Let us first interpret this text in a historical context, then allegorically, and finally through the lens of prophetic insight. The divine message is directed at the ten tribes that ruled in Samaria, descending from Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim, hence they are referred to as Ephraim. They are labeled a crown of pride due to their numerical and military superiority compared to the two tribes known as Judah. They are also called the inebriates of Ephraim because they fail to recognize their Creator, choosing instead to worship golden calves in Dan and Bethel. Once, they shone in the luster of the Lord during the reigns of David and Solomon, when all twelve tribes worshiped God at the temple in Jerusalem, perched at the zenith of a lush valley called in Hebrew de ge semanim.
The site where the Lord was betrayed, atop this valley, was His temple. They are intoxicated by the wine of error and folly that Jeroboam has set before them. Therefore, the Lord warns them of impending judgment: just as a whirlwind with hail obliterates all in its path, and the overwhelming waters sweep away all they encounter, so shall they face destruction at the hands of the Assyrian army; what remains will be led away into the mountains or cities of Midian.
The glory of the ten tribes is likened to a garland of mixed colors, so beautiful that one, seeing a fig (πρόδρομον) on a tree before summer or autumn, would devour it immediately upon grasping it. Likewise, when the Assyrian gazes upon the ten tribes, he will lay waste to them, leaving nothing of the former populace in Samaria. This was a historical explanation.
Now let us turn to the allegorical interpretation. Following the teaching of the prophet Hosea, Ephraim, Joseph, Samaria, and the ten tribes that separated from the eleven and abandoned the Lord's temple are categorized among the heretics. These, who in truth blaspheme the Lord, are, as stated in the Septuagint, a crown of transgression; they act purely for their gain, falling short of the Lord's glory and ignoring the simplicity of manna and the humility of the church, dwelling upon a fertile mountain, drunken without wine.
Thus, the fierce and sudden wrath of the Lord, intending to punish them, is depicted as a swift hailstorm, not striking roofs but hitting the heads of men, and as torrential floods sweeping away all that comes their way. By this garland of insult, the hired hands of Ephraim are identified as those who, per the Apostle, have strayed from the color, hope, and glory of their once true faith (Titus 1:11), living in pride, serving as delightful prey to the devil, who seeks to devour them daily (1 Peter 5:8).
In terms of prophecy, it refers to the Pharisaic scribes, who blasphemed the Lord, depicted as a crown of transgression; they are termed the hired hands of Ephraim due to Judas, descended from Ephraim, who betrayed the Lord for money. The Lord, genuinely the blossom of apostolic glory, fell in a fertile valley, reminiscent of the words ‘Jacob ate and drank and became satisfied and grew dull and rejected the Beloved’ (Deuteronomy 32:13); refer to the Hebrew text: in the valley of tukov, named Gessemanim (גיא-שמנים), which also refers to the site of Judah's betrayal of the Lord.
The valley of Tukov or the “fat valley” is so named for its richness, relating to the scribes and Pharisees who led the Lord there, as recorded in the Psalm, ‘The young men of the fat have overpowered me’ (Psalm 21:13). This valley of Gessemanim is mentioned twice in this account; it is curious that the LXX first refers to it as a mountain of clouds and then as a mountain of heights.
However, the betrayer was intoxicated not with wine but with greed and the poison of wickedness, filled with the devil's sustenance after consuming a piece of bread (John 18:27), and he was completely overwhelmed by it, for his prayer turned to sin (Psalm 108:7), and even his remorse bore no redemptive fruit (Matthew 27:3-5). The Hebrew term sacchore (שכורי) carries dual meanings, signifying both drunkenness and mercenariness. Hence, Issachar translates to mean bounty, a sachar: μέθοσμα, denoting intoxication; and other translations have rendered it as drunkenness, with the LXX uniquely translating it as mercenaries.
THEOSIS