Hosea 2:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

When the human race found itself in such dire straits, the blessed prophets began to persistently implore the One who can save, crying out on behalf of all people for the Helper and Guardian, the Son, to descend from the heavens. Hence, the divine David proclaimed: “Arise, O God, judge the earth” (Ps. 81:8), and again, “O God, in your name save me; and in your strength judge me” (Ps. 53:3). In truth, God judged and saved those who suffered under wickedness, while casting out the vile murderer, Satan, depriving him of power and eradicating the haughty dominion of demons.

This divine mystery was explained when He intended to take on the cross for the life of all and declared: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. And if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (John 12:31-32). We do not claim that He spoke of executing this judgment only at His second coming, for elsewhere it is stated: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). Instead, by judgment, He refers to just and perfect judgment; for as I have mentioned, He has rendered proper judgment both upon us and upon the adversary: He saved us by drawing us to Himself and expelled the one who cruelly oppressed us, destroying us in various ways. Thus, we are saved through the mercy and grace of God, for we are justified “not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His own mercy” as it is written (Titus 3:5). We are called into spiritual communion through faith, and in this calling, we come to know the true God. Therefore, He affirms, “I will unite you in faith and cling to the Lord.” Hence, faith is the precursor, enriching us with the knowledge of Christ. This is echoed when it is said: “Unless you believe, you cannot understand” (Isaiah 7:9). This understanding of the mystery of Christ grants a share in eternal life to those deemed worthy, a truth confirmed by the Son who speaks to the heavenly Father: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent” (John 17:3).

Consider the profound distinction between divine union and human union: when a man marries, he transforms the maiden into a woman, no longer a virgin; whereas when God embraces those who have gone astray, He restores their purity, reminiscent of how He speaks to the adulterous woman in the words of Jeremiah, “Hast thou not called me lord, and father and leader of thy virginity” (Jeremiah 3:4). Hence, the Apostle, after addressing issues of sexual immorality and idolatry, proclaims to the believers in Corinth, “We betroth you to one man to present a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2).

We ponder why the notion of betrothal is expressed three times. First, He states, I will pledge you to Myself forever. Secondly, He declares: I will unite you to Me in truth and justice, in kindness and compassion. Additionally, He emphasizes once more: I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you will know that I am the Lord. The initial pledge occurred through Abraham, or in Egypt, so that she could be His bride eternally. The second occurred at Mount Sinai, where He provided, instead of mere promises, the righteousness and judgment of the law, intertwined with mercy, enabling her to be taken captive upon her transgressions, yet when she repented, to return to her homeland and receive forgiveness. The Psalmist reflects on these betrothal gifts in various verses, exclaiming, I will sing unto Thee mercy and judgment, O Lord (Psalms 100:1), and declaring, Grace and truth shall be cut off, truth and peace shall be loved (Psalms 84:11). Regarding them, we read in the seventy-fourth Psalm: the cup in the hand of the Lord of wine is undiluted, fill up the dissolution, and turn away from this to that (Psalm 74:9) — shifting from the cup of truth to the cup of mercy, and then from the cup of mercy back to the cup of truth. Yet if iniquity, says He, you declare iniquity, O Lord, O Lord, who can endure? For with Thee is forgiveness (Psalm 129:3).

Thus, since the wayward woman, who was first joined in marriage to her bridegroom for an everlasting union, having forsaken this bond, engaged in unfaithfulness while in Egypt, is once again accepted through the law. However, having transgressed it by killing the prophets—those friends of the bridegroom sent to her—the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, ultimately came; and when He was crucified and resurrected, she is betrothed once more, not according to the law's truth, but through the faith and grace of the gospel, enabling her to know the Only Begotten and, in turn, to know the Father as well. For He Himself says to Philip, “How long have I been with you, and you have not recognized Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen My Father: how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?” (John 14:9-10). He who becomes betrothed in faithfulness and believes in the gospel will immediately understand that He is God, and will come to trust in Him whom he had previously rejected.

She laments her pitiful state, having sunk deeply into the mire of sin, drawing disdain upon herself and becoming miserable in her condition, tainted by the dirt of iniquity and betrayal, losing the grace that once characterized her as the beloved bride who had received: “And I will betroth thee to Me for ever, and I will betroth thee to Me in righteousness and judgment, in goodness and mercy” (Hosea 2:19).