Hosea 2:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

For with thee is the fountain of life” (Psalm 35:8-10). The legitimate children, who live righteously and place nothing above their love for God, are graced with sacred and plentiful blessings; however, the harlot shall be left without water and perish in her thirst. This aligns with what other prophets have stated regarding her. For one proclaimed, “The days are coming, saith the Lord, and I will send a famine upon the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water: but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it” (Am. 8:11-12). Similarly, Jeremiah speaks as if God is addressing Jerusalem: “With sorrow and pestilence you shall be punished, lest my soul depart from you, lest I make you a desolate land, uninhabited” (Jeremiah 6:8). God, in His Spirit, instills within each of us thoughts that guide us toward eternal life or often teaches us through the mouths of the saints. Along with the wayward mother, the children are destined to perish without compassion. For what reason? “For they are the children of unfaithfulness.” We do not claim that the child bears the burden of the mother’s sins; indeed, we are reminded of Ezekiel’s words: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son” (Ezekiel 18:20). It is essential to recognize that while the unfaithful mother symbolizes the synagogue, her descendants share in this identity. By stating “as the children of unfaithfulness are,” it is made evident that they too are guilty of spiritual unfaithfulness and are devoid of piety, as if from their very inception, neglecting virtue entirely and refusing to walk in a manner pleasing to God. The Psalmist also observes: “I am estranged from the womb; I have gone astray from the womb; I have spoken lies” (Psalm 57:4), while every devout person nurtured in godly conduct can affirm: “To thee have I committed myself from the womb; thou art my God from my mother’s womb” (Psalm 21:11). Just as one can rightly understand the sons of light and day as those living honorable and upright lives, so too, when referring to those as children of unfaithfulness, it indicates individuals devoted to shameful living, who are not shown forgiveness, “for their mother is ashamed of her children.” She is evidently ashamed of herself and of those she bore. Just as the righteous are celebrated for their virtue, the wicked are left in disgrace.

It is declared in the Gospel: the generation of vipers (Matthew 3:7). She became so brazen that she heard through Jeremiah: “You have the face of a harlot; you have discarded all shame” (Jeremiah 3:3). Isn’t it a testament to the obstinacy and shamelessness inherent in harlots that she boasts in her transgressions, saying, “I will pursue my lovers, I will go to the idols that give me food and clothing?” The prophetic words were received spiritually by the Jewish people from the Lord. Having rejected the Son of God in favor of Barabbas, a criminal (Luke 24:19; John 18:40), and crucified the Son of God, they now continue to follow demons, attributing God’s blessings to those who lead their souls astray. They partake in bread and water alongside the heretics, whose sustenance is sorrow and whose impure waters drown and destroy those who received baptism. They also have wool from unclean sheep and flax that remains stained, along with oil, of which the prophet states, “Let not the oil of the wicked anoint my head” (Psalm 140:5), and drink from the waters of Egypt, concerning which Jeremiah exclaims, “What is that to you and the way of Egypt, that you drink the waters of Geon? And what is that to you and the way of Assyria, that you drink from the waters of the river?” (Jeremiah 2:18). We present all this briefly to transition to the subsequent topics.