Hosea 13:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The very thought of this heinous act is detestable to God, as He reveals: “These say, ‘Devour men, for the bodies have become scarce.’ Not my word, says I—I never spoke such a thing, but the readers of demons assert that humans should be sacrificed. He mocks this notion and denounces such actions, remarking that since they lacked calves, they chose instead to kill mankind. However, He questions them: if you have erred in believing that these crafted beings are gods, why then do you sprinkle their altars with blood? In the account from Kings (2 Kings 16), we learn of Ahaz, son of Jehoiakim, who ruled over Judah and followed the customs of the kings of Israel. He sacrificed his own son by fire and offered to the demons that were begotten by him. Because of such deeds, it is proclaimed, “they will be like the morning cloud, and like the dew, like the dust, like the smoke from the chimney.” This signifies that, just as the morning cloud, dew, dust, and smoke are fleeting and dissipate almost instantly, those who engage in such practices will eventually face destruction, turning to nothingness. Indeed, what permanence do ashes, dew, or vapor possess, made up as they are of mere smoke?

Now he has exacerbated his wrongdoing, fabricating idols from gold and silver, the full creations of artists, and urging, "Create a sacrifice of men, for there is a scarcity of bulls." Instead of the previously cited translation for the Seventy, it suggests sacrificing men due to a lack of cattle; and rather than the version translated by us which calls for sacrifices from those who honor calves, Simmachus paraphrases it as invoking men to venerate idols. Thus, the inference becomes clear: the demand is for sacrifice, implying an offering to idols. Therefore, intelligent beings, humans, should not worship mindless animals.

Consequently, when Ephraim—representing Jeroboam, son of Nebat, from the tribe of Ephraim—spoke, fear overtook Israel, specifically the ten tribes. The Hebrew term for terror, rathath, was conveyed as "trembling" by Simmachus and Theodotion, while the LXX translated it as δικαιώματα, meaning justification. The fear that gripped Israel resulted in their sinning and incurring God's wrath through Baal worship, leading to their destruction, thus distancing themselves from the one who declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Indeed, the soul that sins shall die (Ezek. 14:20). The apostle reflects this by saying, “The widow who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives” (1 Tim. 5:6). Not only did he perish through Baal, but he also compounded his sins by crafting idols from the silver that the Lord had bestowed upon him—products of human labor. The priests and leaders, meant to guide the people towards righteousness, instead cry out to the crowd, "Sacrifice the men who worship calves." This sentiment echoes the Psalms: “He brought forth their cattle and their herds” (Psalms 105:37). Instead of the translation we provided, interpreted according to Symmachus and Theodotion as "worshiping," Aquila rendered it as καταφιλοῦντεσ, meaning "kissing." This shows the practice of kissing the hand during worship. Job attests to this custom by stating that he refrained from it: “If I put my hand upon my mouth, and lay it upon my forehead, this would be considered my iniquity” (Job 31:27-28).

If, as some assert, the demons urge the people to sacrifice humans because of the shortage of calves, this reveals the avarice of those who consume the blood of sacrifices and the smoke of burnt offerings. In their essential greed, they desire the death of humans who, rather than dying, should be offered as sacrifices, bringing them delight. When the heretics or rather the leaders among them—Ephraim—spoke, terror and trembling fell upon the wretched populace, who succumbed to the idols conceived in Ephraim's heart, perishing alongside those he led astray. His demise was not enough; he twisted the language meant for the glorification of God into images of idols, fabricating a doctrine through eloquence that pretended to be true but was merely a product of human depravity. They further instruct their followers to slay individuals, meaning to draw them away from the Church of God and to entice them to heretical beliefs, effectively killing those they lead to deception. The subsequent phrase, "For there are not enough calves," conveys a different meaning: do not seek to mislead the Gentiles, who are considered mindless creatures, but rather kidnap and eliminate those within the Church, the Christians who rightfully carry the name of humanity.