Hosea
Chapter 9
Fertility Cults: No Bread or Wine
Do not rejoice and celebrate, Israel, like other nations, for you have abandoned your God. You are fond of prostituting with gifts and rushing to every threshing floor where there is wheat.
This is why threshing floors and wine vats will not satisfy you; the new wine will disappoint you.
You will no longer stay in the Lord’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt—actually, to Assyria—where they will eat unclean food.
No longer will they be able to pour out the wine offering for the Lord, nor will they sacrifice to him. Instead, they will have only bread for mourners; everyone who eats it will be defiled. This food will be for themselves, and it will not be brought into the house of the Lord.
What will you do on the feast? You will leave, but not for the pilgrimage to the Lord; instead, you will flee because of the invaders.
Egypt will gather you, and Memphis will entomb you. Nettles will take over your silver treasures, and thorns will sprawl over your tents.
The moment of punishment has arrived, and the day of retribution is upon us. The Israelites will recognize it. The prophets will go insane; the seers will act like madmen because your defeat will be as severe as your sins have been.
Ephraim watches over my God; his prophets attempt to stop the enemy at every turn to defend the house of their gods.
Yet they are as corrupt as they were long ago in Gibeah. The Lord will remember their wickedness and punish their sins.
SHORT POEMS
Grapes in the Desert
I saw Israel as wild grapes in the desert.I saw your ancestors as the first fruits on a fig tree. However, as soon as they came to Baal-peor, they gave themselves to the idol; and they became as worthless as their dirty god.
The glory of Ephraim will fly away like a bird; it has died stillborn, miscarried, not even conceived.
Had they had children, I would take them away before they became adults, for woe to them when I abandon them!
I have seen that Ephraim will treat his sons like a game; he will send them to be killed.
Give them, Lord, what you will; give them wombs that miscarry and dry breasts.
At Gilgal, their wickedness becomes evident. There, I hated them. I will remove them from my house because of their evil actions. I will no longer love them, for all their leaders are rebels.
Ephraim is like a withered plant; his roots are dried up; he will bear no fruit. Even when they are with child, the baby will die in the womb.
My God will reject them because they did not listen; he will cause themto wander among the nations.
Commentaries
Title.
The Lord’s case against Israel. This section provides a progressively detailed explanation of Hosea’s interpretation of the people’s behavior, using his wife’s actions as a reference point.
Fertility Cults: No Bread or Wine.
Israel relies on the gods of neighboring peoples, seeking fertility for the land to produce bread and wine, which they then offer to idols (4). Their refusal to convert will lead the people into exile (3).
Judgement.
This marks the beginning of a series of short poems that focus on aspects of Israel’s joyful early history, contrasting with its current situation. Throughout, Israel’s unfaithfulness and infidelity are highlighted in opposition to the Lord’s steadfastness.
Grapes in the Desert.
Using the metaphors of grapes and figs, the Lord reminds us how Israel was once his delight. However, the people’s disloyalty will lead to infertility and the disaster of the Assyrian invasion. The consequences of unfaithfulness are the loss of land and descendants (cf. Gn 13:16-18).