Replies

From: Hosea 14:2-10

Call to conversion

[2] Take with you words
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all iniquity;
accept that which is good
and we will render
the fruit of our lips.
[3] Assyria shall not save us,
we will not ride upon horses;
and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In thee the orphan finds mercy.”

[4] I will heal their faithlessness;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
[5] I will be as the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom as the lily,
he shall strike root as the poplar;
[6] his shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive,
and his fragrance like Lebanon.
[7] They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow,
they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom as the vine,
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

[8] O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress,
from me comes your fruit.

A word to the wise

[9] Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

11:12-14:9. The third part of the book begins with another “indictment” (rib) (12:
2) and also ends with a restoration oracle (14:4-9). The sins condemned here are
not very different from those denounced in the previous part — idolatry, pacts with
foreign countries, neglect of the Lord when times are good, etc. However, the his-
torical background seems to be different. In the previous part one could identify
the reigns of Menahem, Pekahiah and Pekah (the period 747-732: cf. 2 Kings
15:13-31); here we seem to be in the last stage of the Northern kingdom, in the
times of King Hoshea (733-724), shortly before the fall of Samaria. However, the
most interesting thing about this section is the fact that Hosea goes right back
to the beginnings of the people, to accuse his fellow-citizens of being as incon-
sistent as their father Jacob, who was not a very trustworthy man (11:12-12:14),
and to remind them that they owe their nationhood, their identity, to the Lord,
the only God, when he delivered them from Egypt (12:9; 13:4).

14:1-8. The last oracle follows the pattern of the whole book: the denunciation
of Israel’s infidelity is followed by a blessing from the Lord. This happened in the
episode from Hosea’s personal life at the start of the book (1:2-2:I), in the cen-
tral poems (2:2-23), and in the first part of the oracles (4:1-11:11). The novelty of
this oracle lies in the fact that previously salvation and forgiveness were offered
by the Lord spontaneously and generously, without Israel’s being asked for any-
thing; whereas here (vv. 1-3) the prophet entreats Israel to he converted so that
God may heal her unfaithfulness (v. 4).

In the oracle, both the prophet (vv. 1-3) and the Lord (vv. 4-8) speak. The words
of the prophet are a call to conversion (v. 1) and a prayer proper to a penitential
liturgy (vv. 2-3) in which the sins of Israel are expressly mentioned — reliance on
foreign pacts rather than on the Lord, and revering man-made idols as if they
were God.

The Lord’s words (vs. 4-8) benevolently offer the people reconciliation and a cure
for their unfaithfulness. They speak of a golden age of love between the Lord and
his people; all sorts of attractive imagery are used: the dew, the fragrance of
Lebanon, the grain (note w) and the vine stand for the good things that the Lord,
and not the Baals, bestows on the people; the Lord is depicted as a cypress,
evergreen; that is, he is stable and enduring. So, the book’s conclusion is clear;
since the Lord loves them so deeply, there is nothing that the people can do
but respond; “The love of the Beloved or, to put it better, the Beloved who is love,
loves only love and faithfulness. Do not resist his love. Can we stop loving the
one who is Love in person? Can the one who is Love by his very nature be un-
loved?” (St Bernard, “In Cantica Canticorum”, 83, 5).

14:9. The last verses of the book are a piece of wisdom writing. They are some-
what reminiscent of Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 107:43 and Proverbs 4:7. They
invite us to read the book by applying its message to our own circumstances.

*********************************************************************************************
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.