Chapter Six

1–2. Israel’s resurrection in the future. 3–11. Israel’s sinfulness in the present.

Hosea 6:1. In their distress they will seek Me early, saying: “Come, let us return to the Lord! For He has struck us—and He will heal us; He has wounded—and He will bind up our wounds. Hosea 6:2. He will revive us after two days; on the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him. Afflicted by disasters and in captivity, the people will once seek the Lord with special zeal (“early in the morning”). Israel will recognize that only the Lord, who struck him, is able to bind up his wounds and heal him, that only the Lord is able to raise him from the spiritual death that will befall the people in captivity: “He will revive us after two days, on the third day He will raise us.” By putting these latter words in the mouth of the people, the prophet points to the swift (two or three days is a short time) and certain revival of the people. The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians says that Christ “rose on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4). Since there is no other clearer indication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day in Old Testament scripture, it should be thought that the apostle has in mind precisely this passage in the book of Hosea and therefore finds in it a prefiguring of Christ’s resurrection. Following the apostle, church teachers — the blessed Theodoret, Gregory of Nyssa, the blessed Augustine and others — saw in these verses of chapter VI a typological prophecy of Christ’s resurrection. In the most immediate sense, the prophet spoke of Israel. But Israel was a type of the Messiah (cf. Exod 4:22-23; Hos 11:1; Isa 4, Isa 44, Isa 52, Isa 53), and the most important facts in Israel’s history prefigured aspects of the earthly life of the Messiah. Just as Israel must die and be resurrected, so the Messiah Christ will die and be resurrected. The Messiah is the soul of the people, the source of life for them. Therefore, if the people must be resurrected from death, then before this the resurrection from the dead of the Messiah must take place.

Hosea 6:3. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; His appearing is as sure as the dawn, and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth. The prophet calls the people to the knowledge of God, meaning not theoretical knowledge of God but union with God in love, the practical fulfillment of God’s commandments. In the words “His coming forth is sure as the dawn” the prophet wishes to express the idea that just as after the darkness of night the dawn appears, announcing the coming of day, so after the darkness of captivity God’s mercy, like a clear day, will shine again over the people. The Slavonic reading “like morning ready” arose because the LXX read nimzeo (we shall find) from maza (to find) instead of mozao (His going forth, “His manifestation”). The significance of God’s mercy for the people the prophet compares to the life-giving rain for the promised land, the early rain (geschem) and the latter rain (cf. Deut 11:13-14; cf. Lev 28 and Lev 26:4). The “early” rain in Palestine refers to the period of rains from November to March, the “latter” rain continues for several days from mid-March to mid-April. The first rain is important for the sowing of winter crops, the second for the sowing of summer crops. — At the end of the verse the Hebrew joreh (from jarah — to cast, to water), was apparently read by the LXX as a noun, hence instead of the Russian “will water” in the Slavonic — “early rain” (jorech).

Hosea 6:4. What shall I do with you, Ephraim? What shall I do with you, Judah? Your goodness is like a morning cloud and like dew that goes early away. The prophet wishes to show that, despite various punishments, the people did not learn, and its “piety” (chesed, love of neighbor, ελεος Slavonic “mercy”) proved to be short-lived.

Hosea 6:5. Therefore I have hewed them by the prophets; I have killed them by the words of My mouth, and My judgment goes forth like light. “I have hewn them by the prophets,” — more accurately “I have hewn/shaped” (hazabti), “cared for” (Slavonic “I have afflicted (by) your prophets”). “I have killed (Slavonic “I have struck”) them by the words of My mouth,” meaning I have rebuked them, proclaimed punishment. The words of the Russian text: “My judgment goes forth like the light” render the original, which owing to its corruption is adapted to the LXX text.

Hosea 6:6. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Contrary to the people’s inclination to limit all service to God to ceremonies and sacrifices, the need is pointed out (cf. Matt 9:13) for spiritual service consisting in love of neighbor (chesed — mercy) and in the knowledge of God (Slavonic “in the seeing of God”). By knowledge of God, as in other places, the prophet means not theoretical knowledge of God but union with God in love.

Hosea 6:7. But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant and acted treacherously against Me. Instead of the Russian text’s words “like Adam” the Slavonic reads “like a man,” corresponding to the Greek LXX ώς άνθρωπος. The LXX, as well as the Syriac, apparently understood the Hebrew adam in an appellative sense rather than as a proper name. The Russian reading compared to the Slavonic gives a more clear thought. — The words “there they dealt faithlessly with Me” indicate the place (scham, there — an adverb of place) of Israel’s transgression of the covenant with God, at Bethel or Gilgal.

Hosea 6:8. Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity, tracked with bloody footprints. From the whole land of Israel, defiled by idolatry, the prophet singles out “Gilead,” stained with blood. Gilead is here not the city of Ramoth of Gilead or Mizpah, as some commentators think, but the trans-Jordanic region occupied by the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. The prophet represents the whole of this country, where frequent bloodshed occurred, as one great city “stained with blood” (akubbah middain). Instead of the last expression the Slavonic reads: “darkening the water” Greek ταρασσουσα υδωρ. The Hebrew akubbah the LXX understood in the sense of “to darken,” and instead of middam (“from blood”) apparently read maim (“water”).

Hosea 6:9. And as brigands lie in wait for a man, so a band of priests murders on the way to Shechem; they commit villainy. The wickedness of Israel reached the point that bands of priests murdered on the way to Shechem. Because of the brevity of the speech, it is unclear what exactly is meant in verse 9. It is thought that the passage speaks of murders for the purpose of robbery of pilgrims who traveled from northern Palestine through Shechem to Bethel for holidays. The Slavonic text of verse 9 deviates significantly from the Russian. It can be thought that instead of the verb kechakkej (“like they lie in wait”) the LXX read kochacha (“your strength”) and the first half of verse 9 referred to verse 8 (“your strength — Gilead like a man a sea robber”). In the second half of verse 9, instead of cheber (“band”) the LXX probably read chebbu (εκρυψαν — “hid”); derech (on the way, accusative of place) they took as a direct object (όδόν, way), with the addition in some manuscripts of the word Κυρίου (Slavonic “the way of the Lord”); the word schechemah (“at Shechem”) was also taken as an object of the verb jerazzchu (“they murder”), hence it became εφονευσαν Σίκιμα, “they murdered Shechem.”

Hosea 6:10. In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; there Ephraim has played the harlot, and Israel has become unclean. In verse 10 the prophet speaks of Ephraim’s crimes — Israel’s: the word “Judah” standing at the end of the verse in the Slavonic text should be referred to the following verse.

Hosea 6:11. And for you too, Judah, a harvest is appointed, when I restore the fortunes of My people. “For you also, Judah, a harvest is appointed.” In this unclear expression some commentators see a vision of future prosperity for Judah (St. Ephrem the Syrian), others find an indication of future hardships also for Judah. The blessed Jerome explains the prophet’s words thus: “Do not think yourself safe, Judah, for you will be carried away captive to Babylon and a time of harvest will come for you.” The words “when I restore the fortunes of My people” are interpreted variously. Some see in them an indication of when hardships will come to Judah: this will be when Israel suffers punishment and is returned to its homeland. Others, given that the expression “restore fortunes” (schuvet-schavuth) has a broad meaning in general (cf. Jer 29:14; Job 13:10), give it in verse 11 a figurative meaning: “when I restore the fortunes of My people” — when I change the calamitous, sinful state of My people. The prophet wishes to say that Judah too will undergo a purifying judgment of God, when the Lord comes forth as Judge of the people, with the purpose of correcting its lawlessness and returning it to the state of holiness.