Hosea 8:6Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

LXX and Theodotion translated it as πλανῶν, meaning seducing or deceiving; Aquila translated it as wandering or turning; Simmachus rendered it as erratic or unstable; the fifth edition referred to it as ῥεμβεύων, meaning wandering and wavering. The Hebrew indicates that "sababim" truly refers to the gossamer threads of spiders that float in the air, nearly invisible as they disintegrate into nothingness. This is fittingly likened to the idol of Samaria, which the people revered for its perceived worth, since it was made of gold. The previous statement: they made for themselves idols of silver and gold to their own demise, becomes clearer: Your idol is cast down, O Samaria; My anger is ignited against them—whether against the idols, for there were two, or against the people of Samaria who worshipped them. The LXX asserts: Cast down your bullock, O Samaria, which serves as a call to its people—not just one city, but all ten tribes identified as Samaria (notably, the idols were placed in Dan and Bethel)—to dismantle the idols, against which God's anger burned, or ἀποτρίψεται, meaning to crush them, so they might gradually rid themselves of the service that had long been rendered to them. In their disobedience, God addresses others and questions, How long can they avoid purification? What sheer folly it is that they refuse to repent and be healed when I offer them the chance to turn back! Thus, when He says, Cast down your idol, O Samaria, He clarifies what the idol is: it belongs to Israel; you did not receive an idol from other nations, such as Baal or Astarte from the Sidonians, or Hamos from the Moabites, or Moloch from the Ammonites (4 Sam. ch. 23); instead, you and your king Jeroboam have created in Israel what you learned in Egypt. What sort of god can be constructed by mere human hands? Ultimately, the idol of Samaria shall be dismantled just as the delicate threads of spiders are swept away by the wind. The Lord obliterates the idols of heretics and of Samaria, who claim to uphold the commandments of the law. These idols are tethered to the earth, pursuing worldly concerns rather than the Spirit, failing to lift their gazes toward heaven. Therefore, the Lord's wrath is stirred against them, and He is astonished at their profound corruption, as they refuse to abandon the idols they have made, preferring the sanctity of the Church over the impurity of heresies. Israel, which believes itself to witness the Lord, did not adopt these idols from foreign peoples; rather, it has twisted the meaning of the Holy Scriptures to fabricate its own deity, which will soon fade away like the gossamer strands of spiders that vanish at the slightest touch.