Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God impresses upon, and casts in the face of Israel, the love and benefits continually bestowed by Him upon it, in order to show its ingratitude, that it defected from Him to the golden calves. When Israel was a child, He says, I loved him: and out of Egypt I called My son. And I was like a nurse to Ephraim, and I carried them in My arms. With the cords of Adam I drew them, with the bonds of charity. Therefore He threatens the ungrateful one with captivity and wrath, which however He so tempers with mercy that He promises it a return to the homeland. From this disaster He exempts Judah, because he faithfully stood on the side of God with the holy Levites.
Vulgate Text: Hosea 11:1-12
1. As the morning passes, so has the king of Israel passed away. When Israel was a child, I loved him: and out of Egypt I called My son. 2. They called to them, so they went away from before them: they sacrificed to the Baals, and burnt incense to graven images. 3. And I was like a nurse to Ephraim, I carried them in My arms: and they did not know that I cared for them. 4. I drew them with the cords of Adam, with the bonds of charity: and I was to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws: and I bent down to him to feed him. 5. He shall not return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be his king: because they refused to be converted. 6. The sword has begun in his cities, and shall consume his chosen ones, and shall devour their heads. 7. And My people shall hang in suspense at My return: but a yoke shall be imposed on them together, which shall not be removed. 8. How shall I give you up, Ephraim, shall I protect you, Israel? How shall I make you like Admah, set you as Zeboim? My heart is turned within Me, My repentance is stirred up together. 9. I will not execute the fury of My wrath: I will not turn to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man: the Holy One in the midst of you, and I will not enter a city. 10. They shall walk after the Lord, He shall roar like a lion: because He Himself shall roar, and the children of the sea shall fear. 11. And they shall fly like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of the Assyrians: and I will place them in their houses, says the Lord. 12. Ephraim has surrounded Me with denial, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah went down as a witness with God, and is faithful with the saints.
Verse 1: Like the morning it has passed away, the king of Israel has passed
1. Like the morning it has passed away, the king of Israel has passed. When Israel was a child, I loved him: and out of Egypt I called My son. 2. They called them, and so they departed from before them: they sacrificed to the Baals, and offered sacrifice to idols. 3. And I was like a nurse to Ephraim, I carried them in My arms: and they did not know that I cared for them. 4. I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with bands of love: and I will be to them like one who lifts the yoke from their jaws: and I bent down to him that he might eat. 5. He shall not return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be his king: because they would not be converted. 6. The sword has begun in his cities, and it shall consume his chosen ones, and shall devour their heads. 7. And My people shall hang in suspense awaiting My return: but a yoke shall be laid upon them together, which shall not be removed. 8. How shall I deal with you, Ephraim, shall I protect you, Israel? How shall I make you like Adama, set you as Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me, My repentance is stirred up together. 9. I will not execute the fierceness of My wrath: I will not turn to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man: the Holy One in the midst of you, and I will not enter the city. 10. They shall walk after the Lord, He shall roar like a lion: for He shall roar, and the children of the sea shall fear. 11. And they shall fly away like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of the Assyrians: and I will place them in their houses, says the Lord. 12. Ephraim has surrounded Me with denial, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah went down as a witness with God, and is faithful with the saints.
Verse 2: They called them (out of Egypt and from idolatry
2. They called them (out of Egypt and from idolatry — Moses, Aaron, and other Prophets, to bring them back to the ancestral worship of God; but they, although) so (that is, so often and so many times called and invited) THEY DEPARTED FROM BEFORE THEM — that is, they turned their backs on them, going to the Baals. Whence the Septuagint plainly translates: As I called them, so they went away from My face; for the Hebrews often understand implicitly the word 'as' and similar words, as if to say: Just as I called them, so they shamelessly turned away from Me: how great was My kindness and persistence in calling, so great was their hardness and stubbornness in resisting and spurning My call. So say the Chaldean, Cyril, Jerome, and others.
Verse 3: AND I WAS LIKE A NURSE TO EPHRAIM, I CARRIED THEM IN MY ARMS
3. AND I WAS LIKE A NURSE TO EPHRAIM, I CARRIED THEM IN MY ARMS. — The Translator read זרועותי, that is 'in my arms': now with the addition of vav they read זרועותיו zerootav, that is 'in his arms.' For 'nurse' in Hebrew it is תרגלתי tirgalti, which the Rabbis, Vatablus, Arias, and other Hebraists say is used for hirgalti, meaning 'I caused to walk, I raised to their feet, I taught to walk, I led step by step,' as nurses do when they guide infants and teach them to walk. Whence they translate: I led Ephraim (that is, Israel) as a child, and taught him to walk through the desert. Or, as Vatablus says, I gradually and step by step led him, lest he be worn out by the labor of the journey. Others translate: I gave Ephraim a teacher (namely Moses) who would carry them upon his arms, as if alluding to those words of Moses: "That You say to me: Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse is wont to carry a little child" (Numbers 11:12).
Verse 4: I WILL DRAW THEM WITH THE CORDS OF ADAM, WITH BANDS OF LOVE
4. I WILL DRAW THEM WITH THE CORDS OF ADAM, WITH BANDS OF LOVE. — "Adam" here can be taken either as the proper name of the first man, or as a common noun meaning 'man.' If as a proper name, the meaning will be what St. Jerome gives, as if to say: Just as out of love I endowed Adam with nature together with grace and My friendship, so I will endow you, his descendants, also. For Adam by My grace is your protogenes and archigenes, that is, the prince of human generation. Or, as our Prado says on Ezekiel chapter 6:9: The cords, he says, are pains: for by them as by ropes a man is bound and constrained, according to Psalm 116:6: "The sorrows (in Hebrew חבלי chable, that is 'cords') of hell surrounded me, the snares of death overtook me." For the Hebrew chebel signifies a cord, a bond, a chain, and thence a pain, as binding and chaining. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: I will draw the Israelites to Me through the pains and afflictions which they inherited from their parent Adam, which are pledges of My love toward them. Whence it follows: "With bands of love," that is, with the bonds by which I am wont to attract My dearest children to Me, which are chastisements and scourges.
Verse 5: HE SHALL NOT RETURN TO THE LAND OF EGYPT
5. HE SHALL NOT RETURN TO THE LAND OF EGYPT. — Here there is a pathetic speech, and therefore confused, in which much must be supplied: for God here puts on the emotion of a parent or jealous nurse, as if to say: I treated and attracted Israel to Myself with such great love and so many benefits; but he has a cold heart, turned away from Me; he does not wish to return to Me, but thinks of returning to Egypt to implore its help against the Assyrians. What then? Will he go unpunished for this? He will not: I will hedge his way with thorns, and I will make it so that, with the roads blocked by the enemy, he cannot return to Egypt, and that the Assyrian may seize them unexpectedly and carry them captive to Assyria, and that "Assyria itself shall be his king (indeed his tyrant)." Whence the Chaldean translates: They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria (namely Shalmaneser) shall rule over them. So say St. Jerome, Albert, Lyranus, and Hugo. Otherwise Arias, as if to say: They ought-
Verse 6: THE SWORD HAS BEGUN — as if to say: Already the Assyrians by frequent raids have...
6. THE SWORD HAS BEGUN — as if to say: Already the Assyrians by frequent raids have begun to devastate and kill the Israelites, nor will they desist until they consume their "chosen ones and heads," that is, their counselors (as the Hebrew has it) and princes together with the whole nation. That this indeed happened is evident from the history in 4 Kings (2 Kings) chapter 15 and following.
Verse 7: AND MY PEOPLE (Israel) SHALL HANG IN SUSPENSE AWAITING MY RETURN (as if to say: ...
7. AND MY PEOPLE (Israel) SHALL HANG IN SUSPENSE AWAITING MY RETURN (as if to say: Israel in suspense will hope and wait for Me to return as usual and free them from the Assyrians, from whom, as if departing, I had already abandoned them; but they will be deceived: for since they persist in their rebellion against Me and in the worship of calves, I will cause) A YOKE (of the Assyrians) TO BE LAID UPON THEM (all) TOGETHER (with no one excepted), WHICH SHALL NOT BE REMOVED — but will be perpetual. So say St. Jerome, Albert, Haymo, Clarius, and others.
Verse 8: HOW SHALL I DEAL WITH YOU, EPHRAIM? SHALL I PROTECT YOU, ISRAEL?
8. HOW SHALL I DEAL WITH YOU, EPHRAIM? SHALL I PROTECT YOU, ISRAEL? — For 'protect,' in Hebrew it is אמגן amagghen, which, if you derive it from the root ganan, meaning 'to cover, to shelter,' means 'I shall cover, I shall protect,' and, as the Septuagint and Aquila translate: I shall surround you with a shield. Some, however, think that amagghen has the opposite meaning (for there are many such Hebrew words which sometimes mean one thing, sometimes its opposite); whence Theodotion translates, ἀφοπλίσω σε, that is, I shall strip you, and remove from you the ὅπλον, that is the shield, with which I previously protected you, says St. Jerome; and the Chaldean: I shall exterminate you.
Verse 9: I WILL NOT EXECUTE THE FIERCENESS OF MY WRATH (so as to exterminate him, as his ...
9. I WILL NOT EXECUTE THE FIERCENESS OF MY WRATH (so as to exterminate him, as his crimes demanded. Finally) I WILL NOT TURN TO DESTROY EPHRAIM. — So say St. Cyril, Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylact, Albert, Hugo, and others. He adds the reason:
Verse 10: They shall walk after the Lord (because the Lord) SHALL ROAR LIKE A LION
10. They shall walk after the Lord (because the Lord) SHALL ROAR LIKE A LION — and by His fear shall strike and compel all to follow Him and walk after Him. This actually happened first when God roared and raged like a lion in the devastation and captivity of the Israelites. For then many, broken by those blows and struck with fear of God, returned to God, and worshipped and invoked Him in the Assyrian captivity, seeking pardon and liberation. So say St. Jerome, Haymo, and others.
Verse 11: AND THEY SHALL FLY LIKE A BIRD OUT OF EGYPT, AND LIKE A DOVE OUT OF THE LAND OF ...
11. AND THEY SHALL FLY LIKE A BIRD OUT OF EGYPT, AND LIKE A DOVE OUT OF THE LAND OF THE ASSYRIANS. — That is, when I, God, shall roar through Cyrus, proclaiming liberty, so that the Jews may return from Babylon to their homeland, and much more when I shall roar through Christ, proclaiming liberty from sin and hell, then the Israelites, dispersed among the nations, will flock to Me from everywhere: namely from the sea, that is, from the west; from Egypt, that is, from the south; and from Assyria, that is, from the north and east, so that under My leadership they may return through Ezra to Judea, and much more through Christ return to the Church, which is their first and true homeland, where "I will place them in their houses" and seats, namely in local Churches. So the Chaldean, who translates: They shall walk after the Lord, and His word shall be like a lion that roars: for as soon as He roars, the exiles shall be gathered from the West. Like a bird that comes openly, so those who were driven into exile in the land of Egypt shall come: and like a dove that returns to its dovecote, so those who were deported to the land of Assyria shall return, as if to say: The Israelites, as well as the nations, terrified and stirred by the august voice of the lion, that is, of God and Christ, shall flock to Him and to His faith and following.
Verse 12: HE HAS SURROUNDED ME. — Here Hosea returns to his own times and to the earlier t...
12. HE HAS SURROUNDED ME. — Here Hosea returns to his own times and to the earlier threats. Whence Lyranus, Arias, Pagninus, and Vatablus begin chapter 12 from here. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: Do you wish to know the reason why, notwithstanding My so great compassion and love, Ephraim must be condemned to eternal captivity, as I continually proclaim? The reason is at hand: namely because he surrounded Me with his lies (for he denied the worship due to Me), and the remaining tribes with deceit: for he deceitfully seduced them to worship the golden calves, which he cunningly substituted for Me.