Hosea 14:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The phrase ‘shall sit down’ reflects the steadfastness of those who turn to God. They shall live and partake of the abundance of nourishment. These are the generous gifts of repentance and assurance: they will be partakers of eternal life and spiritual power in abundance. This may suggest: ‘shall be filled with wheat.’ It is written, ‘bread shall strengthen the heart of man’ (Psalms 103:15). Therefore, the body benefits from food suited to it, while the soul is fortified by the divine and exalted word. How can one doubt that turning away from falsehood to the knowledge of God, and earnestly striving from the depths of vice towards the pursuit of virtue, represents a transition from weakness to strength? For to fall into negligence, worldly desires, and idolatry is a sign of weakness, while readiness to perform good deeds, placing nothing above the love of God, and zealously walking the path that leads to Him is a clear sign of spiritual strength. His memory shall flourish like a vine, akin to the wines of Ephraim’s Lebanon. God spoke once to Israel, His people, saying, ‘I will plant you a fruitful vine, all true’ (Jer. 2:21). The divine David also sings about it when he says, ‘The grapes out of Egypt hast thou brought forth; thou hast cast out tongues, and hast planted them also: thou hast made a way before him’ (Ps. 79:9-10). Therefore, Israel was ‘a grape of good report’ (Hos. 10:1). However, due to numerous sins, the Lord caused ‘his stronghold to fall; and all who pass by shall be left desolate: the wild boar from the woods and the wild donkey’ (Psalm 79:13-14) — which signifies that he was handed over to those who sought to do him harm, represented by the boars and donkeys, or by base desires and foolishness. Yet in Christ, ‘his remembrance’ has indeed blossomed — referring to Israel. The term ‘remembrance’ indicates that not all were faithful, but rather a remnant was kept in His memory. For Ephraim, or Israel, the grace of God is ‘as the wine of Lebanon,’ that is, aromatic and subtly spiced. This is the message of Christ, of whom the blessed David says, ‘wine maketh glad the heart of man’ (Psalms 103:15). Therefore, the sacred text encourages us to strive earnestly, saying, ‘Eat and drink, and be drunken, and be drunken of your neighbors’ (Song 5:1), for the saints cannot be filled by what is given through Christ, and the abundance of His gifts is even more beneficial.

The Lord will bring comfort to their dwellers; He will love them openly, as His anger has departed from them; He will be as the dew. Israel shall bloom like a lily and root herself like Lebanon. Its branches shall spread wide, and it will be like a fruitful olive tree, with a fragrance reminiscent of Lebanon. They will return and nest under its shade; they will drink and find abundance in wheat, while Ephraim will blossom like a vine; his memory will be akin to the wine of Lebanon. Why should he care for idols? I have humbled him, and I will strengthen him. I will be as a sturdy juniper tree; from Me, you shall harvest fruit.

When they turned back in repentance, acknowledging the Father they had forsaken, God responded that He would heal their brokenness or their towns, where they endured wounds and hardships. I will love them with a favor that is unmistakable, explicit, and beyond doubt. For the Lord loves those who love Him, as expressed in another passage: “I love them that love Me” (Proverbs 8:17). For I, who was once angry with them due to their transgressions, shall now show them mercy out of My goodness. I will be as the dew for them, quenching the furnace of Babylon and the crucible of suffering. I have said to My servant Jacob through the patriarch Isaac, “By the dew of heaven shall thy habitation be” (Genesis 27:39).

As He is light, way, truth, bread, vine, fire, shepherd, lamb, and door for those who believe in Him, He transforms into dew for us who seek His mercy and are scorched by the heat of our sins. Isaiah attests, “The dew that comes from You is their healing” (Isaiah 26:19). Moses states, “Let my words come down like dew” (Deuteronomy 32:2). When the Lord refreshes us with His dew and quenches the ardor of our hearts with His rains, we will not wither but will flourish like the lily, just as our Savior declares, “I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys” (Song of Songs 2:1), and speaks to His bride, free from blemish, stating, “As the lily among thorns, so is My beloved among the daughters” (Song of Songs 2:2).

As we grow in the Lord, we will establish roots like the cedars of Lebanon, whose roots reach down as far as their height rises above, rendering them steadfast in any storm. The branches of these trees stretch out in all directions, providing space for the birds of the sky to nest. Furthermore, in the phrase about roots that will emerge, the holy person who turns to the Lord is likened to a fruitful olive tree, which asserts, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God” (Psalm 52:8).

Its fruit nourishes those who are wounded; it alleviates the pain of the sick; it lights the darkness; it is also used for anointing the competitors. From this olive tree will emerge a fragrance akin to that of Lebanon: or from frankincense, since both the mountain and the incense share the same name among Greeks and Jews, with Lebanon being a fertile and verdant expanse rich in thick foliage, allowing the olive to proclaim: “We are the fragrance of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15).

Those who turn to the Lord will reap the benefits of their repentance – they will find shade under His wings and articulate, “Under His shadow I will sit, and His fruit is sweet in my mouth” (Song of Songs 2:3). In His embrace, those who once lay dead will come to life, or, as the Seventy translate, they will drink and find abundance in wheat, signifying that they will experience plenty in all things. The mention of drunkenness here indicates not loss of senses but rather a richness in all aspects, as noted: “Thou hast visited the earth, and hast drunk it” (Psalm 64:10). And Joseph is said to have filled his brothers during a feast (Genesis 43). The Lord similarly invites His apostles: “Eat, my friends, and drink, and be drunk, brethren” (Song 5:1).

Consequently, since our Lord Himself embodies the wheat and the vine, everyone who believes in Him is recognized as one who drinks. Therefore, it follows that He shall bloom like the vine; his remembrance will be as the wine of Lebanon. This wine of Lebanon can be described as mingled and spiced with incense so that it bears the most pleasing aroma, or it might be the wine offered in the Lord's temple, which Zechariah refers to with, “Open, O Lebanon, thy doors” (Zechariah 11:1).

As you receive abundance in all things, you, Ephraim, who brings repentance and has begun to belong to Me, forsake the idols and demolish the statues; for I have humbled you and shall elevate you, or I will hear him and set him high like a flourishing fir tree, just as the Hebrew of the Psalm suggests, “The fir tree is his dwelling place” (Psalm 103:17). Alternatively, I will resemble a steadfast juniper tree so that you may rest beneath My shade. From juniper trees, Solomon constructed the temple doors, as the LXX translation records, for Christ, the source through whom we approach the Father, is forever flourishing and yielding fresh fruit, perpetually vibrant.

This juniper tree produces fruit that protects those who rest within its shade from the oppressive heat of this world and shields them from the sun’s scorching rays, as experienced by Jonah (Jonah 4). Not only does it provide rest to those who sleep and sit beneath it, but it also sustains those who partake of its fruit. All that we have interpreted in the allegorical sense concerning the coming of our Savior and the true Israel's return may also be relevant to heretics, Jews, Gentiles, and any false doctrine, for those who repent shall find forgiveness. While the fullness of the promise was actualized with the arrival of the Savior and is continually realized in the Church, we must trust that it will be fulfilled in even greater measure when the perfect comes, and the partial passes away (1 Corinthians 13:10). It is essential to recognize, as we have reiterated, that Israel's salvation, turning to the Lord, and liberation from captivity, must not be construed in a physical manner, as the Jews might assume, but rather understood spiritually, which is indisputable.