Hosea 10:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This refers specifically to the house of Ones, as some translators interpret it to mean the calf of the house of Bethel. The Septuagint translates this differently, referring to it as ‘the house of Ones.’ I have previously provided the rationale for this, but it is worth reiterating that the Egyptians, in their myths, portrayed Apis as the offspring of the moon and the grandson of the sun, wherein the sun represented their deity, while the heifer created by Jeroboam was an imitation of the Egyptian Apis. Therefore, He states that like wild grass, which overtakes and dominates its surroundings, judgment from Me shall befall the calf of the house of Onov or Bethel, for the divine nature is always all-powerful, and nothing can withstand His will. As it is written, "Who can stop His mighty hand?" (Isaiah 14:27).

You may mourn your former delusions and cling to false happiness, yet this will swiftly turn to sorrow: you will forge an alliance, but not with God, rather with falsehood. Following this union, which the LXX refers to as a covenant, you will not reap a bountiful harvest of bread or even barley—fit for livestock—nor will you gather assorted vegetables or grapes that yield their juice for wine, nor will trees convert the earth’s moisture into delightful fruits, but instead, you will encounter bitterness, or the judgement of bitterness, or ἄγροστις, expressed in Latin as gramen. This grass resembles a reed, with every knee producing branches above and roots below, and in time, these very branches serve as seeds for new growth, rendering fields akin to thorns if not eradicated in their entirety. Even if a dry portion settles on cultivated ground, it will quickly fill the area with this grass, if it possesses a crannog. This we note concerning the LXX translation. However, in Hebrew, it is termed ros, indicating bitterness, specifically the bitterness of judgement, as the Lord declares in the Gospel, “For judgement I am come into this world” (John 9:39). Additionally, it is noted that these will incur greater judgement (Mark 12:40). Likewise, disciples of opposing beliefs, when their falsehoods crumble and their altars and groves are dismantled, will express regret—yet too late: “We have no kings who once governed us, who through deceit led us to disregarding the Lord.” What did it benefit us to follow them? In our hour of need, we find no assistance from them. Thus, they may seek to justify themselves, claiming that they were not at fault, but rather led astray by poor leaders. The LXX translates their words as false justifications, which the prophet renounces, stating, “Let not my heart sink into the words of deceit, neither let me be guilty of sins” (Psalm 140:4). We readily praise our vices, and succumbing to our passions, blame the frailty of the flesh or obey the stringent commands of those in authority. Hence, the words and visions of heretics will prove futile, and they will form an alliance, not with God, but with bitterness, which, when the day of judgement arrives, will flourish in the furrows of their fields, leading those who once sowed joyfully to reap in tears, those who laughed to mourn, and those who felt comfort to grieve.