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From: Hosea 14:2-10 (New American Bible)
Hosea 14:1-9 (Revised Standard Version & New Vulgate)
Call to Conversion
[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
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Commentary:
14:1-8. The last oracle follows the pattern of the whole book: the denunciation of Israels infidelity is followed by a blessing from the Lord. This. happened in the episode, from Hoseas personal life at the start of the book (1:2-2:1), in the central 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 Israels being asked for anything; whereas here (vv. 1-3) the prophet entreats Israel to be 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 Lords, words (vv. 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 books 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 unloved? (St Bernard, “In Cantica Canticorum”, 83, 5).
14:9. The last verses of the book are a piece of wisdom writing. They are somewhat 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.