Hosea 3
Commentary from 4 fathers
So I hired [her] to myself for fifteen [pieces] of silver, and a homer of barley, and a flagon of wine.
καὶ ἐμισθωσάμην ἐμαυτῷ πεντεκαίδεκα ἀργυρίου καὶ γομὸρ κριθῶν καὶ νέβελ οἴνου
И҆ наѧ́хъ себѣ̀ ѻ҆́нꙋю пѧтїюна́десѧть сре́брениками и҆ гомо́ромъ ꙗ҆чме́нѧ и҆ не́велемъ вїна̀,
These then are that seven and eight whereof Hosea says that by that number he purchased to himself, and acquired the fulness of faith, for thus it is written, So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley, and a measure of wine. But in the former verses God had commanded him to hire to himself an harlot, and it is manifest that he did so, in that he has mentioned the price of her hiring. Now the fifteen pieces of silver are made up of the numbers seven and eight, wherefore they represent these numbers.
Letter 44:7
"And I dug it for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, and a cor of barley, and half a cor of barley, and I said to her." The LXX reads, "And I brought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a gomor of barley, and a vessel of wine, and I said to her." Gomor in Hebrew is written Omer, which all interpreters, except the LXX, have translated as "cor". In Greek, especially in the dialect of Palestine, it represents thirty modii. And for nebel vini, in Hebrew it is written Lethech Seorim, which other interpreters have translated as "half a cor of barley," which constitutes fifteen modii. That which is joined in the Vulgate edition: "Neither will you be the husband of another: (you will be) the other" is not present in Hebrew, but simply, "You will not be the husband." For if "another" is inserted, it implies that she belongs to her own husband. However, when it is said absolutely, "You will not be the husband" we understand that she is not connected to anyone at all, and remains without marital union. We read the measurement of the heart in Ezekiel (Ezek. XLV) and in the Gospel (Luke XXVI). Therefore he, that is the adulterer, dug it himself, or hired it for fifteen pieces of silver. When he says 'dig,' he is showing the vineyard, which is planted by the Lord, and is put in many places in Scripture, signifying the Jewish people. But if we read 'I hired,' it is the price of an adulteress, not that he should sleep with a prophet, but that, content with her wages, she should stop committing adultery and not be joined with others indiscriminately. The heart of barley is also dug or hired, and with half a measure of barley, that is, forty-five bushels, accepted as payment, he heard from the Lord:
Commentary on Hosea 3:2
And how shall I speak of the whore married by the prophet? She is the figure either of the church as gathered in from the Gentiles, or—an interpretation that better suits the passage—of the synagogue. She, Israel, was first adopted from among the idolaters by Abraham and Moses. She has now denied the Savior and proved unfaithful to him. Therefore she has long been deprived of her altar, priests and prophets and has to abide many days to return to her first husband. For when the faithfulness of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, all Israel shall be saved.
Letter 123:13
And I said unto her, Thou shalt wait for me many days; and thou shalt not commit fornication, neither shalt thou be for [another] man; and I [will be] for thee.
καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτήν· ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσῃ ἐπ᾿ ἐμοὶ καὶ οὐ μὴ πορνεύσῃς, οὐδὲ μὴ γένῃ ἀνδρὶ ἑτέρῳ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σοί.
и҆ реко́хъ є҆́й: дни̑ мнѡ́ги да сѣди́ши ᲂу҆ менє̀ и҆ а҆́зъ ᲂу҆ тебє̀, и҆ не соблꙋ́диши, ни бꙋ́деши мꙋ́жꙋ и҆но́мꙋ:
"You shall wait for many days for me: you shall not fornicate, and you shall not be a man's wife; but I will also wait for you." LXX: "You shall sit for many days with me, and you shall not fornicate, nor be with another man, and I to you." This means, you will not shamefully prostitute yourself to other lovers, nor will you join me, the man whom you are hired by, in legitimate marriage. And so that you do not think that an injustice has been done to you because I said "you will wait for me," I will repay in kind by saying "and I will wait for you." On the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan, the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck, and the people of Israel were led out of Egypt and hired into the service of God (Exodus XII). Finally, for the firstborn of Israel who did not feel the common plague, receive five shekels of silver (Num. III), which are offered as a gift to the temple. Most of our people refer "fifteen" to the week of the Law, and "eight" to the Gospel, that is, the Sabbath and the day of resurrection, which exercises spiritual circumcision. But how can they explain the Testament if the adulterous woman, who feeds on barley and is another man's, receives both as a reward? On the forty-fifth day, the people reached Mount Sinai and immediately on the next day separated themselves from sexual relations for three days in order to prepare to receive God's law. After three days, on the fiftieth day, Moses ascended the mountain and received the Ten Commandments. The Jewish people, who were once brought for fifteen pieces of silver and forty-five bushels of barley, now await the coming of the Lord and his man. And that which he says: "Thou shalt not commit fornication, and thou shalt not be a man," shows that at the time being she does not serve idols, nor yet has God; but rather be stripped for both lovers and a man. And because she has no man, she does not eat human food, wheat and pulse, but barley of irrational animals, ruminating the vileness of the letter that kills, and not having the enlivening spirit. Whence, in the law, a woman who is accused of adultery by her husband, in the drink of accusation, that is, "conviction," when charged with sin, takes barley meal (Num. 5) , for she is like the horses and mules, which have no understanding (Ps. 32) , and are sustained with the food of horses and mules. For half a bushel of barley, the Septuagint translated 'a skin of wine,' which is not in the Hebrew at all. And we can say that in 'a skin of wine,' that is, a measure full and completely intoxicated adulteress, is afflicted with full punishments. Hence, Jeremiah offers the cup of wine to the peoples and Jerusalem as well (Jer. 15). A man also sits, or rather waits for the repentance of the adulteress, so that when the fullness of the Gentiles has entered and the last of Israel will believe, so that the head, which had been the tail, will be turned into a head and the tail into a head (Deut. 28), then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Commentary on Hosea 3:3
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an altar, and without a priesthood, and without manifestations.
διότι ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσονται οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως οὐδὲ ὄντος ἄρχοντος οὐδὲ οὔσης θυσίας οὐδὲ ὄντος θυσιαστηρίου οὐδὲ ἱερατείας οὐδὲ δήλων.
занѐ дни̑ мнѡ́ги сѧ́дꙋтъ сы́нове і҆и҃лєвы, не сꙋ́щꙋ царю̀, ни сꙋ́щꙋ кнѧ́зю, ни сꙋ́щей же́ртвѣ, ни сꙋ́щꙋ же́ртвенникꙋ, ни жре́чествꙋ, нижѐ ꙗ҆вле́нїємъ:
I ask, therefore, on what day the heavenly manna began to be given. I wish to compare our Lord’s day with the sabbath of the Jews. For the divine Scriptures it appears that manna was first given on earth on the Lord’s day. For if, as Scripture says, it was gathered for six consecutive days, but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, it was stopped, without doubt it began on the first day, which is the Lord’s day. But if it is plain from divine Scriptures that on the Lord’s day God rained manna and on the sabbath he did not, let the Jews understand that already at that time our Lord’s day was preferred to the Jewish sabbath. Even then it was revealed that on their own sabbath no grace of God descended to them from the sky; no bread of heaven, which is the Word of God, came to them. For a prophet also says elsewhere, “The sons of Israel will sit for many days without a king, without a prince, without a prophet, without a victim, without a sacrifice, without a priest.” On our Lord’s day, however, the Lord always rains manna from the sky.
Homilies on Exodus 7
For the prophecy was fulfilled that had declared, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king and prince. There shall be no victim, nor altar, nor priesthood, nor answers.” These testimonies, accordingly, we employ against those who presume to assert that what is spoken in Genesis by Jacob refers to Judah. They say that there still remains a prince of the race of Judah—he, namely, who is the prince of their nation, whom they style patriarch—and that there cannot fail [a ruler] of his seed, who will remain until the advent of that Christ whom they picture themselves. But if the prophet’s words are true when he says, “The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, without prince; and there shall be no victim, nor altar, nor priesthood,” and if, certainly, since the overthrow of the temple, victims are neither offered, nor any altar found, nor any priesthood exists. So it is most certain that, as it is written, princes have departed from Judah and a leader from between his thighs, until the coming of him for whom it has been reserved. It is established, then, that he has indeed come from whom it has been reserved and in whom is the expectation of the Gentiles. And this manifestly seems to be fulfilled in the multitude of those who have believed in God through Christ out of the different nations.
On First Principles 4:1.3
4–5"For many days the children of Israel shall sit without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an altar, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. And after these things the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king: and they shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days." LXX: "For many days the children of Israel shall sit without a king, without a prince, without sacrifice, without an altar, without priesthood, without manifestations" (which in Greek are called δήλοι). "And after this the children of Israel shall return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king: and they shall be astonished at the Lord, and at his goodness in the latter days." For "ephod" and "teraphim" the Septuagint have translated "sacerdotium," meaning "priesthood," and "manifestations." However, it should be known, as we have frequently said, that "ephod" signifies a priestly garment, which is called in the LXX by the word βαθύπεταλον, meaning "superhumeral," and by Aquila it is called ἐπένδυμα, meaning "outer garment." But "teraphim" properly denote μορφώματα, that is "figures" and "images," which we can, for the present place only, call "Cherubim" and "Seraphim," or any others which were commanded to be made for the decoration of the temple. But because the seventy have translated the clear things, for which Aquila translated (introduced) enlightenments. And these indeed are the (meanings) in the "Rational" account, that is, we understand that in the heart and mind of the bishop, truth and enlightenments, that is, "truth" ought to be, as well as "doctrine": so that he may not only know the correct faith but also be able to utter what he knows. Which Apostle Paul also writes to Titus, teaching what kind of bishop ought to be ordained: "For a bishop must be without crime as the dispenser of God, not proud, not irritable, not given to wine, not a striker, not greedy for filthy lucre: But hospitable, kind, sober, just, holy, continent, embracing him who is according to the "sound doctrine, faithful in speech, so he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine, and to contradict those who oppose it" (Titus 1: 7-9). We read of the ephod and theraphim in the book of Judges (Chapters 17 and 18), which the Levites made for themselves; later on, they departed with 600 armed men from the tribe of Dan. From the passion of the Savior until the present day, a little over 400 years have elapsed, and as for how much time remains until the day of judgment, neither the angels nor the Son know. He says that he doesn't know for this reason, because it is not beneficial for us to learn. These are indeed many days on which the unfortunate Synagogue and adulterous woman are fed with barley, and sits contracted, because she cannot stand with Christ. Without a king, of whom the Father said: "I have raised up a king with justice" (Isa. XLV, 13). And He himself says in the Psalm: "But I am appointed king by him over his holy mount Zion" (Psal. II, 6). Without a prince, either the Lord and Savior Himself, or certainly a pontiff, of whom it is written: "Thou shalt not revile the princes of thy people." (Exod. XXII). And without sacrifice, and without altar. For with the temple overthrown, and Jerusalem burned, neither sacrifice nor Judaic priesthood can exercise. And without ephod and without teraphim, that is, the instruments of the priestly habit. Concerning this king and Jacob in the blessing of Judah the patriarch speaks: "The leader shall not fail from Juda, nor the ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations." (Gen. XLIX, 10) Therefore, after the prince of Judah had fallen, and the leader from his thigh, and Herod, a foreigner and proselyte, had taken over the empire, we understand that someone has come to whom the kingdom was entrusted, and he himself was the expectation of the nations. This is the blindness that happened in part to Israel, so that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter, and then all Israel would be saved (Romans 11): and later they will return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, who was born from David's lineage and interprets "strong by hand." For he himself freed his captive people and gave remission to the prisoners. And when the children of Israel shall see him that was rejected by his own brethren reigning in the majesty of his Father and his own, they shall fear and marvel at the Lord and at his good things. For the good son is born of a good father, whether to the good things of the Lord spoken of by the saint: "I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living" (Ps. 26:13): for the earth in which we dwell, sinners, is the land of the dead. The present chapter, among others of the Jews, is interpreted concerning the Babylonian captivity, when the temple was desolate for seventy years, and there was no altar, sacrifice, or priesthood, but afterwards they returned to their former seats under Zorobabel. Others, like us, delay for the future time ("they abandon" "Al.") and they cannot find any other cause of such a great offense that they have been abandoned for such a long time, especially since they do not worship idols, except for the killing of the Savior.
Commentary on Hosea 3:4-5
And afterward shall the children of Israel return, and shall seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall be amazed at the Lord and at his goodness in the latter days.
καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιστρέψουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ ἐπιζητήσουσι Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῶν καὶ Δαυὶδ τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν· καὶ ἐκστήσονται ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς αὐτοῦ ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν.
и҆ посе́мъ ѡ҆братѧ́тсѧ сы́нове і҆и҃лєвы и҆ взы́щꙋтъ гдⷭ҇а бг҃а своего̀ и҆ даві́да царѧ̀ своего̀, и҆ почꙋдѧ́тсѧ ѡ҆ гдⷭ҇ѣ и҆ ѡ҆ бла́гостехъ є҆гѡ̀ въ послѣ̑днїѧ дни̑.
But let us hear what Hosea goes on to say: “And after this the children of Israel shall return and shall seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the last days.” You will never find a prophecy plainer than this, for the name King David means Christ, who, as Paul says, “was born according to the flesh of the offspring of David.” Further on still, Hosea foretold the resurrection of Christ on the third day, but in the mysterious way that is proper to prophecy. He says, “He shall heal us after two days, and on the third day we shall rise up again.” This is the theme underlying the words of Paul: “Therefore if you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above.”
City of God 18:28
And the Lord said to me, Go yet, and love a woman that loves evil things, an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, and they have respect to strange gods, and love cakes of dried grapes.
ΚΑΙ εἶπε Κύριος πρός με· ἔτι πορεύθητι καὶ ἀγάπησον γυναῖκα ἀγαπῶσαν πονηρὰ καὶ μοιχαλίν, καθὼς ἀγαπᾷ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς υἱοὺς ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀποβλέπουσιν ἐπὶ θεοὺς ἀλλοτρίους καὶ φιλοῦσι πέμματα μετὰ σταφίδων.
И҆ речѐ гдⷭ҇ь ко мнѣ̀: є҆щѐ и҆дѝ и҆ возлюбѝ женꙋ̀ лю́бѧщꙋю ѕло̀ и҆ любодѣ́йцꙋ, ꙗ҆́коже лю́битъ бг҃ъ сы́ны і҆и҃лєвы: сі́и же взира́ютъ къ богѡ́мъ чꙋжди̑мъ и҆ лю́бѧтъ варє́нїѧ съ корі́нками.