Hosea 4:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Their intention to put Him to death is evident from the instances when they tried to stone Him (John 10:31, John 11:8) and attempted to throw Him from a precipice (Luke 4:29). Their transgressions did not stop there; they also held thievery in high regard, rewarding Judas the betrayer, a prodigal and notorious thief. The Pharisees, acting as criminal custodians of the Jewish synagogue, expelled her celestial bridegroom, Christ, seducing her to cater to their own desires. They stirred blood against blood by killing the holy prophets and uniting those acts with the death of the Lord of the prophets. Hence, the blessed Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles rightly admonishes them: "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One; now you have become betrayers and murderers" (Acts 7:52). The Savior, rebuking the arrogance of the Pharisees and scribes, proclaimed: "So you too will complete the measure of your forefathers" (Matthew 23:32).

Attention now shifts back to Israel, specifically to the ten tribes, emphasizing that God's wrathful threats and fierce punishments were not without purpose, so that it might not seem that a decision was rendered against those who were innocent due to divine power. The prophet declares, "Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord is about to bring judgment upon His people and reveal the grounds for His anger." On the earth, there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God. Truth cannot exist without mercy, and mercy without truth leads to carelessness; thus, they are interconnected, and those who reject them also forfeit knowledge of God. Instead of truth, deceit prevails, and instead of mercy, condemnation, along with murder, theft, and adultery—these sins are not merely present but have spread widely, highlighting the abundance of wickedness.

Moreover, in lieu of the knowledge of God, the consequence is ongoing bloodshed, sin compounding upon sin, increasing the offenses against one another. The inhabitants of the earth are rightly summoned to judgment, not merely those who reside on it, for the wicked are stirred from the north against them (Jeremiah 1:14). In the Revelation of John, a solemn woe is pronounced upon those who dwell on the earth (Rev. 8:13). Yet, who among us can join the prophet in saying, "I am a stranger and a pilgrim with You, as all my ancestors were" (Ps. 38:13)? One who navigates this life as a sojourner and stranger strives to seek truth, mercy, and knowledge of God, lest he be swept away by the overwhelming tide of curses, deceit, murder, theft, and adultery.

In another instance, it is stated, “All have gone astray, they have become alike unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one” (Psalm 13:3). Furthermore, it has been observed that oaths and deceit, murder and theft, as well as adultery, abound exceedingly (Hosea 4:2).