The prophet is commanded again to love an adulteress; to signify God’s love to the synagogue. The wretched state of the Jews for a long time, till at last they shall be converted.
The prophet is commanded againe to loue an aduoutresse: 3. whom he maketh long to expect her husband: to signifie Gods loue to the Synag gue: 4. and the Iewes state in the new testament. 5. who at last shal be conuerted to Christ.
1And the Lord said to me: Go yet again, and love a woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress: as the Lord loveth the children of Israel, and they look to strange gods, and love the husks of the grapes.Or il Signore mi disse: Va ancora, ed ama una donna amata dall'amico, e adultera: appunto come il Signore ama i figliuoli d'Israele, ed eglino volgon gli sguardi agli dei stranieri, ed amano le vinacce.AND our Lord sayd to me: Yet againe goe, loue a woman beloued of her frend, and an aduoutresse; as our Lord loueth the children of Israel, and they haue respect to strange goddes, and loue the kernels of grapes.Et dixit Dominus ad me: Adhuc vade, et dilige mulierem dilectam amico et adulteram, sicut diligit Dominus filios Israël, et ipsi respiciunt ad deos alienos, et diligunt vinacia uvarum. 2And I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a core of barley, and for half a core of barley.Ed io me la comperai per quindici monete d'argento, e un coro di orzo, e mezzo coro di erano.And I digged her vnto me for fiftene peeces of siluer, and for a core of barley, and for halfe a core of barley.Et fodi eam mihi quindecim argenteis, et coro hordei, et dimidio coro hordæi. 3And I said to her: Thou shalt wait for me many days: thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt be no man’s, and I also will wait for thee.Ed io le disse: Tu mi aspetterai molti giorni, non commetterai adulterio, e starai senza uomo: ma io pure ti aspetterò;And I sayd to her: Thou shalt expect me manie dayes: thou shalt not fornicate, & thou shalt be no mans: but I also wil expect thee.Et dixi ad eam: Dies multos exspectabis me; non fornicaberis, et non eris viro; sed et ego exspectabo te. 4For the children of Israel shall sit many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim.Perocché molti giorni staranno i figliuoli d'Israele senza re, e senza principe, e senza sagrifizio, e senza altare, e senza ephod, e senza Theraphim;Because manie dayes shal the children of Israel sit without king, & without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without theraphim.Quia dies multos sedebunt filii Israël sine rege, et sine principe, et sine sacrificio, et sine altari, et sine ephod, et sine theraphim. 5And 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.E dipoi torneranno i figliuoli di Israele a cercare il Signore Dio loro, e Davidde loro re, e si accosteranno con temenza al Signore, ed a' suoi beni alla fine de' giorni.And after this the children of Israel shal returne, & shal seeke the Lord their God, and Dauid their king: and they shal dread at the Lord, and at his goodnes in the last dayes.Et post hæc revertentur filii Israël, et quærent Dominum Deum suum, et David regem suum: et pavebunt ad Dominum, et ad bonum ejus, in novissimo dierum.
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Calmet
Woman. This second woman denotes the penitent Israel, yet not quite reconciled. The people in captivity are separated both from her idols and from God, though the latter still retains an affection for them. Osee does not marry this woman, but gives his word. We must not urge the parable too far. He acts as a figure of the Lord, who has received an outrage. (Calmet)
Worthington
Grace is still offered to sinners, whose persons are never hated by God. (Worthington)
Theodoret
Husks. Septuagint, etc., "cakes made with grapes," for idols. (Theodoret; St. Jerome)
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Calmet
Core. Septuagint, "gomor of barley, and for a nebel of wine." The woman must consequently have been of very mean condition. In the East wives are still, even among Christians, purchased according to their rank, often without being seen or consulted. The parents give part of the price to the bride. (Calmet)
Worthington
The unbelieving Jews, who refrain from idols, receive some temporal advantages; but not thirty pieces of silver, or three cores of wheat, denoting the faith of the blessed Trinity and the observance of the decalogue, whereby they might obtain eternal life. Towards the end of the world they shall be converted. [Romans 11:26.] (Worthington)
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Calmet
Man's. After the person was espoused, any infidelity was punished as if she had been married. It does not appear that Osee took this woman to wife. (Calmet)
Theodoret
But he signified that the people must wait for God, in captivity. (Theodoret; Sanctius lv.)
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Altar. Hebrew, "statue;" matseba instead of mozbé, as (Haydock) others agree with St. Jerome, and there seems to have been no variation in his time.
Worthington
Theraphim. Images or representations, (Challoner) either good or bad. As the other things mentioned were good, such lawful images as were used in the temple must be meant, 3 Kings 7:36. (Worthington)
Haydock
St. Jerome explains it of cherubim. Septuagint, "altar, priesthood, and manifestations (Urim, etc.) being wanting." (Haydock)
Vatable
Yet some take it in a bad sense. The Jews adhere neither to God nor to idols. (Vatable, etc.)
Calmet
What misfortune, however, would the latter be? In exile the Jews were deprived of the exercise of their religion, and of their princes. (Calmet)
Origen † AD 253
But this was only a figure of what they endured since they rejected Christ. (Origen, Philoc. i.; St. Jerome)
Calmet
This wretched state will probably continue till they at last embrace the yoke of Christ, the true king of ages. (Calmet)
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Challoner
David, their king. That is, Christ, who is of the house of David. (Challoner)
Haydock
After the captivity, the Jews submitted to Zorobabel. Yet this only foreshewed a more sincere conversion to Jesus Christ. In fact, the house of David never regained the throne, (Calmet) and it is not clear that Zorobabel had any authority over the people. (Haydock)
Calmet
Christ is the literal object of this prediction. (Calmet)
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Theraphim.... Images or representations.
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David their king.... That is, Christ, who is of the house of David.
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Notwithstanding sinners forsake God, yet he offereth them nevv grace, neuer hating the persons but their sinnes.
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•••g•t.
The Iewes not beleeuing in Christ, but expecting his coming, and in the meane time abstayning from seruice of idols, receiue of God temporal poore meanes to liue, not 30. peeces of siluer, & three cores of vvheat, that is, beleeuing in the B. Trinitie, & keeping the tenne commandments, they might possesse life euerlasting, but halfe so much, neither wheate but barley, til nere the end of the world: vvhen they shal be conuerted to Christ.
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Theraphim signifying images good or bad, being here ioyned with king, prince, sacrifice, altar, & ephod, must nedes signifie law ful images, such as were religiously vsed in the temple of God. 3. Reg. 7. v. 36.
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 53.8
… Hosea speaks many times of Ephraim, of Samaria, of Joseph, of Jezreel, of a wife of whoredoms and of children of whoredoms, of an adulteress shut up within the chamber of her husband, sitting for a long time in widowhood and in the garb of mourning, awaiting the time when her husband will return to her.
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St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
… For they make mention of pans, and cakes, and fine flour , and the like, in the mystic sacrifices, instilling wholesome doctrine under the veil of symbol and enigma. Mention, too, is made of certain measures then in use, such as ephah, and nebel
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1.3
… For the prophecy was fulfilled which 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.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1-2.3
… For the prophecy was fulfilled which said, “The children of Israel shall sit many days, there being no king, nor ruler, nor sacrifice, nor altar, nor priesthood, nor responses.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.4
… And further, where, and by whom would God be worshipped among us in those mystic and elevating rites which are our greatest and most precious privilege, if there were neither king, nor governor, nor priesthood, nor sacrifice,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.28
… to believe in Christ shall afterward believe, that is, their children shall (for they themselves, of course, shall go to their own place by dying), this same prophet testifies, saying, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, without an altar, without a priesthood, without manifestations.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.28
… But let us hear what he adds: “And afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall be amazed at the Lord and at His goodness in the latter days.”
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1. STILL GO, — Hosea is commanded here to love and hire at a price, and bring into his house an adulteress: because the former fornicatress Gomer did not fully represent the adulteries of Israel, that is, idolatries committed with the gods of the gentiles as with adulterers, while the true friend, namely God, was spurned. You will ask, against whom is this sign taken, or whom does this adulteress represent? St. Jerome and Lyran think she represents the twelve tribes. Others think she signifies only two, namely Judah and Benjamin, so that, just as Ezekiel, chapter 23, by two sisters committing fornication noted all the Hebrews practicing idolatry, namely by Oholah the ten tribes, by Oholibah the two; so here Hosea by Gomer the fornicatress, chapter 1, signifies the ten tribes, but by the adulteress in this chapter signifies the two, which followed and imitated the ten in the worship of idols. Thus Haymo, Rupert, Albert, Hugh, Vatable, Ribera and Sanchez. But more correctly the Chaldean, Theodoret, Theophylactus and a Castro think that the same ones are noted here who were noted in chapter 1: namely Israel, or the ten tribes. For to them He threatens on account of idolatry complete destruction and desolation, so that they be without king, without law, without God, without commonwealth, etc., which we see happened thus after the destruction of Samaria accomplished in the sixth year of King Hezekiah: whereas on the other hand the two tribes returning from Babylon had leaders, law, and commonwealth, until the destruction by Titus, which they suffered not on account of idolatry, but on account of the slain Christ, and still suffer even now. LOVE A WOMAN BELOVED OF A FRIEND. — Thus also the Chaldean, St. Jerome, and others throughout: for they read in Hebrew, rea, that is, friend. But the Septuagint, reading with other points ra, that is, evil, translates: Love a woman loving evils, namely adulteries: and thus read Theodoret and Theophylactus as Greeks, who therefore follow the Greek version of the Septuagint, but the sense comes to the same thing. You will ask, who is this woman? Is she Gomer whom Hosea took, chapter 1, or is she another? First, Rufinus, Ribera and some others think she was Gomer: whom they say, after marriage with Hosea and having borne three children from him, had mingled herself with adulterers: whence Hosea was thinking of her repudiation. But God commands her to be received, loved and retained, with marriage with her renewed and restored by a new contract; so that by this deed she might represent the Synagogue espoused to God, although committing adultery, to be loved by God, and for God to love her himself after the adulteries of idolatry, and to retain her as His spouse. The reason is, because Hosea could not take another adulteress, who would be the wife of another, as a wife: for this would have been a new adultery: she ought therefore to have been returned to her former and true husband (for she was his wife), not to be taken by Hosea. Second, the Chaldean, St. Jerome, Cyril, Theodoret, Hugh, Isidore, Paul of Palatio, a Castro, Emmanuel and others think this woman was not Gomer, but another (as the words of the text suggest, especially the "still" and "buy," that is, purchase: therefore up to this point she had not been purchased nor acquired) who, departing from her husband, had become an adulteress, whom Hosea is commanded to call away from crime, and to buy not as a wife, but as a maidservant, and to keep at home chaste, so that she copulate neither with her husband nor with an adulterer; until after much time she be recalled to her husband, and return to his favor and bed. Hear St. Jerome: "The prophet loves an adulteress, and yet does not join with her in marriage, nor does he join with her in fornication, but only loves her while she is sinning." For this is what the words of Hosea signify, verse 7: "And I said to her: Thou shalt wait for me many days: thou shalt not commit fornication, and thou shalt not be for a man; but I also will wait for thee." Which then explaining and applying to the scope prophetically represented by her, he adds: "Because the children of Israel shall sit many days without a king, etc., and after these things they shall return, and shall seek the Lord their God." A third opinion, which Theophylactus, Rupertus (who wishes this to have been the sister of Gomer), Vatablus, Sanchez and others follow, is a middle position, namely that this woman was another than Gomer, and was purchased by Hosea as a bride and wife, not as a handmaid. For this is what "love the woman" signifies, as if to say: Take her as a wife and love her as a wife. Again, "you will wait for me, and I also will wait for you," from which it is clear that she was betrothed by Hosea to become a wife; but Hosea abstained from consummating the marriage and from carnal union for a long time, and when that time was completed, he joined himself to her, so as to represent in like manner that the Synagogue would be for a long time without a king, law, and God, and when that time was completed, would return to the embraces of God. For Hosea seems here to bear the person of God, the woman that of the Synagogue, and the marriage and carnal union that of the religion and worship of God. Therefore this was the wife of Hosea, just as the Synagogue was the wife of God. Whence it follows that her former husband, under whom she had been adulterated, was already dead, or certainly the marriage bond with him had been broken and dissolved by a bill of divorce given to her by her husband on account of her adulteries, so that she was already free to marry the prophet Hosea. These opinions are probable, but the second is more probable, on account of our version, which translates, "beloved by a friend," that is by a husband; for it follows: "As the Lord loveth the children of Israel," as if to say: As this woman, although much beloved by her husband, nevertheless commits adultery, so the children of Israel, although much beloved by God, nevertheless join themselves to idols. A friend therefore here cannot be taken as an adulterer, but as a husband: for such was God with respect to the Synagogue. Hence it follows that this woman had a friend, that is a surviving husband, and therefore could not be sought by Hosea as a wife, but only as a handmaid, or rather Hosea loved her, lost and fugitive, out of charity as a neighbor, and gave her a price and hospitality, so that she would cease to commit adultery. Thus the cited authors, and namely through this friend understand a husband, not an adulterer, the Chaldean, Lyra, Isidore, Paul of Palatio, Arias, Guadalupensis, Vatablus and many others; although St. Jerome, Theodoret and Theophylactus from the Septuagint understand an adulterer. And thus rea, that is friend or companion, signifies a husband, Jerem. III, 20: "How as if a woman despise her lover," in Hebrew rea, that is friend, namely a husband. This friend therefore bears the type of God, not of Hosea, who is only the conductor of this woman. Furthermore, the Chaldean, Isidore and Vatablus think that these things were done in Hosea not really, but only in spirit through an imaginary vision. Better Theodoret, a Castro and others think that they were really done and carried out by him. See what is said at cap. 1, 1. AND AN ADULTERESS. — The Complutensian and Royal Septuagint read, καὶ μοιχαλίδα, that is and adulteresses, but corruptly; for it should be read with the Vatican Codex, Sanchez, Jerome and Theophylactus, καὶ μοιχαλίδα, that is and an adulteress. It is clear from the Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others. See here the tender heart of God, by which he loves and pursues sinners turned away from him. Morally St. Augustine, homily 38, among 50: "Pluck out," he says, "your heart from the love of the creature, so that you may cleave to the Creator, because if you love those things which he made, you are an adulteress, and you seek wrath, because the friendship of this world is an enemy to God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, is made an enemy of God. A soul, forsaking the Creator and loving the creature, is an adulteress. For nothing is more chaste than his love, nothing more delightful. O soul, that you may be worthy of his embraces, leave these things and cleave to him freely! For from this the Psalmist said, Psalm LXXII: It is good for me to adhere to God, and therefore he prefixed the former verse saying: Thou hast destroyed all them that commit fornication from thee." AND THEY LOVE THE FLAGONS OF WINE. — For flagons, in Hebrew it is אשישי ascisce, which the Chaldean, Lyra, Marinus, Forster, R. David, and from him Vatablus and Pagninus translate, amphora, or flasks of grapes, as if it were noted here the gluttony and drunkenness of idolaters. For idolaters were accustomed in their sacrifices and solemn feasts to feast and drink, indeed to distribute to those present a certain measure of wine and food, as David also did when he transferred the ark to Sion, II Reg. vi, 19. Hence also the Septuagint translates πέμματα, that is delicacies, loaves made of fine flour and cakes, which are offered to idols, says St. Jerome and Theophylactus. But St. Jerome, Vatablus and others translate it better as grape refuse. For Aquila also translates it as παλαιά, that is, old; and Symmachus as ἀκάρπους, that is, unfruitful, or dry and sterile grape skins; for grape refuse are the skins or husks of grapes, which, pressed in the wine press, remain after the grape and wine have flowed away. Whence in Hebrew they are called אשישים ashishim, as if you were to say the lowest parts, or foundations, which settle in the wine press; from the root אשש ashash, that is, he founded. Thus Columella, book XII, chapter III (where he calls them dried grape refuse), and Varro, book III On Agriculture, XI, and Cato, chapter X, and Pliny, book XVII, chapter XXII. These same are called "lora, which is pressed grapes, and is given to workers in winter instead of wine," says Varro, book I, chapter LIV. And Pliny, book XIV, chapter X: "They cannot, he says, rightly be called wines, which the Greeks call deuterias, Cato and we call lora, made by soaking grape refuse in water; yet nevertheless they are numbered among workers' wines." Hear also Hugo: "Grape refuse, he says, are skins, a bunch has many clusters, a cluster has many grapes, a grape has a seed, the liquid is the juice." The Prophet therefore signifies here, say Theodoret and Theophylactus, that idolaters offered these grape refuse to their idols, or rather he pierces them with sharp sarcasm, in that, leaving behind at home pure and excellent wine, they would go to idols and idol-offerings, where on account of the crowd of strangers, each was given lora made from grape refuse diluted with water, not wine. Whence tropologically grape refuse and empty grape skins signify vain and futile things, in which there is nothing of juice, nothing of substance, nothing of good, such as were idols and idol-offerings, and other things which the Israelites loved, abandoning God; for all the pleasure of sin is vain, insipid and without substance, not solid, not satisfying. Hence Hugo: "Grape refuse, he says, are demons, who were created in the great richness of the Holy Spirit, but through pride were dried up and cast out of heaven. For God in them, says St. Augustine, was at once both bestowing grace and establishing nature;" but, grace being poured out through sin, nature remained empty, like grape refuse. Thus, O sinner, when you pursue honors and dignities, wines and pleasures, you pursue grape refuse, empty husks, and mere air or wind swollen things. You were fed in the house of God with the bread of heaven, the bread of angels; now a wanderer and fugitive with the prodigal son you go after the husks of swine. For what husks are in wheat, that grape refuse are in grapes. Is it so, O foolish one, that you trust yourself to the world, which offers you husks instead of wheat, lora instead of wine? Your silver has been turned into dross, your wine has been mixed with water, nay it is mere water, and that putrid. Why do you not return to your Father, to your God? He invites you to his table, most abundantly furnished with wine and delights, and cries out: "Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you," Proverbs chapter IX, 5. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever," John chapter VI, 51. "For what is good in him, and what is beautiful in him, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?" Zechariah chapter IX, 17. "Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, O dearest," Canticles V, 1. Why do you not approach, why do you not run? that you may feel and say with the bride: "The king hath brought me into his cellars: we will be glad and rejoice in thee." Beautifully St. Bernard in the Sentences: "Wine, he says, is of grace, which flows from the cluster of Cyprus, that is, from the bounty of the Creator: and this is the new wine by which the sons of the bridegroom are made drunk, which is also poured into new skins." And again: "The wine in God's cup is threefold: ruddy in the long-suffering of the saints, which gladdens Isaac in sickness; white in the reward of the just, by which Noah is made drunk; black and sour in the damnation of the wicked, which Jesus tastes, but will not drink." And from this wine, says the same, tract. On Loving God, "that sober drunkenness truly, not gulping down mere wine; not wet with wine, but burning with God." And sermon 18 in Canticles: "By praying wine is drunk which gladdens the heart of man, the wine of the spirit which inebriates, and brings forgetfulness of carnal pleasures."
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2. AND I DUG IT. — That is, I acquired it, I purchased it. Thus the Septuagint, the Chaldean, St. Jerome, Hugo, Lyran, Vatablus, Arias and others in various places. Whence the Syrian translated it, I bought it; the Arabic, I acquired it. Note: The Hebrew כרה cara properly signifies to dig, to cut out, to excavate; thence by metonymy it signifies to acquire or to buy. For formerly each person dug for himself crypts for dwelling and for burial, and much more vineyards, fields, wells and cisterns, which they especially needed in Mesopotamia and neighboring places (where the patriarchs of Israel dwelt) on account of the dryness and heat of the land, and hence so many and such great disputes of the shepherds of Isaac with the shepherds of Abimelech over these wells, Genesis xxvi, 17, 20, 22, so much so that even now travelers there pant for and turn aside to common wells, just as in Europe they pant for and turn aside to inns, as an eyewitness, the Reverend Father Marietus, related to me. Wells therefore they formerly acquired by digging for themselves, as is evident from Genesis i, 5, and elsewhere. Hence to dig signifies to buy, to acquire, as in Deuteronomy ii, 6, for water bought you shall draw, in Hebrew it is, water you shall dig from them with silver, that is you shall buy with silver, and having bought you shall draw. St. Jerome, Haymo and Lyran add that Hosea uses this word of digging because he alludes to the vineyard already mentioned; for Israel was as it were a vineyard which is accustomed to be dug. Whence in chapter ii, 43, he said: "I will give her vinedressers from her." Wherefore Leo Castrius: I dug, he says, and I cultivated a vineyard, spending on diggers fifteen pieces of silver. Secondly, Forster: Cara, he says, signifies to dig and to cut, and thence to buy: because those buying and selling by striking their right hands together mutually as it were cut them, and by their cutting and division they stipulate that the sale of each be made, and signify the purchase to be ratified. Thirdly, Arias, I dug it, that is, I bought it as a perpetual handmaid; for the ears of such were accustomed to be dug and pierced, according to the law of Exodus chapter xxi, 6; Deuteronomy chapter xv, 16. Whence note: Although Rufinus and Ribera cited a little before think that this woman was bought by Hosea as a wife; for among the ancients, even the Hebrews, bridegrooms and husbands bought brides and wives, both from their parents and from the women themselves, giving them gifts according to the dignity of each; and brides in turn by giving a dowry bought themselves husbands with it. Thus David bought Michal with a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, Jacob bought Rachel with service of seven years, Genesis xxix, 18. Sephora bought Moses with the blood of her son, whom she circumcised, Exodus IV, 25; see the things said there. The same custom was among the Romans, as is evident from Cicero, in the oration for Murena, and from Gellius, book XVIII, vi, and among the Greeks: whence in Iliad IX, Agamemnon offers his daughter to Achilles without ἕδνα, that is gifts, which bridegrooms are accustomed to give to brides. Whence by Ovid gifts are called conjugal, by others nuptial. Thus therefore Hosea here seems to have bought a wife. Yet it is more true that he did not buy her as a spouse, but hired her as a handmaid, for this reason that she might abstain from adulteries and adulterous acts. Whence the Septuagint translates: ἐμισθωσάμην αὐτήν, that is, I hired her with payment and price; for μισθός is payment. Thus St. Jerome, Albert, Hugo and others cited above. FIFTEEN PIECES OF SILVER, — namely shekels. Now the shekel weighed four Attic drachmas, that is a half-ounce, namely 4 Spanish reales, or four Italian julios, as I said in Exodus xxx, 13. Therefore a silver shekel was a Brabantine florin, and 15 shekels 15 Brabantine florins. A MEASURE OF BARLEY. — Corus, in Hebrew חמר chomer (which is different from עמר or gomor, which was a measure of daily food, Exodus xvi, 16), was a measure containing 30 modii. Thus St. Jerome and Epiphanius, in the book On Measures, who says that a corus contains 30 modii, and is a camel's burden. Paul of Palatio adds that a corus or chomer is an ass's burden, namely what a strong ass can carry, and thence is called chomer from חמור chamor, that is ass. "The most ancient, says Pliny, book XVIII, chapter vii, in foods is barley, as appears in the custom of the Athenians; and in the cognomen of gladiators, who are called Barley-eaters." AND HALF A MEASURE OF BARLEY. — In Hebrew לתך שעורים lethech seorim, which it is remarkable the Septuagint translates νέϐελ οἴνου, that is a flagon of wine: for seorim signifies barley, not wine. And the other Interpreters translated lethech, that is half a corus, that is fifteen modii of barley. Thus St. Jerome, Epiphanius and others. Moreover, this wife was purchased for half a measure of barley; because formerly marriages were contracted by confarreatio, with certain words before witnesses with solemn sacrifice, in which spelt bread was used, they came into the hand together, as Ulpian says: which Dionysius testifies was instituted by Romulus; for that farreatio signified communion of life; wherefore diffarreatio according to Festus is the dissolution of a marriage contracted by confarreatio. Thus Ulpian, leg. IX Instit.; Pliny, lib. XVIII, cap. III, and from these Pineda, lib. V De Rebus Salomonis, cap. ii. You will ask, what do these things signify? First, the Chaldean, St. Jerome, Hugo, Lyran and others hold that by fifteen pieces of silver is signified the fifteenth day of the first month Nisan, namely the Passover, by which the Hebrews redeemed their firstborn with the blood of the paschal lamb from death, which the angel brought upon the firstborn of the Egyptians, and therefore thereafter they were commanded to redeem the same with five shekels. A measure and a half, that is 45 modii, signify 43 days in which they journeyed from Egypt to Mount Sinai, where they received the law, in which God ordained that the firstfruits of barley be offered to him on the day after the Passover, as the Chaldean says. But even if it be granted that there is an allusion to this, yet these things had long since passed; but this is a prophecy concerning the future, it is asked therefore what they portend for the future? Second, Arias holds that by fifteen pieces of silver is signified fifteen Prophets both greater and lesser, who preached to Israel and led him to repentance: a measure, or chomer, he says, is a heap; seorim is barley, likewise a whirlwind and tempest, 45 modii are 45 punishments, which God threatened to the Jews, Levit. xxvi, if they should violate the law, which the Prophet here signifies the Jews shall undergo. Others bring forward other things, but impertinent ones, which see, if you please, in Christopher a Castro. It seems simpler to say that this price was fixed for this woman for her annual sustenance; for the Romans designated their modii for this purpose, 48, which make up the Hebrews' modii 45, namely a measure and a half. Whence Terence in the Phormio teaches that slaves received four modii in a month for their sustenance: now multiply four by twelve (for there are so many months in a year) you will have modii 48, which was the measure of annual sustenance at Rome. Moreover, barley and barley bread was the food of slaves, handmaids and the poor; among the Hebrews also of adulteresses; whence to a woman accused of adultery, St. Jerome says, she is commanded to take a gomor of barley flour, Num. 11, 5. By all these things therefore the Prophet signifies that God, having destined the Israelites to servitude on account of their sins, and as it were to earthly beasts (for their food is barley) gave them earthly goods; but with labor and few, namely so much as suffices for sustenance; for such is a measure and a half of barley for annual sustenance and fifteen shekels for clothing and other necessities; and this for this reason, that they should not be compelled to follow the nations and idols as they formerly did; but that they might know themselves not to be wholly abandoned by God, nay rather that they might acknowledge his care, sustenance and goodness toward them, and by hope of greater gifts return to God, which shall come to pass on the last day, as is said in verse 5. This is what the Apostle says, Rom. xi: "God hath not cast away his people whom he foreknew:" but waits until at length "all Israel shall be saved." Thus Ribera, a Castro and others. Morally, concerning this price see St. Jerome here, and St. Ambrose, lib. IV, epist. 39, and lib. VIII, epist. 77. 3. And I said. — The Prophet purchased the adulteress for the price of fifteen pieces of silver and a measure and a half of barley; now he proposes to her the terms and conditions of the purchase which he exacts from her.
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The first is: "Many days (namely a whole year; for the Hebrews call this ימים iamim, that is days, because a year is the collection and revolution of all days: and he had given her the price for a year's sustenance, as I have already said) thou shalt wait for me," in Hebrew, thou shalt sit with me, or with me, that is to say, For a year thou shalt dwell with me and shalt long for me, nor shalt thou wander through the houses and lodgings of thy lovers. Thus Theodoret, Theophylactus, Pagninus, and others. Whence Isidore and Vatablus expound it, that is to say, Many days thou shalt sit in mourning as a widow. Hosea here represents not God, but Salmanasar, who held the Israelites captive in Assyria as it were in a lodging. Our translator renders it, "thou shalt wait for me," because he regards the thing signified: for to this end the Prophetess sat at home, that she might wait for the time when she would be reconciled by him and restored to her husband. Thus St. Jerome, Haymo and others. The second is, "thou shalt not commit fornication;" for this was the chief aim of the Prophet, namely to turn her away from fornication. Note here his remarkable charity and zeal for souls. Thus St. Ephrem celebrates the zeal and diligence of Abraham the hermit (in his Life), who, when he learned that Mary his niece had fallen into fornication and was publicly practicing as a harlot in a lodging, pursued her, and with great labor and industry led her away from there, and brought her into the desert to her former sanctity of life and perpetual penance. Thus our holy Father Ignatius at Rome took care to have the monastery of St. Martha built, that in it might be received women who, drawn away from shameful gain, wished to change their life for the better, and he himself, being General, would lead them there. And when it was objected to him that labor was wasted on them, because they would easily return to their vomit: "Not at all, said Ignatius, but if by all the cares and labors of my life I can effect that even one night one of these women wishes to pass free from sin, I will indeed strain all my efforts, that even in so short a time God and our Lord may not be offended, even if I know she will immediately return to her nature." Thus Ribadeneira, book III of his Life, chapter ix. Namely, he clearly perceived how great an evil, how great an offense and injury to God is one mortal sin, one fornication, to turn away from which therefore every zealot of God ought to strain and expend all the powers of body and mind. The third is: "And thou shalt not be to a man," that is, thou shalt not marry any man, or be joined to him, and consequently neither shalt thou return to thy husband (for he neglects and despises thee on account of thy adulteries), nor be joined to him; much less to me, who am merely thy keeper, host and conductor. The fourth is: "And I will wait for thee;" in Hebrew, and I to thee, namely I will regard and come: so that in due time, namely after a year, I will lead thee out of this lodging of my house, and restore thee to thy husband. Our translator renders it, "I will wait," because he regards the thing signified, that is to say, I will wait that thou, repenting, shalt be converted, and then I will restore thee to thy husband. Thus the Chaldean, St. Jerome, Haymo, Hugh and Lyran. Otherwise Ribera: I will wait, he says, for thee that I may be joined with thee, and may again beget children from thee. For he thinks that this was Gomer the wife of Hosea, from whom he himself abstained for a time by the command of God, and ordered her to sit at home quietly, and not to commit fornication; but to wait for him and his bed, to which he was about to recall her again, that it might represent that God, who had now as it were abandoned the Synagogue of the Jews, having meanwhile given a frugal sustenance of temporal goods, would wait for her until the end of the world, so that then he would again espouse her, and beget children from her. Otherwise also Vatablus, Pagninus and Arias; for they render it: Thou shalt not be to a man, nor shall I also be to thee, supply, enter in, that I may be joined with thee. Hosea explains the signification and cause of these conditions, and applies them to Israel when he subjoins: 4. Because many days the children of Israel shall sit (desolate and dispersed, and therefore mourning, afflicted and squalid) WITHOUT A KING, etc. — First, the Rabbis, Ruffinus, Albert and Hugh understand these things of the Babylonian captivity of the two tribes, until its release through Cyrus. But it is objected that in that captivity these tribes had a high priest, namely Josedec, likewise the law and judges, as is evident from Daniel xv, 5, indeed even King Joachin, and the princes Zerubbabel and Salathiel, moreover an altar, as is evident from Baruch 1, 10, and priests and prophets, such as Daniel, Ezekiel, etc., and they worshipped God, all of which things are here predicted to be lacking to them. Again, Zerubbabel or Salathiel cannot be called King David. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril, Rupert, and St. Augustine, book XVIII of the City of God, chapter xxviii.
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Second, Rabbi David thinks this happened in the time of the Maccabees and Herod: for then the Jews were subdued by Antiochus Epiphanes and his successors, who profaned the sacred things of the Jews and sold the high priesthood; and although the Maccabees were then princes, they were not legitimate, because they were descended from the tribe of Levi, not Judah, to which God gave the scepter, Genesis xlix, 10. But he errs; for then under the Maccabees the religion, virtue and strength of the Jews flourished greatly, and they themselves were legitimate princes, inasmuch as they were chosen by the whole people. Nor does the passage Genesis xlix, 10 stand in the way, as I showed there. Third, St. Jerome, Cyril, Haymo, Hugh, Lyran, Paul of Palatio, Vatable, Ribera, Sanchez and many others in various places, and St. Augustine, book XVIII of the City of God, chapter xxviii, think that the Jews suffer these things now, namely after Christ, and will suffer the same things until the end of the world. For now they lack a king, priesthood, altar, etc. But the Jews suffer this on account of Christ slain by them, not on account of idolatry; which however the Prophet asserts here. Again, up to this point the Prophet has dealt with the Israelites, that is the ten tribes, not the two, namely the Jews: for he said he would have mercy on the Jews, chapter 1, 7; I confess however that these things can be extended to them by parity of reasoning. Whence Fourth, I say with Theodoret, Theophylact, the Chaldean and a Castro, that the Prophet continues to speak of the Israelites, that is the ten tribes, and predicts their destruction and desolation lasting until the end of the world. For they were led away into Assyria, and from there they never returned, except very few mixed with the Jews; but scattered and unknown they wander still throughout the whole world: whence they lack a king, law, commonwealth, priesthood, etc., and serve as vile, poor and miserable servants to other nations and princes, just as that woman (who was their type) sat by Hosea desolate, as a widow, lacking a husband, and all other divine and human aid, having only the meager sustenance which Hosea gave her. This is what the prophet Azariah likewise predicted to them, II Paralipomenon xv, 3: "Many days shall pass in Israel without the true God, and without a priest teacher, and without a law," that is to say, After Samaria was cut off by the Assyrians in the sixth year of Hezekiah king of Judah, the Israelites were captives and fugitives, and lacked both commonwealth and Church, both king and high priest, both court and temple, both civil law and sacred law. WITHOUT AN ALTAR. — In Hebrew it is מצבה matseba, that is a statue. Whence Leo the Hebrew, Isidore, Arias, Pagninus and others translate it, without idols. But our translator better renders it, without an altar, for thus the Septuagint translates it; for an altar directly and correlatively corresponds to sacrifice, which preceded. Hence also the Chaldean translates: And there shall not be in Samaria a high place, namely an altar. For matseba signifies everything that is erected, set up, established, which in the first place is an altar, from the root יצב iatsab, that is stood, and in the hiphil הציב hitsib, that is set up, erected, established. WITHOUT AN EPHOD. — The ephod, or shoulder-piece, was the primary vestment of the high priests, as I said at Exodus xxviii, 6. Whence it signifies the priesthood and priesthood of Israel to be taken away, as it was already taken away long ago. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylact, Hugh and Lyran; wherefore the Septuagint translates it, without priesthood. But because in the phrase without sacrifice, and without an altar, it sufficiently signified that the priesthood was likewise to be taken away, for this cannot exist without an altar and sacrifice; hence more precisely and better we shall understand by ephod the oracles and prophecy, which were made through the Urim and Thummim placed in the ephod, as I said at Exodus xxviii, 30; it signifies therefore that the Prophets and high priests are to be taken away from Israel, who through the Urim and Thummim give oracles, and when consulted answer concerning future things. Thus St. Cyril, Theodoret and Theophylact. WITHOUT THERAPHIM. — You will ask, what is theraphim? First, the Jews think they were sacred images, from which the ten tribes were to be deprived in the Assyrian captivity; whence Aben-Ezra and other Rabbis from this passage conclude that sacred images were not forbidden to the Jews, but only profane and idolatrous ones. Let therefore Luther and the heretics be silent, who wish theraphim to have been sacred images similar to the images of Catholics, whence they are forbidden, because elsewhere throughout Scripture forbids and condemns theraphim. Let these fabulists read Bellarmine, book II On the Saints. Second, Arias and Cajetan in Judges xvii, and Oleaster in Genesis xxxi, 19, hold that these are images which astrologers made at a certain position of the stars, so that from these speaking and giving responses they might know future things. Whence R. Eliezer in his Chapters, cap. xxxvi: "Why," he says, "are they called theraphim?" and he answers: "They would take a firstborn man and slay him, and cut off his head, and preserve this with salt and spices, and inscribe upon a plate the name of some unclean spirit. Moreover they would place that name under his tongue, and deposit it in a wall, and before it they would light lamps, and worship him, and he himself would speak to them." And Aben-Ezra in Genesis xxxi: Theraphim, he says, were images of men, for receiving the influence of the higher powers and the heavens. Thus also Lyra in Judges xvii. Third, other Rabbis hold that they are certain bronze instruments, for distinguishing the parts of hours, or that they are clocks, cylinders, astrolabes. Fourth, Monceius, lib. I De Vitulo aureo, xvi and xx, thinks that theraphim were Cherubim, others Seraphim. Whence Cedrenus, relating the history of Judges xvii, has Seraphim for Theraphim. For the Chaldeans speak thus; for in place of the letter s, they put t, as for scalos, that is three, they say thelath; for sees, that is six, they say scet; for meschalim, that is proverbs, they say methalim; for matseca, that is molten, matheca; for scaar, that is door, they say therah, with metathesis, from which come the Greek θύρα and the German thür, says Serarius in Judges xvii, Quæst. V. Hence also St. Jerome: Theraphim, he says, are Cherubim and Seraphim, or other things which were commanded to be made for the ornaments of the temple; for all these things are signified by synecdoche in their part, namely in theraphim, that is Cherubim and Seraphim. Thus also Haymo, Albert, Hugh and Dionysius. Fifth, Christopher a Castro, Sanchez and Leo Castrius hold that theraphim are urim and thummim, which were two stones, or two simulacra, as Christopher a Castro thinks, in the Rational of the Pontiff, giving an oracle and responses to those consulting. They prove it, because the Septuagint and Aquila translate them illuminations, or manifestations; thus also the same translate urim and thummim, Exod. xxviii, 30. But this, as it is novel, so it seems scarcely probable, especially because this would have been very dangerous among the Jews, if they had seen images, or heard them speaking and prophesying. For they themselves were most prone to the adoration of images and idolatry. Wherefore I say first, "theraphim" signifies images or simulacra. It is evident, because thus our translator renders it, I Kings xix, 16, in the statue which the wife Michal put in place of the fugitive David, where the Septuagint translates κενοτάφια, that is statues representing a dead man, but empty and evanescent, since the very body of the man is not present, but absent. Second, because Aquila translates μορφώματα, that is figures or images: the Chaldean צלמניא tsalmenaia, that is likenesses and simulacra. I say second, hence consequently theraphim, as also simulacra, are taken for idols, because ancient images, especially among the Jews, were scarcely made except for gods and idols. It is evident, because our translator and others, Genesis xxxi, 19; Judges xvii, 5; Ezekiel xxi, 21, and elsewhere throughout, translate theraphim as idols. These are called theraphim, either from the root רפה rapha, that is to lower, as Marinus and Forster wish, because idolaters would lower and humble themselves before them, worshipping them; or from the Chaldean תרף theraph, that is to rot, to reproach, and to affect with reproaches. Whence the Chaldeans beth hatturpha, that is the house of turpitude, call the temple of an idol, and perhaps from this flowed the Latin word turpis and turpitudo, says Serarius in the place cited. Theraphim therefore is the same as turpe, reproachful, unclean, rotten and worthy of putrefaction: for such is an idol, which is therefore called in Hebrew filth and refuse, or rather theraphim were named from Seraphim and Cherubim, concerning which more presently. Moreover theraphim here, as also elsewhere, signifies idols, from this it is gathered, that by the without theraphim, it explains that which he said of the woman in verse 3: "Thou shalt not commit fornication, and thou shalt not be with a husband," as if to say: I will that thou, O woman, dwell in my house alone, so that thou art joined neither to adulterers nor to thy husband; that thou mayest represent that the Israelites after the destruction shall in like manner sit without sacrifices and altar; that they may not worship the true God, as their husband, and without theraphim, that they may not worship strange gods, as adulterers; it signifies therefore that the Israelites for a long time shall not worship the true God, nor theraphim, that is idols. I say thirdly, that theraphim signifies idols, both as gods and as they gave oracles, and answered those consulting them concerning future events. This is evident, because in Ezech. xxi, 21, it is said of the king of Babylon: "He inquired of idols (in Hebrew, theraphim), he consulted entrails;" and in Zachar. x, 2: "For the theraphim have spoken what is unprofitable, and the diviners have seen a lie;" whence also the Chaldean translator renders it: There will be no one to give an answer; the same is evident from Judg. cap. xvii, 5, and cap. xviii, 20, in the theraphim of Micah. Secondly, because the Septuagint translates theraphim as δῆλον, that is, manifestation; and Aquila as φωτισμόν, that is illumination, that is prophecy and oracle: finally the Rabbis say: Theraphim, they say, are images foretelling future things. Theraphim therefore were simulacra and idols, which idolaters kept in their homes, invoked, and consulted in all difficulties and doubts, as their Lares and Penates. Thus Rachel stole theraphim, that is, idols and Lares, of her father, Gen. xxxi, 19. Thus Micah had theraphim, as his Penates, Judg. xvii, 5. Therefore it is signified here that Israel in captivity will lack theraphim, that is the gods of their fathers, their Lares and Penates, namely the golden calves and the Baals, which he worshipped in Samaria; for although mixed with the nations he worshipped their idols, yet these were not his theraphim, that is the gods of his fathers, the Lares and proper Penates which he had worshipped in Samaria. Thus the Hebrews, Lyra, Vatable, Pagninus, Isidore, Arias, Serarius in the place cited, and others. In a similar manner the Gentiles worshipped their Lares, so much so that even after the destruction of their home and city, fleeing, they carried them with them abroad, as Aeneas, Troy being destroyed, carried with him the idols of his country, as his Lares, which Virgil tacitly mocks by saying: Bearing Ilium into Italy and the conquered Penates. Hence the Gentiles relate that when in honor of Pallas a citadel was built for Troy, and a temple to her was erected on its summit, the Palladium fell from heaven, that is the wooden simulacrum of Pallas moving its eyes and the spear which it held in its hand, as Servius writes. This Palladium chose for itself a place in that temple, and soon an oracle was given by Apollo, that Troy was to be destroyed if this Palladium were carried out of the city. Wherefore Diomedes and Ulysses secretly, having killed the guards, carried it out; and shortly after Troy was captured by the Greeks. Thus Ovid, V Fastor., and Virgil, II Aeneid: Having undertaken, he says, to tear the Palladium from the sacred temple, etc. For the Palladium were the Penates of Troy. And St. Augustine in the book On the City of God, mocks these gods and guardians of cities, who have eyes and do not see, feet and do not walk, hands and cannot help. "Such," he says, "were the guardians and keepers of the Capitol, who, since they could not defend themselves, how much less were they able to protect the city?" Of these Plautus says: I am the household Lar from this family, Whence you saw me going out. Hence Lararium was called the place or oratory, in which theraphim, that is Lares, and household gods were kept and worshipped. Lampridius writes that the Emperor Alexander Severus performed divine worship in the morning in the Lararium before the effigies of gods, in which he had Abraham and Christ, and in the second Lararium he had the simulacrum of Virgil and Cicero. These same were called Penates, "either from penus derived as a name (for everything by which men are nourished is penus), or from the fact that they dwell deep within, from which also penetrales are called by poets," says Cicero lib. II On the Nature of the Gods. And Macrobius, lib. III Saturn., cap. IV: "The Penates," he says, "they said are those through whom we breathe deeply, through whom we have a body, through whom we possess the reason of the mind." Hence Plautus in the Merchant: "I will seek for myself other Penates gods, another Lar." And Terence in the Phormio: "But I will turn aside from here to greet the household gods at home." Hence again one might suspect that theraphim had its origin from Cherubim and Seraphim, as I said above. For when the nations saw the Jews treating Cherubim and Seraphim with such great veneration, both after the making of the ark and Cherubim by Moses, and before it. (For before it, Gen. cap. xxxi, Rachel is said to have stolen theraphim, that is the idols of her father, and from the beginning of the world Cherubim were placed for the custody of paradise; finally from the tradition of Adam, Noah, Abraham, their sons and grandsons before Moses knew and venerated angels, seraphim and cherubim); hence the Gentiles suspected these to be their deities and tutelary gods; whence they themselves likewise seem to have called their Lares and Penates, with the voice somewhat changed and corrupted (as is wont to happen when words are transferred from the original language into another foreign one), in place of seraphim and cherubim, theraphim, especially the Chaldeans, who delight in the letter t, and change s into t, as I said at the beginning. Hence also theraphim are often joined with ephod, as in this place, and Judg. xvii, 5, and cap. xviii, 4, 17 and 20; for it is certain that ephod was a priestly garment of the Jews.
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5. AND THEY SHALL SEEK (the Israelites, or the ten tribes, afflicted by the desolation and abandonment of so many hundreds of years, repenting and coming to their senses) the Lord their God, AND DAVID THEIR KING. — "David," that is the Messiah, or Christ the Son of David, and in the kingdom (not temporal, but spiritual of the Church) his successor. Thus the Chaldean, St. Jerome, Hugh, Vatablus, Isidore, Arias and others everywhere. Thus Christ is called David, Ezechiel cap. xxxiv, 23: "I will raise up over my servant David;" Jerem. cap. xxx, 9: "They shall serve David their king, whom I will raise up to them." And elsewhere, as St. Augustine teaches, tom. IV, lib. De Octo Dulcitii quæstionibus, Quæst. V and the last, and at length Galatinus, lib. III, cap. xxiii; for the names of parents among the Hebrews are often taken patronymically for sons and descendants. AND THEY SHALL FEAR THE LORD AND HIS GOODNESS. — Fear in Scripture, when attributed to God and divine things, signifies the highest veneration and reverence, as if to say, With the highest reverence they shall pursue and worship the Lord. The Septuagint translates: They shall be amazed in the Lord and in his goods. Moreover "the Lord," that is upon hearing the name of the Lord, as if to say, Struck and astonished by the mere hearing of the divine name, they shall revere him. But goodness here signifies God's liberality and beneficence toward the Israelites, which God demonstrates to the faithful through innumerable graces, gifts and benefits, and makes most evident, so that the faithful, seeing these things, are seized with admiration and amazement at God so liberal and beneficent, as if to say, The Israelites with wonderful devotion and reverence shall venerate God's goodness and magnificence; because they shall see such magnificent gifts and benefits from it bestowed upon them, though so long rebellious after so many centuries, according to the promises made to Abraham and the patriarchs. Hence first, particularly, St. Jerome, Albert and Hugh understand by goodness Jesus Christ, whom God the Father gave to us as his only-begotten (and consequently all gifts through him and with him). Second, Haymo, Albert and Arias understand by goodness the Holy Spirit; for this is the first and uncreated good and gift of the Father and the Son, which, embracing all created gifts in itself, pours them forth abundantly upon us. Third, others understand by goodness the Eucharist; for in this God the Father and Christ the Lord show and communicate to us day by day the highest goodness, riches and graces, according to that of Zacharias chapter IX, verse 17: "What is his goodness, and what is his beauty, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?" IN THE LAST DAYS, — at the end of the world, when at the coming of Antichrist, especially after he is slain, the Israelites and Jews, who had adhered to him living and reigning, partly mindful of the sermons and miracles of Elias and Enoch, partly by the exhortation of other preachers, shall be converted to Christ, as I said Apocal. cap. xi; then indeed all Israel shall be saved, Roman. cap. xi, 25. Thus St. Jerome, Haymo, Albert, Hugh, Lyran and others everywhere. Second, Isidore and a Castro think these things were done at the incarnation, and at the first coming and preaching of Christ, namely in an inchoate manner, for then a few from Israel began to be converted. Others err, who think these things were accomplished in the release of the Jews from Babylon made by Cyrus.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 2 « et fodi eam mihi quindecim argenteis et coro hordei et dimidio coro hordei » ; — i. e. emi eam ? ; Hac coemptione vates ostendit, se illam in uxorem adscivisse ; nam pro sponsa parentibus certum solvi pretium, non erat insuetum. lam Rib. Sanct. Lap. pro hoc usu monent, Iacobum multorum annorum servitio sibi Rachel acquisivisse ( Gen. 29), Sichem dicere: « augete dotem et munera postulate et libenter tribuam, quod petieritis ; tantum date mihi puellam hanc uxorem » (Gen. 34, 12), et David dicere, se sibi Michol uxorem despondisse centum praeputiis Philisthiim (2 Reg. 3, 14 ). Pretium constabat quindecim siclis ( quorum unus circiter M. 2, 60 monetae germanicae, Franc. 3, 23 gallicae — cf. Scholz), chomer vel coro hordei i. e. triginta modiis ( Hier.) et lethech * « quod ceteri interpretes haixegov transtulerunt i. e. mediam partem cori, quae facit quindecim modios » ( Hier. ). Cum chomer 10 epha constabat, 13 epha hordei et 1. Amor scil. prophetae in mulierem et Dei amor in filios Israel ; mulier diligens amasium. et filii Jsrael respicientes ad deos ; mulier adultera et filii Israel accumbentes epulis idolorum, diligentes cupedias, liba uvarum diis oblata. 3 Reg. 6, 19 et 1 Par. 16, 3 vertit similam frizam oleo ct Cant. 2, 5 flores. 3. lta "mo adhibetur Deut. 2, 6. Gen. 50, 5 (uti iam notant Sanct. Rib. Lap. Mar. Tir.) ; 13 siclos pro sponsa emenda insumpsit ; censent aliqui ita pretium 30 siclorum, quo fere serva emi poterat, exprimi (cf. Schegg). Sed quidquid est, cum Sanct. dicere satis erit, vatem obtulisse aut quod paratum habuerit in fortuna tenui aut quod sibi visum sit idoneum pro conditione ac meritis feminae. Certe tali pretio illam ex infima conditione fuisse satis patet ; unde populi conditio prisca bene adumbratur ( cf. Ez. 16, 4). Mandato Domini: dilige mulierem quae voces rem uxoriam omnino dicunt, et hac coemptione et iis, quae v. 3 dicuntur et ipsa significatione, qua Domini foedus cum populo exprimendum erat, sententia illorum excluditur, qui volunt prophetam alterius viri uxorem adulteram sibi in ancillam emisse, eamque domi inclusam servasse castam (cf. Lap. qui eam vocat probabiliorem, et Rohling, qui eam sequitur ). Reliqua, quae propheta explicite non refert, ex v. 1 et symbolica significatione satis per se intelliguntur ; scil. matrimonio contracto mulierem illam fide violata adulterium commisisse vel saltem attentasse ; statim narrat, quomodo adulteram punierit et ab occasione peccandi removerit ;
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v. 9 « et dixi ad eam : dies multos exspectabis me ; non fornicaberis et non eris viro ; sed et ego exspectabo te » ; — hebr. dies multos sedebis inihi i. e. eris seclusa et ab omni circumcursatione quiesces ; qui sunt in captivitate et luctu, sedere dicuntur (Is. 3, 26 ; 49, "1. Scholz) ; mih: aliquid comminatorii habet : ego faciam, ut ... In hac seclusione et peccandi licentia privata est et ab ipso etiam marito separata ; nulla consolatione fruetur neque ab amasio, neque a viro. In ultimo membro hebr. et etiam ego ad te, i. e. ita etiam ego ero ratione tui, ero contra te, me alienum a te et separatum exhibebo (Keil, Scholz) vel ego ad te! respleiam, sensu promissorio ( Cyr. Sa, Lap.). S. Hier. potius priori sensu intellexisse videtur, scribit enim : « ac ne putes, factam tibi iniuriam, quia dixi exspectabis me, par pari referam : et ego exspectabo te » id quod solum esse potest : ego a te separatus manebo. Iam quid haec pro populo significent, proponit
3:4
v. 4 « quia dies multos sedebunt filii Israel sine rege et sine principe et sine sacrificio et sine altari et sine ephod et sine theraphim » ; — i. e. sedebunt in luctu, republica dissoluta, cultu sacro cessante, alieni tamen ab idololatria ; ita theocratia (regno et sacerdotum officio interrupto) erat destructa, i. e. Dominus a sponsa infideli recesserat neque eam suis amplexibus recreabat; hac vero castigatione ab idololatria retrahebatur. Regem et principem commemorat, uti alias praeter reges crebro principum populi, magistratuum, nobilium, iudicum mentio fit ; enumeratio distincta sine sacrificio etc. ad emphasin fit, ut rerum sacrarum ablatio oculis quasi subiiciatur ; sine altari, ità LXX. quoque et Syrus ; legerunt itaque navo ; textus mas. Is. 19, 19) ; huiusmodi signa etiam in idolorum honorem erigebantur ( cf. Lev. 96, 1. 4 Reg. 3, 2; 10, 26. 27. Ier. 43, 13. Mich. 5, 12) ; statuas multi intelligunt ( ita saepe vertit vulg., Ges. Thes. ling. hebr. ), alii non statuas, sed cippos, columnas, obeliscos, lapides in rei alicuius memoriam vel idolorum symbola erecta dici volunt (cf. Fürst. C. Scholas — et revera LXX vocem vertunt ccm, GvfAoua, et5Ào;, Onoctuct, O"xv ; huic significationi etiam accedit Chald. N'p et reliqui graeci uw? óvcog evrAouaro; — cf. cod. syr. hexapl. ). Igitur se- cundum hanc lectionem ponit propheta modo ea, quae ad veri Dei cultum, modo, quae ad idola spectant, ut verborum intermixtione etiam illam « in duas partes claudicationem » et cultus permixtionem reprehendat. Idem habes in seq. sine ephod et sine theraphim. lllud amictus erat vel humerale, superhumerale ( vrulg. ), sacerdotalis vestitus pars, duabus constans plagulis, quarum anterior pectus, posterior tergum tegebat, manicis carens ; gestabatur super tunica et pallio ( cf. Ex. 28, 6; 29, 9) — unde sacerdotii insigne ' h. l. ponitur, quare LXX bene íepace'x h. 1. dicunt, alias xeu; Erat ephod duplex ; alterum soli summo sacerdoti proprium, in quo erat choschen, LXX 3oyetoy, vulg. rationale et urim et thummim ( cf. Ex. 98, 29. Lev. 8, 8); hisce Pontifex erat indutus, cum Dominum de causa. communi consuleret et ab eo responsum acciperet ( cf. Num. 97, 21. 4 Reg. 23,9; 28, 6 ; 30, '1 — vide P. Scholz, die heiligen Alterthümer des Volkes [srael I p. 105 et seq.) ; unde praeter sacerdotium etiam auferenda esse dicit oracula illa et divina responsa, quae Deus per Pontifices dare saepe dignatus erat ( Lap. ). Alterum ephod genus erat lineum, quo sacerdotes ordinis infimi, immo etiam levitae ( cf. 4 Reg. 2, 18) atque etiam laici, eum eultu sacro occuparentur, induebantur (cf. 2 Reg. 6, 14. 4 Par. 16, 27 — Scholz 1. c. p. 25). Theraphim ad idololatriam spectabant ; erant simulacra domestica, penates (cf. Fürst C.), figuram humanam habebant (1 Reg. 19, 13) et ab iis oracula expetebantur (Ez. 94, 26 hebr. Zach. 10, 2); ultimum h. l. respiciunt LXX 522», « pro quibus Aquila owrteuox; transtulit et haec ipsa sunt in Aoyeio, i. e. in rationali » (Hier. Cyr. Theod. Theoph.) ; idem spectat Chald. *mva i. e. annuntiantes, loquentes (cf. Levy, Chald. Woerterb. ü. d. Targumim s .v. P. Schol; l. c. 142; v. Haneberg, die relig. Alterthümer der Bibel p. 62). At haec populi seclusio et arcta custodia via est ad salutem : « sola vexatio intellectum dabit » (Is. 28, 19) ; nam vallis Achor ostium est spei cf. 2, 13. 6. 14, 10. Quare pergit
3:5
v. 5 « et post haec revertentur filii [srael et quaerent Dominum Deum suum et. David regem suum et pavebunt ad Dominum et ad bonum eius àn novissimo dierum ». — Dominum colent toto corde eique adhaerebunt, id scil. est quaerere Dominum ; David ! rex est ille rex sempiternus, Davidi promissus (2 Reg. "1, 14) qui sceptrum Iudae geret, cui est populorum obedientia (Gen. 49, 10), qui est dominator in Israel (2 Reg. 23, 3. Mich. 5, 2), qui ex stirpe David oriundus (Is. 14, 1) tamquam alter David egredietur ex Bethlehem (Mich. 5, 2), pastor erit populi sui, et nomine David consalutatur (cf. Ier. 23, 9 ; 30, 9. Ez. 34, 23. 24 ; 31, 24. 25), cuius est imperium, qui super solium David et regnum eius sedebit, ut confirmet illud ac. corroboret in iudicio et iustitia, amodo et usque in sempiternum (Is. 9, 7) et cui Dominus ius imperii dabit (Ez. 91, 271). Hoc vaticinio Osee complet illa, quae 1, 10; 9, 18. 19 de futura instauratione dixerat, ewm scil. designans, qui congregaturus est Israel, . foedus novum initurus, sponsam sibi desponsaturus, nomine Dei bona illa verae sanctitatis cum populo Dei electo communicaturus. Eo tempore summa reverentia et veneratione (pavebunt cf. Lap.) et maxima observantia et religione (Sanct.) animos ad Dominum convertent conversosque servabunt et ad bonum eius, ad dulcia illa ac suavia et verae beatitatis fecundissima, quae 2, 19 - 24 latius est prosecutus ; idque fore ait n novissimo dierum, in fine dierum (Chald.), extremotempore, LXX 2x' écyázuv tàv fuspóv. Ita tempus messianicum apud prophetas designari, inter omnes constat (cf. Is. 2, 9. Mich. 4, 14 — Reinke, Beitraege, 4. pg. 236 et seq.). Est enim periodus messianica revera « hora novissima » (1 Ioan. 2, 18), ibi enim adsunt «à «£v, «àv aiovov (1 Cor. 10, 11), ipsa est impletio promissionum, ultra quam nulla alia epocha neque alia Dei ad homines manifestatio exspectanda erit, cum ipsa in beata Dei intuitione sit absolvenda. Anc. — Primo totius reprehensionis summam generatim proponit : tangit scil. radices peccatorum, ipsa peccata, poenas a iusto vindice infligendas (4, 1-3). Dein ad particularia descendens, monet, ne quis excusationem praetendat ; omnes esse rebelles ; quare ruinam instare praedicit ; quia Dei scientiam et legem spreverint et rebus prosperis ad mala perpetranda abusi sint; malitiae adiutores et pseudoprophetas fuisse et sacerdotes, omnes condigna poena iri implicatum (4, 4 - 10). Dein speciatim in stultitiam idololatriae invehitur et in impura scelera ei coniuncta (^, 11 - 14) ; propter idolorum cultum et morum perversitatem veluti saeva tempestate eos abreptum iri vaticinatur (4, 15 - 19).
3:2
In Hebrew law there is mention of a sum or its equivalent in kind, which the bridegroom must deliver to the father of the betrothed (cf. Gen. 34:12; Ex. 22:16; I Sam. 18:25; Hos. 3:2). In Deut. 22:28 ff. the price is set at 50 shekels, which the seducer of a virgin must pay to her father before marrying her. In the code of Hammurabi too (§§ 138, 139, 164) a purchase …
3:4
… although Scripture indicates certain foreboding signs: the preaching and acceptance of the Gospel throughout the whole world (Mt. 24, 3 and 14; Mk. 16, 15-16; Lk. 21, 24; Rom. 9, 25), the appearance of the Antichrist (v.), the conversion of Israel (Hos. 3, 4-5; Rom. 11, 25-27; II Cor. 3, 14-17), the great apostasy (II Thess. 2, 3; Mt. 24, 11-12; Lk. 17, 26-30; 18, 8; I Tim. 4, 1; II Tim. 3, 1), cosmic disturbances (in the sky: Joel 2, …
… Samuel and David wore an e. of linen (e. badh), and so too (according to the Masoretic text) the priests of Nob (1 Sam. 22:19). For the e. connected with sacred images cf. Judg. 18:14; Hos. 3:4. For 'ūrim in 1 Sam. 14:41, cf. the Septuagint and the Vulgate. …
… Their relation to the deity is not clear: whether it is a dwelling or a symbol of it. The Law therefore prohibited them (Lev. 26, 1; Deut. 16, 22). They are nevertheless found in the bānāth or sanctuaries in honor of Yahweh (I Kings 14, 23; II Kings 17, 10; 18, 4; 23, 14; II Chron. 14, 2; 31, 1; Hos. 3, 4; 10, 1 f.; Mic. 5, 12); and also in honor of Baal (II Kings 3, 2; 10, 26 f.). In Is. 6, 13 the m. is a tree trunk, deprived of its branches. …
TERAPHIM. - Latin transcription (Vulgate) of the Hebrew tērāphim in Judg. 17:5; 18:14, 17; Hos. 3:4, which occurs, variously translated, in 10 other passages.
3:5
… O. develops it in the mode of love, drawing from it all its consequences, rights and duties, and showing its ultimate purpose, messianic salvation (Hos. 3:5).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.