Hosea 9:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

There is a similar proclamation made here: "The day of retribution is imminent," says He, almost as if declaring, "The time of judgment approaches, the trial is at hand, trouble looms near, and conflict is right in front of us: the day of vengeance has arrived." And when, He continues, you, O Israel, become enraged, it is certain that all your false prophets will face the same fate, and each of your deceivers, the man of astonishment, who is in turmoil, frantic, and delusional, whom you regard as a 'spirit of the Lord.' Indeed, the priests of the high places, the servants of idols, and all the false prophets and diviners of Israel perished along with the others. They pretended to be awestruck when delivering their predictions, portraying themselves as divinely inspired, and thus were labeled as 'amazed.' From the abundance of your iniquities, your astonishment shall increase. 'An abundance of iniquity' seems to point to the diverse forms of idolatry practiced by Israel: they strayed, and each became an idolater, with a division among them regarding various errors; some performed sacred rites to one deity, others to another, and misled those who sought their counsel. Some worshipped the calves, others Chemosh, the Moabite idol, still others Astarte, and many Baal and the hosts of heaven. Consequently, God chastised them through Jeremiah, saying, "According to the number of your gods, O Judah" (Jeremiah 2:28), as they assigned different deities to each of their cities. This is rightly referred to as 'an abundance of iniquity,' for turning away from God to serve 'wood and stone and the handiwork of men' is indeed a grave injustice and an affront to the Lord, as articulated in Deuteronomy 4:28. 'Amazement' here signifies divination. Thus, when it is said that you have demonstrated 'many falsehoods,' this leads to your 'astonishment being multiplied,' which refers to the false prophecies that arise from each deceiving prophet's unique method of divination. Therefore, reckless, unlawful, truly impure, and repugnant to the Almighty is the tendency to embrace the deceitful utterances of those who speak 'from their hearts' rather than 'from the mouth of the Lord' (Jeremiah 23:16). Hence, Christians must remain vigilant against this transgression, for it characterizes only those who dwell in the sacred space.

The days of divine visitation have indeed come, as previously noted in the inquiry, What shall you do on the solemn day and on the day of the feast of the Lord? The days of retribution are upon you. Now, you, O Israel, who have deemed the true prophet speaking under the Holy Spirit to be a fool and a madman, ought to reflect on the implications of your statements, similar to the princes in Ramoth of Gilead who questioned Jiyah, ‘Why has this fierce man come to you?’ (2 Kings 9:11). Because of your multiplied iniquities and persistent wickedness, you must admit that you are not serving as my prophet; rather, it is you who are mad, attempting to disregard my word. Aquila, instead of madness, translated it as ἐγκότησιν, which we might interpret in Latin as irasundiâm (anger) or memoriam doloris (remembrance of grief). Some interpreters view the day of vengeance and recompense as the day of judgment, when Israel will face trials, those who now claim to see God but are not guided by the Holy Spirit, instead being led astray by evil spirits in various ways, unaware of their own declarations—calling the Son of God a created being, denying the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and claiming there exists another good God and another Creator; their folly is diverse, rooted in their overwhelming transgressions. Where we have referenced the foolish prophet, the Greek translation refers to false prophets. To avoid any misunderstanding, we wish to remind the reader that all remarks regarding Israel and Ephraim by this prophet pertain to heretics, who are indeed deranged, spreading falsehoods against God.