Hosea 9:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Likewise, at harvest time, they gathered grapes into their presses, offered libations, made sacrifices to the deities, sang songs at harvests, and engaged in festivities. For such deeds, God reproves the people of Israel, explicitly declaring they should not rejoice as the other nations do. Why is this so? Those who are entirely uninformed about the divine nature may have some excuse rooted in weakness or ignorance; however, Israel, having strayed into apostasy despite being guided by the Law and knowing the Lord of all, carries a heavier guilt. Thus, they face the inevitable reproach of impiety, as knowing 'the will of his lord, he was negligent, and did not do it; and for this cause he shall be punished more severely, while he who knew not and did not act shall be punished lightly,' as expressed by the Savior.

Therefore, He says, 'Rejoice not as men do; those from their mother's womb go astray, but you, under the Law, have turned away from God.' What was their form of infidelity? 'I have loved,' he states, 'gifts,' not those from God, but from the calves and Baal, who provide nothing to their supplicants. On what did he seek these gifts? 'On every threshing-floor of wheat,' for it seems that the impious and reckless sought the fertility of fields from insignificant idols. Thus, Israel sought gifts from idols. Were their prayers fulfilled? Certainly not: 'the threshing-floor and the cleaver shall not know them, and the wine shall deceive them.' For those who seek further understanding, it is evident there were plagues, crop failures, and extended droughts in Samaria. Their hopes were shattered, as they did not receive what they had requested. Moreover, they departed from the sacred land and traveled to Egypt, a fortified land, and began to serve even more deities, for Egypt was filled with countless gods, whose devotees held astonishing notions of power, believing they could achieve anything through magical means. Thus, they rejected living in the chosen land of God and replaced it with a land of idols. Nevertheless, they would still seek the Assyrians. 'To the Lord': having gathered the grape harvest into the winepresses, they presented offerings not to the Lord who granted them, but to demons. They also presented loaves of bread from the harvest as offerings. However, it was said they would incur impurity and defilement, and the offerings would be seen as 'bread of sorrow,' that is, abominable, impure, and repulsive. Why is that so? The Law deemed unclean anyone who came near a corpse—whether by blood relation or mere contact: therefore, relatives or friends of the deceased would necessarily become unclean during funerals by tending to the deceased and performing the prescribed rites, rendering all they touched unclean. Hence, the 'bread of sorrow' referred to bread consumed by those mourning the dead, and eating it seemed dreadful to those wishing to avoid defilement. Even the loaves offered as the firstfruits of the harvest are regarded as unclean and detestable, 'and they that eat of them shall be defiled'; yet they are fit for sustenance, for 'they shall not enter into the house of the Lord.' It must also be acknowledged that the Law commanded the offering of the firstfruits—the sheaves and bread. However, Israel redirected what was intended for God's glory to idols, although God expressly stated, 'I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images.' Therefore, we must seek God for our daily needs and honor Him as the provider and orchestrator of all our physical and spiritual well-being, for besides Him, there exists no other ‘who rains’, as written; by His grace, everything flourishes in the fields through the seasons, and we are blessed, partaking of spiritual bread and receiving the wine from heaven, which gladdens 'the heart of man.' Understanding this truth, we shall inhabit the holy land, dwell with God and refrain from consuming 'unclean things in Assyria', for the rulers of this world, the evil spirits of the air, feed their companions with unclean things.

The situation is dire: not only did the threshing floor and the furnace provide no sustenance, and hope in wine deceive them in the land of Israel when everything perished in three years and six months, but the people themselves will be expelled from the Lord’s land and transported to a foreign territory where they shall not dwell in the sacred ground they have tarnished through their unfaithfulness.

Ephraim, it is noted, returned to Egypt and partakes in unclean foods in Assyria. Some have added that they eat unclean things in Assyria, which is not found in the Hebrew text. However, once they find themselves in Chaldea, lacking a temple and altar, they will offer wine, not to the Lord, but to demonic entities, making offerings to foreign gods, while being held captive and consuming idolatrous food in Assyria, akin to the bread of the mourners, which does not please Him. They are prohibited from consuming the sacrifices offered by the mourners; if they partake, what was once lawful becomes contaminated. The meals of the mourners, referred to as νεκρόδειπνα by the Greeks, could be termed raheptalia (memorials for the deceased) since they are prepared for those who have passed away. Not only the one who brings such offerings but also the one who consumes them becomes unclean; for their bread, meaning the food they present, will not enter into the house of the Lord, which has been laid waste by the flames of Babylon, but will serve their own desires.

This illustrates their preoccupation with fulfilling their greed and sensuality while I am not pleased with impure things. Those who distance themselves from the Church and spiritually return to Egypt, partaking in the sacrifices of the Assyrians, which signify demons, will not dwell in the land of the Lord; they do not pour out wine to the Lord and indulge excessively, neither their offerings nor the offerers are acceptable to Him. The sacrifices of heretics are akin to bread of sorrow, filled with tears; everything they undertake will result in mourning. They cannot hear the words ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted’; instead, they will face the proclamation, ‘Woe to those who laugh, for they shall weep.’ All their offerings are directed not to God but to the dead, referring to those who have devised grievous heresies, and anyone who consumes their sacrifices shall be rendered unclean. These are the blind who lead the blind into destruction. Their actions are solely for pleasure, aimed at misleading the people and consuming the homes of widows. The bread of sorrow can also be understood as their malicious words, which express wickedness against the Lord; this bread cannot enter the house of God, for the gatherings of heretics are not recognized as the house of God but rather as dens of thieves.