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Hos.3:1–2. And the Lord said to me: Go again, and love the woman who loves evil and the adulteress: as God loves the children of Israel, these look to the gods that are alien to them, and love stews with currants. Again it is necessary to find out what this is and what this secret is. I think it is necessary to consider this carefully and examine all the details with precision. After the first promiscuous and outcast wife, the prophet is given the command to take another wife, also guilty of adultery. What's the point? The Jewish people, who, before the coming of our Savior, were extremely imprudent and prone to error, served golden heifers, worshiped and made sacrifices to Baal or Beelphegor, were likened to a harlot, and this is very fair, as giving themselves over to every evil and unclean spirit who wants to please himself. They accepted gods and neighboring peoples impiously and imprudently, at their own discretion. But as she was very prone to treason, she suffered a fair punishment for this, being captured and falling under the power of enemies. However, God clearly revealed to the prophet that during the day of Israel, a truly great day, they would rise from the land, that is, they would come out of the land of foreigners. And this again covertly indicated that they would cease to be strangers and aliens, or rather prisoners of war, living against their will in a foreign land, for the Savior preached release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, according to the word of the Prophet (Is. 61:1). And that they will be accepted through faith with mercy and bounty and will be called the people of God and those who have received mercy, he clearly indicated this. And indeed, after the coming of the Savior, His suffering on the cross and resurrection from the dead, the remains were saved, for a considerable number of Israelites believed. But many of them remained in unbelief, who must be likened to a harlot because they did not choose the heavenly bridegroom and rejected the One who attracted them to Himself by faith and gave their souls, as it were, to some adulterers - the scribes and Pharisees; for they taught the doctrines and commandments of men. Therefore, as the prophet lived with the harlot in the image of God, who bore the fornication of Israel, moderately punished him for his conversion and brought him to knowledge; So, I think, through the above words the mystery is again skillfully portrayed to us. The prophet, serving as the image of God, accepts a harlot and a lover of evil; but with promises and good hopes, as if fattening her, he warms her and does not allow her to reach despair. And that these words contain a complete secret, God showed this, saying to the prophet: “Love the fornicator and the one who loves evil, as God loves the children of Israel; for, says, God, “Who wants all men to be saved and to come into the understanding of truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), according to His characteristic goodness, loves even those who do not want to obey Him, turn their love to false gods and want to do what is pleasing to them. But the word of God partly makes us understand that at the time of the coming of Christ there may have been many among the Jews who still hesitated and were not distinguished by pure attachment to the commandments of Moses, nor were they completely free from the taint of error, but looked to foreign gods, bringing them cookies with raisins, perhaps cakes made with honey, for such cookies were usually sacrificed to demons. Hos.3:2–3. And he gave himself five and ten pieces of silver, and an omer of barley, and a small quantity of wine. And I said to her: May you spend many days with me, and with you, and do not commit adultery, nor be with another husband. So the prophet hires a dissolute woman, makes her sit at home and commands her to abstain from her usual debauchery and avoid the filth of fornication. He promises that if she decides to be chaste and look only at him alone, then he too will be with her, that is, to be in marital communion with her and to be one with her; for “there will be,” he says, “two into one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). What does this hidden speech mean? The Jewish crowd, disobedient, and homicidal, prodigal and unclean, after Christ's ascension into heaven 57, God commands to remain unmarried. However, if she no longer commits fornication, that is, if she does not again switch to the veneration of alien gods, he promises her to one day enter into an alliance with her, obviously after many pagans have entered into this alliance; for the Israelites are placed in the rear, that is, as a remnant, behind and among the last. Note that the prophet had no conjugal relations with an adulterous and bad woman; but only a promise is given that this will happen after many days, if she does not again belong to another husband, that is, if she abstains from guilt and the filth of spiritual fornication. So the prodigal crowd, as I said, will be accepted into fellowship with the Heavenly Bridegroom if it does not serve idols; for after the crucifixion of the Savior, Israel was tied only to the laws of Moses, although completely falsely and carelessly, however, it was no longer inclined to pay honor to demons through false service. But what kind of life did an adulterous wife have and waiting to communicate with the prophet? And what was her pay? “Fifty pieces of silver,” he says, “and an omer of barley and a small amount of wine.” Until the time of his final calling, Israel continues to feed on false speeches and listen to the fabulous and truly womanish (1 Tim. 4:7) teachings of their mentors. His life has become bestial and his mind is intoxicated and darkened. A very clear image of the teaching of his mentors can be silver, in accordance with what was said to them through the mouth of Isaiah: “Your money is untempted” (Is. 1:22) and according to the word of the Savior, rightly reproaching the evil and lazy servant, and saying: “It is fitting... for you to give my silver as a trader” (Matt. 25:27). So by silver we can understand the word of their teachers. And if anyone wants to attribute this to the law of Moses itself, he can say that the number fifteen indicates it, because the law is both perfect and imperfect. It is perfect if we understand it spiritually, for it tells us about the mystery of Christ. It is imperfect if the minds of those educated by it do not penetrate beyond its letters, for the thickness of historical meaning seems to hold back half the knowledge. The symbol of perfection is the number ten, as the most perfect, according to the word of Scripture: “be... over ten cities” (Luke 19:17). The number five, according to the saying: “to him... gave five talents” (Matthew 25:15), may indicate that it does not have perfection, for it, as I said, is half of ten. Or you can add another interpretation to what has been said. The number fifteen combines seven and eight. Almost always in the inspired Scripture the number seven denotes all the lawful time before the holy prophets because of the sabbath (rest) on the seventh day. The number eight denotes the time of the new Testament, because the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ was on the eighth day. This, I think, is covertly indicated by the saying: “Give part to the seventh, and let us wash away” (Eccl. 11:2), that is, let the law and the prophets who came after it take place with you, who had the Sabbath on the seventh day; but let there also be eighth ones, that is, the apostles and evangelists who were after the day of the Savior’s resurrection. This is also consistent with what is indirectly indicated through the mouth of the prophet: “and the seven shepherds and the eight plagues of men will arise” (Mic. 5:5); for after our Savior Jesus Christ appeared to us, we rebelled in some way against Satan, who led us into relaxation, the preaching of the law and the prophets and the apostolic teaching; through them he was in some way wounded and deprived of weapons, and, according to the word of the Savior, his vessels were plundered (Matthew 12:29) because those who had once been mistaken were freed from slavery to him and came to know the true and real God and the Lord of all. So “the seven shepherds arose and the eight plagues of men,” that is, those who before the coming (of the Savior) and who after the eighth (day) and through the legal and new scriptures call the lost to salvation. And to this day Israel, as I said, continues to feed on the incorrect teachings of their mentors, or the meaningless letter of the law, although it contains what relates to the eighth day, that is, the sacraments of Christ. And that the life of Israel is bestial and directed towards only the carnal, this can be very clearly shown by the fact that barley was given to the harlot for food, for this is food suitable for livestock. Wine can serve as an indication of intoxication. It was said to them: “By hearing you will hear and not understand, and by seeing you will see and will not see” (Is. 6:9). And this is the weakness of the drunkard and the vice of the intoxicated, that when they see they cannot see anything and when they hear they cannot understand anything, and their minds seem to be heavy and subject to blindness. Hos.3:4–5. For many days the children of Israel will sit down, not being the king, nor the prince, nor the sacrifice, nor the altar, nor the priesthood, nor the manifestations: and therefore the children of Israel will return, and will seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and will wonder about the Lord, and about his goodness in the last days. Finally, the above words contain a clear and indisputable explanation for the capture (by the prophet) of the fornicator and her stay at home for many days while the prophet was with her. This is how it is written about it, but this deed was an image of what once happened to the adulterous synagogue of the Jews. When our Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily endured the cross for the salvation of everyone, during the frantic uprising of the Israelites against Him, then, after the devastation of their country, they scattered in all directions. Until now, they cannot fulfill what is required by the law, because the temple of Jerusalem was burned, the altar was destroyed, the sacrifice was destroyed, and the priests remained idle and the apparitions were not visible. And since there is no high priest clothed according to the law in the garb appropriate to the office, how could the apparitions be seen? And why the phenomena were established, although the inquisitive may already know, it is not useless to briefly recall this. When the God of all things hath established all things pertaining to the adornment of the high priest; Then he said to the sacred Moses: “Let him do the word of judgment, the work of the motley... spans longitude, and spans latitude; let it be quadrangular” (Ex. 28:15–16). Then he commanded that precious stones with the names of the twelve tribes be skillfully woven into this artistic fabric. Between them there were two who bore the names: “appearance and truth” (Ex. 28:30). Then this word of judgment hung from the amice on gold chains and was held on the chest of the High Priest. This "appearance and truth" was a type of Immanuel; for “all things that I heard from the Father... he told us” (John 15:15) and revealed the will of Him who gave birth to Him and clearly showed the path of fear. And that He is the truth, who can doubt this after He Himself clearly said: “I am the truth” (John 14:6). That is why it (the word of judgment) hung on the very heart of the high priest. This image seemed to cry out and clearly proclaim that the sacred race would have in its mind and heart the Savior and Redeemer of all, the Truth and the Manifestation; or that it is absolutely necessary for priests to always remember Christ and, through the Spirit, to always have Him dwelling within them. The dwelling place for Him is a pure mind and a purified heart. So “the sons of Israel will sit for many days,” he says, “I will not exist as king or prince,” that is, without a king and without a guardian; because there will no longer be kings from the tribe of Judah, and princes, that is, priests, will no longer preside according to the law; There will be no altar or sacrifice, nor priesthood or appearances, he says. However, it will not remain in this state forever and Israel will not be completely rejected. One day he will be called and converted through faith, and will know the God of all and with Him David, that is, from the seed of David, according to the flesh, Christ, the King and Lord of all, was born. Then they will be amazed at the greatness of His generosity and the immeasurable grace of His love; for they will share in the hope prepared for the saints, and together with the hosts of those who believe, they will feed in good pasture and in rich places. The time of such glorious and amazing mercy for them will be the end of the world and the last days of the age and in Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to God and the Father with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. In the Greek text it is: ἐις ἀνθρώπους, and in the Latin: in coelos; The latter seems more consistent with the flow of thoughts and constitutes a translation of the Greek ἐις ὀυρανὀυς. You might be interested in: