Augustine of Hippo — Commentary on Scripture

Hosea 1:10

Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

Because Hosea is such a profound prophet, it is no easy matter to get at his meaning. Still, I must keep my promise and quote something from him at this point. He says, “And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people’; it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ ” The apostles themselves understood this text as a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles, who were previously not God’s people. And because the Gentiles are spiritually sons of Abraham and correctly therefore alluded to as Israel, Hosea goes on to say, “And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the earth.” Now to add one word of explanation to this text would be to lose the savor of Hosea’s prophetic style.

Hosea 2:5 · 2 passages

For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

“And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them: and she shall seek them, but she shall not find them. Then shall she say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband; for then it was better with me than now.’ ” Then he adds something, in order that they may not attribute to their seducers what they have that is sound and derived from the doctrine of truth, by which they lead them astray to the falseness of their own dogmas and dissensions. And in order that they may not think that what is sound in them belongs to them, he immediately added, “And she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil, and multiplied her money; but she made vessels of gold and silver for Baal.”

Who is that adulterous woman whom the prophet Hosea points out, who said, “I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, and everything that befits me”? Let us grant that we may understand this also of the people of the Jews who went astray. Yet who else are false Christians (such as are all heretics and schismatics) prone to imitate, except false Israelites?

Hosea 3:5

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

But let us hear what Hosea goes on to say: “And after this the children of Israel shall return and shall seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the last days.” You will never find a prophecy plainer than this, for the name King David means Christ, who, as Paul says, “was born according to the flesh of the offspring of David.” Further on still, Hosea foretold the resurrection of Christ on the third day, but in the mysterious way that is proper to prophecy. He says, “He shall heal us after two days, and on the third day we shall rise up again.” This is the theme underlying the words of Paul: “Therefore if you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above.”

Hosea 4:5 · 2 passages

Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.

For us too, you see, once the night of this age is done, there will be a resurrection of the flesh for the kingdom; it’s the model or sample of this that has already occurred in our head. That, indeed, is why the Lord wished to rise again at night; because, in the apostle’s words, “God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, has shone in our hearts.” So the Lord represented light shining out of darkness by being born at night and also by rising at night. Light out of darkness, in fact, is Christ out of the Jews, to whom it was said, “I have likened your mother to night.” But in that nation, as it were in that night, the virgin Mary was not night but somehow or other a star of the night; which is why a star also signaled her childbearing, guiding a far distant night, that is the magi from the east, to worship the light. Thus in them too would be realized the command to “the light to shine out of darkness.”

“Day continues according to your ordinance.” For all these things are day: “and this is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” and “let us walk honestly as in the day.” “For all things serve you.” He said “all things of some,” “all” which belong to this day “serve you.” For the ungodly, of whom it is said, “I have compared thy mother unto the night,” do not serve you.

Hosea 6:2

After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Further on, Hosea foretold the resurrection of Christ on the third day, but in the mysterious way that is proper to prophecy. He says, “He shall heal us after two days, and on the third day we shall rise again.” This is the idea underlying the words of Paul [when he says], “Therefore if you have risen in Christ, seek the things that are above.”

Hosea 12:1

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.

God of my heart … I didn’t know how to love you, because I did not know how to conceive the existence of anything—however glorious—beyond mere matter. The soul that goes puffing and wheezing after such figments of the imagination [as fortune telling] is one that goes whoring from you and trusts what is phony and feeds on the wind. Yet while I wouldn’t have this sorcerer sacrificing to demons on my behalf, I was actually sacrificing to them myself just by being involved in my superstition. For what else is to feed on the wind, if not to feed on error, and so to become the sport and plaything of the demonic?

Hosea 13:8

I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

In fulfillment of holy Writ, the truth has resounded through the voice of the apostles, for the psalmist has sung, “Their voice has gone forth unto all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” So also “Christ our Passover is sacrificed,” for of him the prophet had foretold: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and he was mute as a lamb before its shearer, and he opened not his mouth.” Who is this man? He is the man of whom the prophet at once goes on to say, “In humility his judgment was taken away; who shall declare his generation?” I recognize the realization of so much humility in a king of so much power, for he who is as a lamb that opens not its mouth before its shearer is also “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” Who is this lamb and lion? He suffered death like a lamb, and he has devoured like a lion. Who is this lamb and lion? Meek yet courageous; lovable yet fearsome; innocent yet powerful; silent under judgment, yet roaring to pronounce judgment. Who is this lamb and lion—suffering like a lamb; rising up like a lion? Rather, is he not at the same time a lamb…

In fulfillment of holy Writ, the truth has resounded through the voice of the apostles, for the psalmist has sung, “Their voice has gone forth unto all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” So also “Christ our Passover is sacrificed,” for of him the prophet had foretold: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and he was mute as a lamb before its shearer, and he opened not his mouth.” Who is this man? He is the man of whom the prophet at once goes on to say, “In humility his judgment was taken away; who shall declare his generation?” I recognize the realization of so much humility in a king of so much power, for he who is as a lamb that opens not its mouth before its shearer is also “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” Who is this lamb and lion? He suffered death like a lamb, and he has devoured like a lion. Who is this lamb and lion? Meek yet courageous; lovable yet fearsome; innocent yet powerful; silent under judgment, yet roaring to pronounce judgment. Who is this lamb and lion—suffering like a lamb; rising up like a lion? Rather, is he not at the same time a lamb and lion in his suffering and his resurrection? Let us discern the lamb in the suffering. “He was,” as we have just reminded you, “mute as a lamb before its shearer, and he opened not his mouth.” Let us discern the lion in the suffering.

Hosea 13:11

I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.

Praise wicked King Saul, because he also was a punishment for sinners, as the Lord says: “I gave you a king in my wrath.” Praise the demon that king suffered, because it also was punishment for a sinner. Praise the blindness of heart that has befallen Israel, and do not be silent about why it is said, “Until the full number of the Gentiles should enter,” although you will perhaps deny this is a punishment. If you were a lover of the inner light, you would cry out that it is not merely a punishment but a very great punishment.

Hosea 13:14

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

What is it the chaste person would like? That no lust at all should stir in the members against chastity. [The chaste person] wants peace but hasn’t yet got it. I mean, when we get to the stage where no lusts at all rise up to be opposed, there won’t be any more enemy for us to wrestle with; nor is there in that state any expectation of victory, because the triumph is being celebrated over the enemy already conquered. Listen to the apostle telling you about that victory: “The perishable must put on imperishability, and the mortal put on immortality; then will come about the saying that is written: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ” Now listen to the song of triumph: “Where, O death, is your striving? Where, O death, is your sting?” You have stabbed, you have wounded, you have knocked down; but the one who made me was wounded for me. O death, death! The one who made me was wounded for me, and by his death he conquered you. And that’s when those who triumph over you are going to say, “Where, O death, is your striving? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Isaiah 1:3 · 7 passages

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

Therefore “Jesus found a donkey and sat upon it.” … The donkey’s colt upon which no one had sat (for this fact is found in the other Evangelists) we understand as the people of the nations which had not received the Lord’s law. However, the donkey (because both beasts were led to the Lord) is his community which came from the people of Israel, clearly not unbroken, but which recognized the Master’s manger.

But, in fact, there were even in that people those that understood, having the faith which was afterwards revealed, not pertaining to the letter of the law but the grace of the Spirit. For they cannot have been without the same faith, who were able to foresee and foretell the revelation that would be in Christ, inasmuch as even those old sacraments were signs of those that should be.

The Leader and Shepherd of shepherds is announced to shepherds, and the food of the faithful lies in the manger of dumb beasts.… For that reason he sat upon the colt of a donkey when he entered Jerusalem amid the praises of the multitude surging around him. Let us understand; let us draw near to the manger; let us eat of this food; let us bear the Lord, our Guide and Leader, so that under his direction we may come to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Therefore those oxen magnified the Lord, not themselves. See the ox magnifying his Lord because the ox has acknowledged his owner; observe the ox fearing that the ox’s owner may be deserted and confidence be placed in the ox. How he is terrified of those who want to put hope in him!

In the persons of the shepherds and the magi, the ox began to recognize his owner and the donkey his Master’s crib. From the Jews came the horned ox, since among them the horns of the cross were prepared for Christ; from the Gentiles came the long-eared donkey, since it was concerning them that the prophecy had been made: “A people, which I knew not, has served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me.” For the Owner of the ox and the Master of the donkey lay in a manger, yet he was furnishing common sustenance to both creatures.

The ox from the Jews, the donkey from the Gentiles; both came to the one manger and found the fodder of the Word.

He who fills the world found no room in an inn. Placed in a manger, he became our food. Let the two animals, symbolic of two races, approach the manger, for “the ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib.” Do not be ashamed to be God’s beast of burden. Carrying Christ, you will not go astray; with him burdening you, you make your way through devious paths. May the Lord rest upon us; may he direct us where he wishes; may we be his beast of burden and thus may we come to Jerusalem. Though he presses upon us, we are not crushed but lifted up; when he leads us, we shall not go astray. Through the Lord may we come to the child so that we may rejoice forever with the child who was born today.

Isaiah 1:9

Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Beware, O Christian, beware of pride. For though you are a follower of the saints, ascribe it always wholly to grace. That there should be any “remnant” in you, the grace of God has brought it to pass, not your own merits.

Isaiah 1:12

When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

God seeks us, not what’s ours. Anyway, the Christian’s sacrifice is alms, or kindness to the poor. That is what makes God lenient toward sins.