John Chrysostom — Commentary on Scripture

Hosea 2:18

Therefore in a way similar to those of old who took harlots for wives, even so God too espoused to himself the nature that had played the harlot. This the prophets from the beginning declare to have taken place with respect to the synagogue. But that spouse was ungrateful toward him who had been a husband to her, whereas the church, when once delivered from the evils received from our fathers, continued to embrace the Bridegroom.

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 3:5

Hosea 2:23

Here to prevent their saying that you are deceiving us here with specious reasoning, he calls Hosea to witness, who cries and says, “I will call them my people, who were not my people.” Who then are the not-people? Plainly, the Gentiles. And who are the not-beloved? The same again. However, he says, they shall become at once people, and beloved, and children of God. “For even they shall be called,” he says, “the children of the living God.” But if they should assert that this was said of those of the Jews who believed, even then the argument stands. For if with those who after so many benefits were hardhearted and estranged and had lost their being as a people, so great a change was wrought, what is there to prevent even those who were not estranged after being taken to him but were originally aliens, from being called, and, provided they obey, from being counted worthy of the same blessings? Having then done with Hosea, he does not content himself with him only, but also brings Isaiah in after him, sounding in harmony with him.

HOMILIES ON ROMANS 16

Hosea 4:16

But what is the source of this hardness? It comes from gluttony and drunkenness. Who says so? Moses himself. “Israel ate and was filled, and the darling grew fat and frisky.” When brute animals feed from a full manger, they grow plump and become more obstinate and hard to hold in check; they endure neither the yoke, the reins, nor the hand of the charioteer. Just so, the Jewish people were driven by their drunkenness and plumpness to ultimate evil. They kicked about and failed to accept the yoke of Christ. And they failed to pull the plow of his teaching. Another prophet hinted at this when he said, “Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer.” And still another called the Jews “an untamed calf.”

DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 1:2.5

Hosea 6:6-7

Great is the principle of mercy to God. Not only his to us, but also that issuing from us to our fellow servants. In the Old Testament and the New, God lays down innumerable laws pertaining to this matter. He orders us to be benevolent continually in all quarters, through words, money and deeds. And Moses throughout—up and down, here and there—scatters words about these matters in all his legislations. And in the person of God the prophets shout, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” And all the apostles act and speak in harmony with these prophetic words. Therefore let us not neglect the matter. By mercy we greatly benefit ourselves, not the poor only. We receive much more than we provide.

HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 10:5.22

Hosea 8:4

Hear how he reproves the unfaithful, when he says, “You have taken counsel, but not of me, and made treaties, but not by my Spirit.” For this is the habit of those who love: they desire that all concerns of their beloved should be accomplished by means of themselves and that no one should do anything, or say anything, without them. On this account did God not only on that occasion, but again elsewhere, utter a reproof in the same terms: “They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but they did not make it known to me.”

HOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 3:5

Hosea 11:1

Herod sought him after his birth. He was going to kill all the children in that place. And the prophet revealed this too, foretelling it long beforehand when he said, “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, mourning and much weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are not.” The Scriptures also predicted that he would come to Egypt when they said, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 3:7

Hosea 11:9

The philanthropy of God does not tolerate [abandonment]. “What can I do for you? Shall I view you as I did Sodom and destroy you like Gomorrah? My heart is upset.” Here the love of God appears to imitate the passionate human being or, better yet, the affectionate mother. “My heart is upset, just as a woman would say about her child. My heart is upset just like the mother’s.” However, the previous metaphor was only partially adequate. “My heart is troubled in my regret”? God is troubled! Let no one ever think it! God forbid!

HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 4:18

Hosea 12:10

How is it, then, that John says, “No one has ever seen God”? He says this so that you may know that he is speaking of a clear knowledge and a perfect comprehension of God. All the cases cited were instances of God’s condescension and accommodation. That no one of those prophets saw God’s essence in its pure state is clear from the fact that each one saw him in a different way. God is a simple being; he is not composed of parts; he is without form or figure. But all these prophets saw different forms and figures. God proved this very thing through the mouth of another prophet. And he persuaded those other prophets that they did not see his essence in its exact nature when he said, “I have multiplied visions, and by the ministries of the prophets I was represented.” What God was saying was, “I did not show my very essence, but I came down in condescension and accommodated myself to the weakness of their eyes.” However, John does not say only of humanity that “no one has ever seen God.” This was proved by what I have said—I mean by the prophetic utterance that states, “I have multiplied…

How is it, then, that John says, “No one has ever seen God”? He says this so that you may know that he is speaking of a clear knowledge and a perfect comprehension of God. All the cases cited were instances of God’s condescension and accommodation. That no one of those prophets saw God’s essence in its pure state is clear from the fact that each one saw him in a different way. God is a simple being; he is not composed of parts; he is without form or figure. But all these prophets saw different forms and figures. God proved this very thing through the mouth of another prophet. And he persuaded those other prophets that they did not see his essence in its exact nature when he said, “I have multiplied visions, and by the ministries of the prophets I was represented.” What God was saying was, “I did not show my very essence, but I came down in condescension and accommodated myself to the weakness of their eyes.” However, John does not say only of humanity that “no one has ever seen God.” This was proved by what I have said—I mean by the prophetic utterance that states, “I have multiplied visions, and by the ministries of the prophets I was represented.”

AGAINST THE ANOMOEANS, HOMILY 4:19

Hosea 14:3

Do not be surprised that I view the people of the old covenant as pitiable and woeful. When so many blessings from heaven came into their hands, they thrust them aside and were at great pains to reject them. The morning Sun of justice arose for them, but they thrust aside its rays and still sit in darkness. We [the Gentiles], who were nurtured by darkness, drew the light to ourselves and were freed from the gloom of error. They were the branches of that holy root, but those branches were broken. We had no share in the root, but we did reap the fruit of godliness. From their childhood they read the prophets, but they crucified him whom the prophets had foretold. We did not hear the divine prophecies, but we did worship him of whom they prophesied. And so they are pitiful because they rejected the blessings that were sent to them, while others seized hold of these blessings and drew them to themselves. Although they had been called to the adoption of sons, they fell to kinship with dogs; we who were dogs received the strength, through God’s grace, to put aside the irrational nature tha…

Do not be surprised that I view the people of the old covenant as pitiable and woeful. When so many blessings from heaven came into their hands, they thrust them aside and were at great pains to reject them. The morning Sun of justice arose for them, but they thrust aside its rays and still sit in darkness. We [the Gentiles], who were nurtured by darkness, drew the light to ourselves and were freed from the gloom of error. They were the branches of that holy root, but those branches were broken. We had no share in the root, but we did reap the fruit of godliness. From their childhood they read the prophets, but they crucified him whom the prophets had foretold. We did not hear the divine prophecies, but we did worship him of whom they prophesied. And so they are pitiful because they rejected the blessings that were sent to them, while others seized hold of these blessings and drew them to themselves. Although they had been called to the adoption of sons, they fell to kinship with dogs; we who were dogs received the strength, through God’s grace, to put aside the irrational nature that was ours and to rise to the honor of sons.

DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 1:2.1