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Hos.7:16–8:1. This is their reproach in the lands of Egypt, in their depths. Like the earth... 117 like an eagle in the house of the Lord; You have already transgressed my covenant and acted dishonestly against my law. These words are very unclear: because, as I think, the Hebrew language presents great difficulties for interpreters. But we, following the order of thoughts, will say for their understanding what comes to mind. So “this reproach,” he says, “is against the lands of Egypt”; that is, since they have wickedly disgraced Me, who always saves, guides and makes them invincible to their opponents (for I strengthened them), by serving demons, placing their trust in the land of Egypt and thinking that the help there is enough for them to prosper: then for this very reason their enterprise will return to their bosom and for their folly they will not receive good rewards, but as if in their bosom they will receive retribution. He will come, he says, the Assyrian tyrant who has devastated them will come, having an innumerable multitude of warriors. It’s as if the whole earth, both the country and the fatherland, will come to them, so one might think that the whole country of the Persians and Medes completely migrated and came to Samaria. This is what the expression means: “like the earth.” He will also come “like an eagle” to the house of the Lord, that is, cruel and terrible, he will rush at the very church of God and attack the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, easily plundering everything and taking it to his own land. The first to be devastated was the country of the Samaritans and all of Israel in it. Finally, the glorious city was taken, about which the prophet Jeremiah cried, saying: “How is this one city multiplied by people? (Pl.1:1) And that the church in the city was burned, this is beyond any doubt. This will happen to them, he says, because they transgressed the divine covenant and disrespected the law spoken by God. Completely neglecting the sayings of the wise Moses, they tried to lead their lives according to their own lusts, and each of them, at his own discretion, invented both the image of Divine service and the law. Hos.8:2–3. They will cry to me: God has known you, for Israel has turned away the good and driven away the enemy. Those who made cuts for themselves because of wheat and wine, who celebrated holidays to unclean demons, who did not cry out to God in their hearts, who did not recognize the Giver of all abundance and Protector to them, nor did they honor Him with due gratitude - if they did not know Him in the fullness of their prosperity, then they will probably recognize Him, having undergone a well-deserved punishment and having come to bitterness for their recklessness and a terrible end, they will call on Him and will finally call on Him, having undergone terrible and unbearable calamities. But having received admonition from their actual disasters, they will blame themselves for their foolishness, saying this: “Israel has turned away from good things.” For when it was possible to have them and, moreover, in abundance, having confirmed the union with God and trying very diligently to do what was pleasing to Him, they “drove away the enemy,” that is, they themselves voluntarily ran to the enemies and submitted to those who hated God, who always saves and makes them victorious over their opponents, having offended Him with such betrayals. – So, it is very reasonable and truly useful not to wait for the onset of real disasters, on the contrary, to prevent their occurrence and try to provide for useful things before them. Hos.8:4. You set up a king for yourself, and did not rule over me, and did not show it to me: from your silver and from your gold you made idols for yourself, so that they would be consumed. He denies the kingdom of Jeroboam and those who reigned after him over Israel in Samaria, although He Himself clearly said: “For this word came from Me” (1 Kings 12:24), and Solomon himself, who followed the errors of foreign women and dedicated churches and altars to their deities, threatened, saying: “I will tear your kingdom out of your hand, and give it your servant" (1 Kings 11:11). What shall we say? Did the God of all things tell lies? It won't happen! On the contrary, let us try to understand it correctly by thinking like this. It is written: “Or will there be evil in the city which the Lord has not created?” (Am.3:6) He calls disaster evil, because He does some events according to His will, while He allows others to happen to punish some people, although they are committed as if against His will. since He, having the opportunity to prevent this, nevertheless often allows this to happen in types of house-building, He is called the main culprit of these events. So (let us turn again to Solomon himself) God allowed him to build a church of stones in Jerusalem, made him wise and glorious in his incomparable mind. It was a work of His will. But He allowed the dissolution of his kingdom, not himself, according to His will, directing events towards this, but as if keeping silent about what was happening against His will, due to indignation at him (Solomon). So, although Jeroboam and his successors reigned, this was not the full consent of God, for what happens as a result of (divine) wrath, as if to punish some, has a different character, and cannot be understood as if it happened truly according to His will. So by themselves, and not through Me, they reigned. since they ruled as if without God knowing about it (for what happens contrary to His will, apparently He does not know): then their power was weak and feeble and did not have enough strength to resist (enemies) and to protect their subordinates. “By me kings reign... and rulers... hold the earth” (Prov. 8:15–16). And that in addition to this they suffered great madness and used the gifts of God to insult Him, especially for the destruction of their own souls, he taught this, saying: “from your silver and from your gold you made idols for yourself, so that they may be consumed.” By being able to gain a good name for themselves by showing compassion to their brothers, they insult God and madly turn the means of salvation into an instrument of their destruction. Hos.8:5–6. Break thy calf, O Samaria, my wrath is angry with her: how long can they not be cleansed who are in Israel? And then you made a tree, and God did not flatter your calf, Samaria. How beautifully he says: “wipe away” 118, as if dirt and filth, and extreme uncleanness! Truly this is idolatry: it makes the soul unclean, disgusting, fetid and shameful in the eyes of God. So, being merciful and good, He convinces them that, although they have sobered up too late, they should turn to something better, prevent His anger, remove the causes of misfortunes that would befall them, and block disasters with repentance. He says that He was angry with them, obviously because of the calf itself, showing that being a lover of mankind, He does not pay attention to their sins committed due to human weakness, but will certainly punish their deviation from Him. The inclination of those who insult God to worship, I say, demons is unbearable for Him. You who have given yourself over to uncleanness, how long will you remain unchanged? What time will be enough for you to put aside your madness? After all, what the carpenter did you consider to be God, and what does not bring any benefit, on the contrary, causes harm and destruction, you consider worthy of reverence and acceptance: for the calf leads you astray, and nothing else. Hos.8:7. As if everything was destroyed by the wind, and I will receive their destruction: the handle does not have the power to create flour, and even if it does, strangers will eat it. The likeness of farmers working in vain indicates the futility of their inherent recklessness and efforts for vain things. If some have decided to devote labor to this, sometimes diligently serving idols and paying respect to them with offerings and sacrifices; then this was nothing more than the collection of seed spoiled by the wind, which cannot bring any benefit to the one who works. And truly: what is the reward for zeal in idolatry? Or what is the use of sculptured ones? and how can something that should come to complete destruction bring joy to anyone? So those who are accustomed to doing this and making efforts to honor idols have become like those who sow spoiled by the wind and a handful of ears of grain that have no grains and cannot produce flour. But even if something had been done by them, that is, even if they seemed zealous and zealous in matters of error; even this will be done by them for strangers and cannot in any way bring joy to God. He calls false gods alien. Thus, our zeal in relation to what offends God remains without any reward, and decent morals, if they are not aimed at achieving good, will be completely and completely condemned by Him. Hos.8:8–10. Israel was swallowed up, now they are among the nations, like a vessel of no use: because of this they rose up to the Assyrians: Ephraim prosper for yourself, love the gifts: for this reason they will be given over to the nations. He says that Israel is swallowed up, as if it had suffered a terrible shipwreck and drowned in the waves of its own sins and was broken, as it were, against some rock by the movements of the wrath of the divine. Or you can understand this in another way: he (Israel) was swallowed up, he says, by Nebuchadnezzar, as if by a terrible and insatiable dragon. So another of the holy prophets, imagining Israel already captive and in slavery to their victors, says on his behalf: “Devoured me, crushed me, the thin darkness accepted me, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon devoured me, like a serpent, fill your belly with my sweetness” (Jer. 51:34). But another explanation is also true: those who fall away from the love of God are in some way swallowed up and made their own food by the many-headed dragon, about which the Psalmist says that it was given as food to the Ethiopian peoples. “You,” he says, “thou shattered the head of the serpent, and gave him slaughter to the people of Ethiopia” (Ps. 73:14). By Ethiopians can rightly be meant and called by this name both by ourselves and by God those who within themselves have the darkest and darkest minds. They deliver food to the many-headed dragon, but they themselves, in turn, feed on it. So “Israel was swallowed up and became one of the nations, for a vessel was not needed.” Taken to the Assyrians and Medes, he became completely useless, forced to obey what they pleased. Or that is why he was consumed and, leaving his native land, moved into the midst of the pagans, because he became an indecent vessel. The Lord of all speaks like this through the mouth of Jeremiah about one of those who reigned in Samaria over Israel: “Jeconiah was dishonored, like a vessel of disgrace, for he was denied his existence and was cast into the ground without knowing it. To the earth, to the earth, to the earth, hear the word of the Lord; write this outcast man” (Jer. 22:28–30). So Israel became profane and dishonored; for what is the benefit to God from a soul that is erring and sin-loving and comfortable with everything shameful and, worst of all evils, withdrawing from the service of God? What was the reason for such suffering in Israel? “When I heaved a sigh,” he says, like defectors, they themselves fled to the corners. How, or in what way? Fearing their attack, they did not seek, through repentance, help from God, but with gifts they tried to persuade them to something else, to calm them down a little. Then in some way he ridicules such a plan as being vain and useless for them, speaking about one of the kings of the tribe of Ephraim, who sent gifts to the Assyrian tyrants: “Prosper Ephraim for yourself.” It’s as if he says: The king from the tribe of Ephraim, destined to be cut down like a withered tree and, as if ready to wither from the fire of divine wrath, “prosper in himself,” that is, without Me, not having My will, imagined, says that he will live, and will take root in the depths, and will not lose his throne. Having loved not to accept gifts, but to give, he bought for them only a short and small respite from the disaster. But what happened from this? No benefit; on the contrary, they “will give themselves up to tongues” and, thanks to what happens to them, they will learn that no one will prosper on their own and that those who offend God will not benefit from distributing gifts to their enemies: for in a short time they will be punished. Os.8:10. Now I will accept them, and they will rest a little to anoint the king and the prince. The kings of the tribe of Ephraim were, to put it briefly, the authors of all the wickedness of Israel. The accursed Jeroboam was the first inventor of the retreat: he arranged for them golden heifers and on the so-called high places, that is, in the churches on the mountains and hills, he appointed priests not from the tribe of Levi, but from those “who have fulfilled his hand” (1 Kings 13:33), according to what is written. Then after this, when they expected the invasion of the Assyrians, during the reign of Manaim, they sent them money, convincing them to refrain from plundering the land. Therefore, divine wrath was justified against the kingdom that was from the tribe of Ephraim over Israel. “Now I will accept them,” he says, not because they have good morals, nor because they decided to lead an excellent life, nor because they desired life according to the law, but as a mentor, and as demanding punishment for them and already calling them to judgment. In the past, I, out of mercy, postponed the punishments required by divine wrath: “but now I will accept them,” he says, so that through the experience of disasters they would finally learn that they too are under My dominion and are not delivered from My right hand. And he confirmed that the punishments would no longer be postponed, saying: “now.” So, received by God for admonition, they will finally stop anointing the king and the princes: since, being in slavery to the Assyrians and Medes, although they had a very convenient time to carry out the affairs of retreat, they constantly grieved and mourned the unexpected disaster. You need to know that after Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, freed Israel from captivity, kings from the tribe of Ephraim were no longer anointed in Samaria, but all were under one yoke, under the authority of the kings in Jerusalem from the tribe of Judah: for they did not yet live separately, but all belonged to Jerusalem. The first, after the time of captivity, to rule over both kingdoms, I say, over Israel and Judah, or, in one word, over the twelve tribes, was Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, from the tribe of Judah (1 Ezra 3:8), while the affairs of the Levitical ministry were administered and the high priestly ministry was performed by Joshua, the son of Jozedek, the great high priest. Hos.8:11–12. As if Ephraim had multiplied his treasures into sins, He had a beloved treasure. I will write down a multitude of them and their legitimate ones in the alien imputation of the beloved. He indicates the reason why he rightly finally imposes the taking away of power from the kings, for very many altars are imputed to Ephraim as a sin. The word of the prophet concerns the first Jeroboam, king from the tribe of Ephraim, and the kings who came after him, who, having built altars to demons on every mountain and on every hill, persuaded the Israelites to offer sacrifices. Then, when they should have grieved at the sight of such shameless enterprises (for they “multiplied the treasures into sins”), they, he says, made them beloved and, moreover, “the beloved treasure was imputed to him (obviously to Ephraim) as an alien one.” Undoubtedly points to altars erected in the ancient tabernacle or in Jerusalem, in the divine church. And there were two of them. One altar for offering fruit, in the first tabernacle; the other for burning incense, golden, in the second or inner tabernacle. So the crimes of the kings of the tribe of Ephraim are numerous. The first is that they multiplied the altars into sin: the second is that they made beloved altars about which they should have lamented and cried, as offensive to God, and, even more importantly, as if given over to madness, they made alien the beloved altars, which should have been loved and held in every respect. In the middle of the words being explained, the following is inserted: “I will write down for him a multitude and the lawfulness of them.” What does this mean? By multitude he means many altars built for them, leading them into sins, and “their lawful” again points to the sacrifices prescribed for them by the law, or the times and methods of offering sacrifices, in accordance with which they performed abominable rites (for they “spent about wheat and wine” and tried to do many other things like that). I will write these crimes down as their sins. So the saving work is to have attachment to the divine altars and take care of those established by God and not look for others who lead into sin. This is also done by those who are not truly Christians, but after saving baptism they observe Hellenic morals and customs. They should be told in the words of Paul: “You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:21). And among those who join the wicked heretics and take part in their altars, truly the beloved altars have become strangers: for they have multiplied their altars for sin, sacrificing a lamb outside the sacred and divine court, that is, the church. Os.8:13. Moreover, even if they devour the sacrifice and eat the meat, the Lord will not accept them: now He will remember their iniquities and will avenge their sins. And with these words it clearly indicates that altars of sin were made and multiplied among Ephraim. What they sacrifice, he says, is not offered to God, but to idol churches. And at least they celebrated the holiday with sacrifices, having food and drink in abundance; but this has nothing to do with God: for they do not meet in His honor, and what is done for the glory of demons cannot in any way be accepted by the divine and purest nature. On the contrary, She becomes very angry, being insulted and, as it were, involuntarily forced to send punishments to those who challenged Her, and, so to speak, brings to mind the offenders all their iniquities. When this happens, strong anger and punishment befall them quickly and no one can deliver them. So “it is a terrible thing to fall into the hand of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). On the contrary, for those who decide to lead a righteous life and try to avoid any fall from sin, it is more decent, incomparably better and serves as the reason for all prosperity for us - to offer sacrifices to God, obviously spiritual ones, and celebrate holidays to Him. Os.8:13. Tiy returned to Egypt, and in Assyria the unclean one was eaten. Again he accuses them of wanting to spend their lives very unreasonably and wickedly and not knowing at all the path leading to benefit. Those who had reached such a state of mind, he says, I threatened to subject them to My wrath and punish them for their sins and remember all their iniquities. And the expected began to be fulfilled when Israel was threatened and, as it were, was ready to invade the country. Then, when they should have propitiated God with prayers and repentance, done what was pleasing to Him and, by turning to the better, softened His anger, as if for something more useful that could free them (from disasters), they turned to Egypt, calling for help on a man, an Egyptian, and not on God, the flesh of horses, as is written (Ezek. 39:17-20). “But a king cannot be saved by much strength, and a giant cannot be saved by the abundance of his strength; A lie is a horse for salvation" (Ps. 33:16-17): "It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man" (Ps. 117:8). And that such reckless plans did not bring them any benefit, they learn about this from experience itself; since those resettled to the Assyrians and Medes, “the unclean ones will eat there,” that is, they will spend their lives throwing away the remainder of respect for the law and, without any caution, eating whatever happens. But maybe someone will ask: how could this cause sorrow for the Israelites when they decided to serve idols? To this we answer that they were all equally mistaken, but they still had a little respect for the law in their souls and they had not yet completely abandoned Jewish customs, although they worshiped in idol churches. Therefore, the blessed prophet Elijah once accused them of limping on both knees and not wanting to completely surrender to either Baal or God. But having become a captive, Israel completely abandoned respect for the law and, of necessity, obeyed the customs and laws of their rulers. This, I think, is what Christ said: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him” (Luke 19:26). So, we should in no way neglect divine gifts: but we must value what we have from God above all else: for those who care will increase in talent. If we are lazy and careless in relation to it, then it will completely disappear. Os.8:14. And forget what Israel has done, and build up the churches: and Judah multiply the cities that are established: but I will send fire upon his cities, and he will consume the foundations thereof. He condemns both kingdoms, I say, those that were in Samaria, and those of Judah, that is, those that were in Jerusalem. What they both did is worth paying attention to and talking about. When the coming war was expected and the fear of it was already, as it were, at the very doors, then both the inhabitants of Samaria themselves and the kings from the tribe of Judah had to seek help from the saving God if they turned away from wicked and useless thoughts - and obliged to honor (God) with repentance, irritated the God who ruled everything. So Israel, that is, the ten tribes and those who had achieved power over them, in order to ward off captivity and enemy troops from the victims, resorted to even greater obligingness: wanting to soften the enemies and gain their favor, they built churches, built altars in them and expressed respect for them with as many sacrifices as possible. Judah strengthened his cities more strongly, trusting more in stones than in God, although He clearly spoke about Jerusalem: “And I will be unto it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and I will be in the midst unto glory” (Zechariah 2:5). But this did not bring any benefit to Israel. Finally, God began to threaten that he would send fire to the cities of Judah, apparently when the Babylonians, who were the executors of (divine) wrath against them, were burning them. In Slav. added: impassable, ἄβατος, as in Theodore. and Ald. ed. In Theodoret, in addition, it is further read ὡς ἀλώπηξ, in others: ρἁλπιγξ. You might be interested in: