Bibliorum

 

Hosea 9

Study

   

1 Be· not ·glad, O Israel, unto rejoicing as the peoples; for thou hast committed·​·harlotry from thy God; thou hast loved meretricious* hire on every threshing·​·floor of grain.

2 The threshing·​·floor and the winepress shall not pasture them, and the must* shall deny her.

3 They shall not dwell in Jehovah’s land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria.

4 They shall not pour·​·out wine to Jehovah, nor shall they be·​·agreeable to Him; their sacrifices shall be to them as the bread of sorrows; all that eat of it shall be defiled; for their bread for their soul shall not come·​·into the house of Jehovah.

5 What will you do in the solemn day, and in the day of the festival of Jehovah?

6 For, behold, they are gone away because of devastation; Egypt shall bring· them ·together, Memphis shall bury them: their silver shall be desired, kimmos* shall possess them: the thorny·​·shrub shall be in their tents.

7 The days of the visitation have come, the days of the repayment have come; Israel shall know; stupid is the prophet, the man of the spirit is mad, on·​·account·​·of the multitude of thine iniquity, and much hatred.

8 The watchman of Ephraim was with my God; the prophet is like a trap of a fowler in all his ways, hatred in the house of his God.

9 They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah; He will remember their iniquity, He will visit their sins.

10 I found Israel as grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first·​·fruit in the fig·​·tree in her beginning; but they came to Baal-peor, and separated themselves to that shame; and their detestable things were according·​·to their love.

11 As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a fowl, from the giving·​·birth, and from the belly, and from the conception.

12 For though they cause their sons to grow·​·up, yet I will make them bereaved of man; for there is also woe to them when I turn·​·aside from them!

13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyre, is planted in a home; but Ephraim shall bring·​·forth his sons to the killer.

14 Give them, O Jehovah; what wilt Thou Give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

15 All their evil is in Gilgal; for there I hated them: on·​·account·​·of the evil of their actions I will drive· them ·out from My house, I will love them not again; all their princes are defiant.

16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried·​·up, they shall not make fruit; even though they give·​·birth, yet will I put·​·to·​·death the desires of their belly.

17 My God will reject them, because they did not hearken unto Him; and they shall be fugitives among the nations.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Commentarius

 

Field

  
The Sower, by Vincent van Gogh

A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start, take root, and grow. When you have a desire to be a good person and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?", "What should I do?", "What can I do?". You look for ideas, concepts, direction. Once you figure out something you want to do or a change you want to make in yourself, you seek specific knowledge. If you want to volunteer at a food pantry, say, you'd need to know whom to call, when they need help, where to go, what to bring. Armed with that knowhow, you're ready to get to work. That process could be compared to food production. You start with a field -- which is that desire to be good. Then you plant seeds -- those ideas and concepts. Those seeds sprout into plants -- the specific facts and knowledge needed for the task (easily seen in the food pantry example, but also true with deeper tasks like "being more tolerant of my co-workers" or "taking more time for prayer," or "consciously being a more loving spouse"). Finally, those plants produce food -- the actual good thing that you go and do. The Writings also say that in a number of cases a "field" represents the doctrine, or teachings, of the church. This sounds markedly different. The desire for good is emotional, a drive, a wanting; doctrine is a set of ideas. But for a church to be true, its doctrine must be centered on a desire for good, and must lead people toward doing what is good. So sound doctrine is actually closely bound up with the desire for good.