the ditches of slavery and sorrow. In glory my son τὸν υιόν μου (Matthew 2:15), Heb. לכני. Actually: and az, Greek: καὶ ἐγώ. Slav.: taken in accordance with the majority of Greek lists that do not have καὶ (Heb. קחם). Below, in the interpretation, St. Cyril gives the text without καὶ. Slav. with a different division: for I am healed. In the decay of mankind attracted, etc. Omission in the original. From the explanatory words τουτέστιν οι εξ Ἰσραήλ one must think that the word Εφραίμ is omitted. Γἐγονεν (more correctly: γέγονα, see the text in Field II, 958) ὡς τιθηνὸς (ο and η: η is better here: cf. Num. 11:12: Ruth. 4, etc.) τῷ Ἐφραίμ. Wed. Vulg.: et ego quasi nutricius Ephraim. Heb. חרגלתי. In Parisian and Minh: ἐν ῥομφαία, but from further interpretation it is clear that St. Cyril read ῥομφαία without ἐν. In the text: τὸν καλοῦντα, calling instead of the usual: τὸν λαλοῦντα. More precisely: what will I arrange for you (διαθῶ)? Like Adam I will lay (θήσομαι) you. The text does not contain the word φησί, but it is necessary. Wed. Os.9:11. In glory: and they will come - καὶ ἤξουσι (in Complutensian and in many Greek lists); at St. Kirill: ἐκπτήσονται, as in other lists. Ἐπιθήσονται (Compl., Ald. and many others); slav.: they will rise ἐπίβήσονται, as in many Greek codes. See Holmes and Parsons. Καὶ ἁλώση Βαβυλών, καὶ οὐ γνώση. Slav.: and you will be captivated, and you will not know that you are Babylon - καὶ άλώση, καὶ οὐ γνώση, ὡς Βαβυλών, as in Alex. and many more etc. Wed. Os.14:1. Glory: because you have angered the Lord. Παρὰ τὸ μὴ κατοικεῖσθαι αὐτάς. Τάβε. Slav.: sitse – οὕτω (see Holmes and Pars.). Slav.: Lord God. Ὁ Θεός is omitted in this place by Theodoret, in accordance with the Hebrew. Ἑν ἀσεβεία (Alex., Compl., etc.); slav.: wickedness – ἀσεβίαις, as read in the generally accepted Greek text. Καὶ νὰος ἅγιος κεκλήσεται Θεοῦ. Glorified: and the holy people were called Gods καὶ ὁ λαός ἅγιος κέκληται. You might be interested in: