Hosea 8:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

In their bid to curry favor with the adversaries, they constructed temples, erected altars within them, and demonstrated their devotion through numerous sacrifices. In contrast, Judah fortified its cities with greater intensity, placing trust in stones rather than in the Almighty, despite His clear declarations concerning Jerusalem: ‘And I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and I will be glorious in the midst of it’ (Zechariah 2:5). Yet, this proved ineffective for Israel. Ultimately, God threatened to unleash destruction upon the cities of Judah, particularly as the Babylonians, who were the instruments of His judgment, set them ablaze.

Consequently, He will also recall the iniquities of their ancestors and punish those early transgressions because they returned to Egypt, whether seeking help or serving the same deities they had previously worshiped, Apis and Mnevis. Israel had forgotten their Maker, raising altars on high places, consecrating every hill, mountain, and shady grove to Baal, Astarte, and other idols. Similarly, Judah—despite witnessing that Israel had turned away from the love of God and faced punishment for their sins—did not turn back to the Lord; instead, he placed hope in fortified cities, which the Lord proclaimed He would destroy to their very foundations. The term his likely refers to Judah, although some interpret it as them, denoting the cities. In a mysterious sense, iniquities, that is, ἀνομίαι and ἀδικίαι, are regarded as those committed before baptism, which are forgiven upon baptism, whereas sins refer to those committed after baptism. The Psalm also declares, Blessed are those who forsake iniquity, and those covered with sins (Psalms 31:1). All these matters will be accounted against the heretics, and they will face recompense both for their past iniquities and their current sins. For having exited Egypt through confession of Christ, they have returned to Egypt through their apostasy. Israel forgot their Creator, and in their disdain for Him, invented another lord for themselves. Likewise, Judah, representing a member of the church, through evil actions or misinterpretations of sacred Scriptures, constructed fortified cities not with God's aid but with deceitful tactics. Concerning them, the Lord states He will burn them with the fire of His Spirit and destroy their structures, which were poorly built like towers, dismantling their foundations so they may not raise sacrilegious temples against God. Some interpret the fortified cities associated with Judah positively, attempting to reconcile this with the declaration, I will send fire upon his cities, and will consume their foundations, positing that when the perfect arrives, the partial shall cease (1 Cor. 13:10). The phrases from the LXX, And in Assyria they consumed unclean things, do not appear in the Hebrew text and should be marked as an addition. However, one might argue that regretful of Egypt, the Israelites, when taken to Assyria, partook of unclean foods there, as Ezekiel notes (ch. 4), saying they consumed idolatrous items and became defiled by the abominations of idols, being compared to human waste. The heretics, whose leaders represent the Assyrians—previously discussed—also partake of unclean food with them, defiling themselves with their abominations.