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From: Hosea 2:16, 17c-18, 21-22 (NAB)
Hosea 2:14, 15c-16, 19-20 (RSV-CE and New Vulgate)

Restoration and a new Covenant

[14] Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
[15] And there I will give her her vineyards,
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth.
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

[16] And in that day, says the Lord, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no lon-
ger will you call me, ‘My Baal.’ [17] For I will remove the names of the Baals
from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. [18] And I will
make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the
air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword,
and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. [19] And will be-
troth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice,
in steadfast love, and in mercy. [20] I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and
you shall know the Lord.

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Commentary:

2:2-23. This long poem contains the key to the hook of Hosea. It explains the
symbolism of the account of the poet’s marriage contained in these three chap-
ters; and it sums up the content and form of the oracles in the later part of the
book. The poem begins (v. 2) with a complaint by Hosea about his wife (and
therefore by God about his people); and it ends with the prospect of rehabilita-
tion and blessing (vv. 14-23); the second and third parts in the hook also begin
with a charge laid by the Lord against his people (4:1:-12:2), and end with a pro-
mise of salvation. The message of these verses is perfectly clear. Like the pro-
phet’s wife, Israel has prostituted herself by worshipping other gods. The Lord
spies on her and punishes her, to get her to return to him (vv. 2-13). But so great
is his love for Israel that, despite her infidelity, he decides to woo her all over a-
gain, to draw her to himself, and thereby to embark on a new relationship with
her in which all will be wonderful and there will never again be infidelity (vv. 14-
23). This passage contains very rich teaching about the nature of God: the initia-
tive is always his; he is not indifferent to the infidelity of his followers; if he wat-
ches what they do and punishes them, he does so to encourage them to come
back to him. Moreover, if that does not work, he has another approach to fall
back on: he can start again from the beginning: he can renew his relationships
with his faithful and with all creation. The imagery used to describe the rehabili-
tation of Israel (vv. 14-23) is very rich and full of meaning: meditation on this pas-
sage helps the reader to appreciate what God is really like.

The first part of the poem (vv. 2-13) begins with some words of complaint about
the unfaithful wife who has left her husband and become a prostitute. However,
the reader very soon sees that what is being said here also applies to Israel and
the Lord. From v. 8 onwards, the perspective is slightly different: the dominant
theme is the relationship between God and Israel, although the reader is also
aware of the husband-wife relationship. In this way the sacred writer ensures that
the reader can see the symbolism of the message; the whole story, the imagery,
carries a message about the Lord and his people. The best example of the au-
thor’s method is in the opening words (vv. 2-3). which summarize the passage.
They declare that the marriage is over (”she is not my wife, and I am not her hus-
band”: v. 2) and give the reason why (”harlotry” and “adultery” in v. 2 mean the
adornments, tattoos, amulets etc. worn by prostitutes and loose women: cf. Gen
38:15; Prov 7:10): there is also a reference to the way in which an adulterous wife
was shunned (v. 3): stripping the woman of her garments is known to have formed
part of the punishment of her crime according to some laws in force in the ancient
East (cf. Is 47:2-3; Jer 13:22; Ezek 16:37-39; etc.). But then he moves directly on-
to the symbolic plane of God and Israel: the Israelites pay homage to the Canaa-
nite fertility gods, yet there is only one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who
sends rain and makes things fertile. That God is the Lord: he can turn Israel into
a parched land (v. 3). So, the faults that the prophet is condemning here are reli-
gious ones. He reproves the Israelites for their feast days in honor of Canaanite
gods (vv. 11, 14); they think they ought to thank the Baals for bread and water
and the produce of the earth (vv. 5, 9, 12), whereas all these things come in fact
front the one God and Lord (v. 8).

The second part of the poem (vv. 14-23) speaks very directly about God and his
people. It proclaims that a time of salvation is coming which will see the faithful-
ness of old fully restored, stronger than ever. It begins (vv. 14-15) by nostalgical-
ly recalling the secluded life that they enjoyed together in the wilderness, during
the exodus from Egypt — depicted here as a sort of golden age in which the Lord
was his people’s only God (v. 14; cf. 11:1-4; Amos 5:25). That is why it mentions
the Valley of Achor (v. 15), which, being near Jericho, was the access route to
the promised land. It was the scene of a sin of infidelity, which God punished (cf.
Josh 7:24-26); hence its name, which means misadventure, misfortune; but be-
cause it is the only route into the holy land, the Lord now calls it a ‘’door of hope’’.

The text goes on (vv. 16-23) to describe the new Covenant that will be made ‘’on
that day’’ (vv. 16, 18, 21). The passage deals with two distinct themes: where the
second person is used (v 16, 19-20), the spousal covenant is being described;
where it is in the third person (vv. 17-18; 21-23), it is describing the effects that
that covenant will have on the whole land. The first condition of the spousal cove-
nant is that Israel will call her God “My husband” and not “My Baal” (v. 16). Baal
is a word that can mean god, and also lord or husband. In wanting to be called
“My husband”, the Lord is rejecting any type of mixing of religions: the God of Is-
rael is not one more god like the Baals; he is the only God there is. This exclu-
siveness in the area of married love, which transfers over into the Covenant, is
spelt out in vv. 19-20: it will last forever, it will be made in “righteousness and in
justice”, that is, God will provide special protection to Israel (cf. Mic 6:5; Jer 23:
6), and it will be in “steadfast love, and in mercy”: the words that the text uses
are “hesed” and “rahamin”, taking in, then, all the nuances of faithful love (cf.
the note on Is 49:15).

Later verses uses the third person (vv. 17-18, 21-23) to describe the consequen-
ces that will flow from this renewed Covenant: all creation will enjoy the peace
of Eden (v. 18), and the land of Israel will benefit most of all (vv. 21-23). Perhaps
the most significant thing here is the use of the verb “to answer”: when Israel
“answers” (cf. v. 15) God’s love, the heavens will answer the earth, and the earth
will answer its fruits (vv. 21-22). What this means is that nothing will he barren,
there will he no desire that goes unsatisfied; a proof of this is the new change
of names (v. 23): names implying indictment are replaced by names of salva-
tion.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 9:18-26

The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter

[18] While He (Jesus) was speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt
before Him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on
her, and she will live.” [19] And Jesus rose and followed him, with His disciples.

The Curing of the Woman with a Hemorrhage

[20] And behold, a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years
came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment; [21] for she said to
herself, “If I only touch His garment, I shall be made well.” [22] Jesus turned,
and seeing her He said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.”
And instantly the woman was made well. [23] And when Jesus came to the ru-
ler’s house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd making a tumult, [24] He
said, “Depart; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at Him.
[25] But when the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took her by the
hand, and the girl arose. [26] And the report of this went through all that district.

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Commentary:

18-26. Here are two miracles which occur almost simultaneously. From parallel
passages in Mark (5:21-43) and Luke (8:40-56) we know that the “ruler” (of the
synagogue) referred to here was called Jairus. The Gospels report Jesus raising
three people to life—this girl, the son of the widow of Nain, and Lazarus. In each
case the identity of the person is clearly given.

This account shows us, once again, the role faith plays in Jesus’ saving actions.
In the case of the woman with the hemorrhage we should note that Jesus is won
over by her sincerity and faith: she does not let obstacles get in her way. Simi-
larly, Jairus does not care what people will say; a prominent person in his city,
he humbles himself before Jesus for all to see.

18. “Knelt before Him”: the eastern way of showing respect to God or to impor-
tant people. In the liturgy, especially in the presence of the Blessed Eucharist,
reverences are a legitimate and appropriate external sign of internal faith and
adoration.

23. “The flute players”: engaged to provide music at wakes and funerals.

24. “Depart, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping”: Jesus says the same thing
about Lazarus: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him”
(John 11:11).

Although Jesus speaks of sleep, there is no question of the girl — or Lazarus,
later — not being dead. For our Lord there is only one true death — that of
eternal punishment (cf. Matthew 10:28).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.