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Commentary on Hosea, Chapter Twelve
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COMMENTARY ON HOSEA, CHAPTER TWELVE Ephraim, wicked spirit, pursued the heat. All day long he multiplied vain and futile things, made a treaty with Assyrians, and went to Egypt to trade with oil (v.1). HE VERSE once again moves from the vulgar masses to those from the tribe of Ephraim who were ruling over Israel in Samaria, and whom he calls wicked spirit on account of their difficulty in adjusting their way of thinking and their extremely rebellious tendency to reject God. In fact, he says it pursued the heat, that is to say, although it was possible for it to be under my shade, it, as it were, independently made for the heat. Now, by heat he refers to burning by tribulation and the searing misfortune. The wise author of Proverbs, for instance, refers obscurely to hardship that way: “A sensible child is saved from the heat, but a lawless child becomes windswept (242) in the harvest.” Ephraim, then, being a wicked spirit, pursued the heat, that is, sought out and willingly went after the heat, whereas sensible people at any rate say of God, “I longed to be in his shade, and took my seat there,” by “shade” referring to the shelter of assistance that comes from God on high.1 That, however, was not what Ephraim did; it sought out the heat. How, and in what way? All day long he multiplied vain and futile things, that is, at every moment he performed and plotted frivolous and useless things. What were they? He made a treaty with Assyrians. He had already said on many occasions that some of the kings in Samaria and in Jerusalem endeavored at one time to buy from the Assyrians peace and thereby security, and at another time they called on Egypt for assistance, going to trade for the promise of support from them, and at the same time they 222 1. Prv 10.5 LXX; Song 2.3. sent produce of their own country—to others, clearly. Now, Samaria was rich in oil, and the oil was precious in Egypt, since the land did not contain it. Hope in human beings, therefore, is vain and futile. Let the one who trusts in God exult over the one who trusts in human beings, reciting the verse from the Psalms, “Behold a person who did not take God as his helper, hoping instead in the abundance of his wealth, and relying on his own futility. I, on the other hand, am like a fruitful olive in the house of God, I hoped in the mercy of God forever, and forever and ever.”2 It behoves sincere lovers and those who want to live securely to love as much as possible , to be under God’s shade by not provoking him in any way, but rather avoiding offending him as if at the very gates of Hades .3 (243) The Lord has a judgment against Judah to avenge Jacob for his ways, and for his exploits he will repay him (v.2). Just as by mention of Ephraim he clearly suggested we should understand those who reigned from the tribe of Ephraim, so in this case [we should understand ] those reigning at the time from the tribe of Judah by mention of the ruling tribe. After chiding Ephraim, then, or those from Ephraim who ruled in Israel, calling him a “wicked spirit,” and saying “he multiplied vain and futile things” (v.1) by making a treaty with Assyrians and trading oil in Egypt, he now in turn blames those in Judah.4 He says very properly that the God of all will enter into judgment against them as if avenging Jacob —I mean the patriarch—for being considerably wronged by his descendants’ reluctance to think as he did or to adopt the ancestral attitude, and their refusal to imitate him as though it were a monumental error. He therefore promises to avenge Jacob for the wrong done to his reputation by his children’s depravity, repaying the wrongdoers for their ways, and for their exploits. COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 12 223 2. Ps 52.7–8. 3. The final sentence is not found in the PG edition. Occasionally Cyril will insert a brief moral reflection, but his general approach to the text could not be called moralistic. 4. Though noting the inclusion of Judah in the satire, Cyril does not proceed (as do modern commentators) to question its appropriateness in the mission of this prophet...