The Raising of Jairus' Daughter
George Percy Jacomb-Hood (1857–1929)
1895
Guildhall Art Gallery, London
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Hosea 2:16b, 17b, 21-22 (New American Bible)
Hosea 2:14b, 15b-16, 19-20 (Revised Standard Version & New Vulgate)
Restoration and a New Covenant (Continuation)
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(Thus says the LORD, "I will) [14b] bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. [15b] 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 longer will you call me, ‘My Ba′al.’
[19] And I will betroth 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 book of Hosea. It explains the symbolism of the account of the poet's marriage contained in these three chapters; 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 rehabilitation and blessing (vv. 14-23); the second and third parts in the book also begin with a charge laid by the Lord against his people (4:1; 12:2), and end with a promise of salvation. The message of these verses is perfectly clear. Like the prophet'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 again, 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 initiative is always his; he is not indifferent to the infidelity of his followers; if he watches 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 rehabilitation of Israel (vv. 14-23) is very rich and full of meaning; meditation on this passage 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 author'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 husband": 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 onto the symbolic plane of God and Israel: the Israelites pay homage to the Canaanite 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 religious 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 from 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 faithfulness of Old fully restored, stronger than ever. It begins (vv. 14-15) by nostalgically 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 because 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 (vv. 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 covenant 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 Israel is not one more god like the Baals; he is the only God there is. This exclusiveness in the area of married love, which transfers over into the Covenant, 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 "rahamim", taking in, then, all the nuances of faithful love (cf. the note on ls 49:15).
Later verses uses the third person (vv. 17-18,21-23) to describe the consequences 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 be barren, there will be 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 salvation.
Saint Elizabeth of Portugal's Story
Elizabeth is usually depicted in royal garb with a dove or an olive branch. At her birth in 1271, her father Pedro III, future king of Aragon, was reconciled with his father James, the reigning monarch. This proved to be a portent of things to come. Under the healthful influences surrounding her early years, she quickly learned self-discipline and acquired a taste for spirituality.
Thus fortunately prepared, Elizabeth was able to meet the challenge when at the age of 12, she was given in marriage to Denis, king of Portugal. She was able to establish for herself a pattern of life conducive to growth in God’s love, not merely through her exercises of piety, including daily Mass, but also through her exercise of charity, by which she was able to befriend and help pilgrims, strangers, the sick, the poor—in a word, all those whose need came to her notice. At the same time she remained devoted to her husband, whose infidelity to her was a scandal to the kingdom.
Denis, too, was the object of many of her peace endeavors. Elizabeth long sought peace for him with God, and was finally rewarded when he gave up his life of sin. She repeatedly sought and effected peace between the king and their rebellious son Alfonso, who thought that he was passed over to favor the king’s illegitimate children. She acted as peacemaker in the struggle between Ferdinand, king of Aragon, and his cousin James, who claimed the crown. And finally from Coimbra, where she had retired as a Franciscan tertiary to the monastery of the Poor Clares after the death of her husband, Elizabeth set out and was able to bring about a lasting peace between her son Alfonso, now king of Portugal, and his son-in-law, the king of Castile.
Reflection
The work of promoting peace is anything but a calm and quiet endeavor. It takes a clear mind, a steady spirit and a brave soul to intervene between people whose emotions are so aroused that they are ready to destroy one another. This is all the more true of a woman in the early 14th century. But Elizabeth had a deep and sincere love and sympathy for humankind, an almost total lack of concern for herself, and an abiding confidence in God. These were the tools of her success.