Chapter Fourteen

1. The destruction of Samaria. 2–5. Exhortation to Israel. 6–9. Healing of Israel’s wounds and bestowal of mercy. 10. Concluding exhortation.

Hosea 14:1. Samaria will be desolate, for she has rebelled against her God; they will fall by the sword; their infants will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women will be torn open. The prophet directs his threat to the capital of the Israelite kingdom, Samaria, which was a nest of wickedness.

Hosea 14:2. Return, Israel, to the Lord your God; for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. “Return, Israel”—the expression in the original text gives the thought of complete and total return to God. “Stumbled (kaschal) because of your iniquity”—the speech is not of moral falling, but of general decline of Israel.

Hosea 14:3. Take with you words of prayer and return to the Lord; say to Him: ‘Take away all iniquity and receive us for good, and we will present the sacrifice of our lips. Hosea 14:4. Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses, and we will not say anymore to the work of our hands: you are our gods; for in You there is mercy for the fatherless. The prophet points out in what precisely the people’s return to Jehovah should consist. “Take with you words,” that is, words of prayer, words of sincere repentance for sins and prayer for forgiveness. “Accept that which is good,” vekach tov, “accept the good,” that is, probably, the good thing we, in repentance, wish to bring you, namely the sacrifice of our lips (Brodovich). Israel’s return to God should, according to the prophet’s thought, also consist in the fact that the people would not rely on the Assyrians or on military force (on horses), would trust only in Jehovah and would not serve idols. “You are the God of the fatherless”—in this is the inducement to repentance and hope for forgiveness. The deviation of the LXX text from the original is not confirmed by other translations. The words of the Slavonic text (verse 3): “you can turn away all sin” are read only in a few Greek manuscripts and may be considered a later insertion.

Hosea 14:5. I will heal their faithlessness, I will love them freely; for My anger has turned away from them. “I will heal their backsliding (meschubotam—their apostasy), I will love them freely.” The LXX read moschubotam and therefore translated—“I will heal their villages,” understanding the restoration of Israel’s villages after captivity. Instead of the words “freely” (nedavam—voluntarily) in the Slavonic “openly” (δμολίγως), that is, so that all may see and know, I will love especially.

Hosea 14:6. I will be as dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily, and send out his roots like Lebanon. Hosea 14:7. His branches will spread out, and his beauty will be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. A figurative description of God’s mercy toward Israel and the people’s prosperity. “He will strike root like the cedars of Lebanon,” that is, like the mountains of Lebanon. In the image is reflected the notion that the mountains appear as the very foundations of the earth, standing firm and unshakeable. “His beauty will be like the olive tree,” from Greek in the words: “his beauty will be like the fruitful olive tree”; Hebrew chod (beauty, splendor) the LXX translated freely with the word χατάκαρπος, fruitful.

Hosea 14:8. Those who dwelt in his shade will return, they will be abundant in grain, and will blossom like the vine, their fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. The speech is about individual members of the Israelite people. “Those who dwell in his shade,” that is, of Israel. Israel is represented here under the image of a spreading tree, covering individual members of the people with its shade. “They will flourish like grain”; in the Slavonic “they will be strengthened by wheat,”—reading: στρριχθήσονται (will be strengthened) in many manuscripts, but the original should be considered the reading accepted by the LXX text μεθυσθήσονται, will be made drunk.

Hosea 14:9. “What more have I to do with idols?” Ephraim will say. I will hear him and look upon him; I will be like a green cypress tree; from Me will come your fruit. After Ephraim forgets idols, the Lord will appear to him “as a green cypress,” that is, as a constant, inexhaustible source of life and prosperity. Instead of the words “like the green cypress,” (kiberosch raanan) in the Slavonic “like the thickening juniper” αρχευθος ποικαζουσα, dense juniper.

Hosea 14:10. Who is wise to understand these things? Who is discerning to know them? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the transgressors fall upon them. Verse 10 refers to the entire book of the prophet and represents a summary of the teaching set forth in the book. The essence of this teaching is that the ways of the Lord (cf. Deut 32:4, God’s guidance) are right and lead the righteous to life while leading the wicked to destruction.