Hosea 2:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

One might question, if Israel was drawn to idol worship, how did they manage to remember the feasts, sabbaths, and new moons instituted by their laws? We respond that even while they strayed from their affection for God and turned to Baal and the golden calf, they did not wholly abandon the decrees of Moses. Instead, as the prophet explains, they continued to waver “between two opinions” (1 Kings 18:21), never fully devoting themselves to either Baal or the true God. As a result, they were deprived of their feasts, sacred gatherings, joy, and sabbaths, unable to fulfill the mandates laid out by the law or enjoy the customary worship of Baal. This viewpoint is further supported in another context: those who turn away from God and neglect their love for Him will inevitably face sorrow and lose all sources of joy, for “the wicked shall not rejoice, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 48:22); they shall experience eternal torment. In contrast, those who are righteous and strive towards a holy and divine purpose rightfully receive the blessing of joy, for “everlasting joy is over their eyes” (Isaiah 35:10), and it is said, “sickness, sorrow, and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). Furthermore, the Apostle Paul encourages in his letter: “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men” (Philippians 4:4-5). Thus, while the wicked may face punishment, those who endeavor to lead a pure life will find themselves enriched with greater blessings.

In a parallel passage, it is stated that I will unveil her impurity to her lovers, and no one will remove it from my control. I will halt all her festivities—her joy, her feasts, her solemn assemblies, and her sabbaths. I will dismantle her vineyards and fig trees, which she spoke of as rewards from her lovers for her unfaithfulness. I will change them into a witness to her unworthiness, and the wild animals will feed on them.

The birds of the air and the creatures of the earth will signify the end of her celebrations. In the Hebrew, the term for forest is 'jar', which relates to "Cariath Jarim," meaning the city of forests, but the Septuagint translated it as "testimony," confused by the similarity in letters. The significance of this change lies in the uncovering of Jerusalem’s shame, revealing all its iniquities before her lovers. Those who once found her alluring in her garments will loathe her when exposed.

When she is surrendered to her lovers—symbolized by the Assyrians or demonic entities—she will be in bondage, and no one will be able to pluck her from my hand. The demons have shown their inability; they cannot liberate those ensnared by calamities. In her captivity to the Babylonians, she will be deprived of the three great feasts—Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles—as well as the observances of the new moons and sabbaths, as all her ceremonial joys will be stripped away.

Her vineyards, representing joy, and her fig trees, symbolizing sweetness and delight, will perish under the weight of her severe oppression. She had regarded these blessings as gifts from her God, akin to a spouse’s gifts, but also as rewards from her lovers, likening her to a harlot. Consequently, she will be left void of fruitful trees; everything will turn into a desolation. In this metaphorical wilderness, her enemies—those who consume all she holds—are likened to wild beasts.

This was the grim reality faced by the unfortunate Judea, with all her transgressions laid bare before the world, unable to escape the hand of God. Her rituals ceased; joy morphed into mourning, and she recognized the truth that what she thought was bestowed by demons had been taken from her by divine wrath. She first fell to the Assyrians and Chaldeans, followed by the Median Persians and Macedonians, and ultimately succumbed to the most ruthless adversary, the Roman Empire, whose name is notably absent in Daniel, heightening the terror of those destined to suffer.

What applies to the Jewish people also pertains to heretics who promise wisdom yet have departed from the Church. They find themselves forsaken by God, their disgrace evident before those they once led astray. As the prophet conveys, "Thou shalt not deliver unto the beasts the soul that confesseth unto Thee," they are left vulnerable to consumption by these metaphorical beasts.