Hoshea - Hosea
Chapter 1: Green Figs
1. The word of HaShem /theName/ the LORD which came to Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel.
א. דְּבַר יְהֹוָה | אֲשֶׁר הָיָה אֶל הוֹשֵׁעַ בֶּן בְּאֵרִי בִּימֵי עֻזִּיָּה יוֹתָם אָחָז יְחִזְקִיָּה מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִימֵי יָרָבְעָם בֶּן יוֹאָשׁ מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל
Rashi Comments:
The word of HaShem /theName/ the LORD which came to Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, etc.: He buried these four kings during his lifetime... [from Pesachim 87b].
and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash: He was of the sons of Jehu [i.e., a great grandson of Jehu], and he too reigned with Uzziah and Jotham...
2. At the first, when HaShem spoke to Hosea, HaShem said unto Hosea, Go, take yourself a wife who is a prostitute and children of harlotry; for the land commits harlotry in going astray from HaShem.
ב. תְּחִלַּת דִּבֶּר יְהֹוָה בְּהוֹשֵׁעַ וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל הוֹשֵׁעַ לֵךְ קַח לְךָ אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים וְיַלְדֵי זְנוּנִים כִּי זָנֹה תִזְנֶה הָאָרֶץ מֵאַחֲרֵי יְהֹוָה
Rashi Comments:
At the beginning of the Lord’s speaking to Hosea: [See Judaica translation] Lit. in the beginning the Lord spoke to Hosea. Therefore, our Rabbis stated: The first of the four prophets who prophesied (in these days): Hosea, Isaiah, Amos, and Micah.... But the simple meaning of the verse is: At the beginning of the speech which the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to Hosea, he said this to him.
take yourself a wife of harlotry: Our Rabbis said: This is to be explained according to its apparent meaning: Since he said about Israel, “Exchange them for another nation,” as is explained in Pesachim at the beginning of the chapter entitled האשה, “The woman” (87a).
and children of harlotry: For she will bear you children who will be of possible illegitimacy. And Jonathan paraphrased: Prophesy a prophecy about the inhabitants of the cities of idolatry.
The word קַח, stated here is an expression of teaching, [derived from לֶקַח, doctrine]. Teach them to repent.
goes astray: Heb. תִּזְנֶה. This is the present tense.
Mahx Note: Rashi quoting the sages of the Talmud clarifies the understanding that G-d's instruction to Hosea to take a practicing prostitute as a wife is a prophetic analogy of how G-d is about to define his relationship with Israel, that he will turn her "replacement theology" back upon her, for the sake of her correction. When G-d speaks by Hosea and says, (verse 9, see note there), "And He said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be yours," the idea of a replacement theology, of G-d replacing Israel with another people that this statement evokes, was in truth a response to Israel's asking for a king like unto the kings of the nations. This request is pointed out here by God through the prophet to be spiritually adulterous.
Israel's idea of replacing G-d with another, a gentile-like king, was the first complete theology of replacement. It is as if they said, "We do not want to be G-d's kingdom. We want to be the kingdom of a different king, a different kind of king, a king like the kings of the nations." This desire that was found in Israel to be a nation like any other nation, with a religion like any other religion, is the true genius of replacement theology, and it is the essence of the replacement theology of the so called, Christian civilization as well as the Islamic civilization.
The essence of those replacement theologies found in those civilizations is not in all honesty that they should be G-d's only chosen people in place of Israel but that Israel should be assimilated among them, as just another nation like them, that there should be no unique and chosen nation, but that all nations should be equal. This is the true essence of replacement theology. For it is in Israel's sanctification and redemption that G-d reveals himself for judgment and salvation in all the world, and it is this very revelation of the one true God which Humanity under the spell of sin desires to resist with all its power.
The Talmudic sages adopt a homiletic explanation of why G-d tells Hosea to take a prostitute as a wife in which we are invited to listen in, as it were, to a conversation between G-d and the prophet which has taken place behind the scenes. This explanation, in effect, puts the blame on Hosea for the judgment of the disowning of Israel, which we will look into more deeply in notes on chapter 2 verse 1. Once this Talmudic teaching is clearly understood it will help us to understand with a new perspective how and why it has been allowed that Paul, and even Yehoshua himself, have been blamed historically by some for the replacement theology of Imperial Christianity, when in truth G-d's correction of Israel is in control of all apparent replacement of Israel in history. When G-d's correction of Israel is complete all theologies of replacement will be made manifestly meaningless and will be vacated and abandoned by their creators.
3. And he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
ג. וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּקַּח אֶת גֹּמֶר בַּת דִּבְלָיִם וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ בֵּן
Rashi Comments:
Gomer: Our Rabbis (Pesachim 87a) said. That was her name by dint of her harlotry, for all would gratify their lust on her (גּוֹמְרִין) and they would tread upon her like a pressed fig (דְּבֵלָה). [That is a euphemism for sexual contact.] Jonathan, however, paraphrases: גֹּמֶר, that if they would return from their way, their retribution would be finished, and if not, they will be like unripe figs falling from the fig tree.
and she conceived and bore: Jonathan paraphrases: And they continued to do evil deeds.
Mahx Notes: unripe figs = Green Figs: Mark 11:13 "Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 Yehoshua/Jesus told it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again!' and his disciples heard it."
Both sources that Rashi quotes can be connected to Mark 11:13 and 14. Yehoshua sees and reveals a parable and a prophecy in the unripe figs of the fig tree. Although it was not the season for figs, Yehoshua treated the tree as though it ought to have miraculously bore fruit early because it was destined that he should come early to look for food upon its branches. The parable teaches that his coming to Israel was in a certain way early. It was, as it were, against nature. Yet Israel was not called of G-d to be natural Adam, but to be a new, miraculous Adam. Had they repented before hand, heeding the prophets, heeding the call to repentance of Yochanan the Immerser, they would have been miraculusly able to bear witness to the resurrection of the dead; their fruit would have been prepared to meet their Mashiach. They would not have been like green figs fallen from the fig tree.
Again, because they were unrepentant from the time of Samuel the prophet they were like a natural fig tree, one which was like "Gomer" to the surrounding nations, who took her and gratified their lust upon her as a pressed fig. For Israel in her own self had no supernatural power to resist them.
4. And the Lord said to him: Name him Jezreel, for, in a short time, I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will terminate the kingdom of the house of Israel.
ד. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֵלָיו קְרָא שְׁמוֹ יִזְרְעֶאל כִּי עוֹד מְעַט וּפָקַדְתִּי אֶת דְּמֵי יִזְרְעֶאל עַל בֵּית יֵהוּא וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי מַמְלְכוּת בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
Rashi Comments:
Name him Jezreel: Jonathan renders: Call their name the scattered ones. I.e. prophesy over them that they will be exiled, and they will be sown among the peoples.
the blood of Jezreel: To be understood according to its Aramaic translation: the blood of the house of Ahab, whom Jehu slew in Jezreel because they worshipped Baal, and he and his sons went afterwards and worshipped pagan deities; therefore, I account for them the blood of the house of Ahab as innocent blood.
upon the house of Jehu: Jeroboam the son of Joash was of the sons of Jehu, and his son Zechariah was assassinated.
5. And it shall come to pass on that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.
ה. וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְשָׁבַרְתִּי אֶת קֶשֶׁת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעֵמֶק יִזְרְעֶאל
6. And she conceived again and bore a daughter, and He said to him: Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will not continue to grant clemency to the house of Israel, but I will mete out their portion to them.
ו. וַתַּהַר עוֹד וַתֵּלֶד בַּת וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ קְרָא שְׁמָהּ לֹא רֻחָמָה כִּי לֹא אוֹסִיף עוֹד אֲרַחֵם אֶת בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי נָשֹא אֶשָּׂא לָהֶם
Rashi Comments:
I will not continue to grant clemency, Heb.: אֲרַחֵם, like לְרַחֵם, to grant clemency.
but I will mete out their portion to them: I will mete out to them the portion of their cup and their deed. This expression is like (Gen. 43: 34), “And he gave out portions (וַיִּשָּׂא מַשְׂאֹת).”
7. But to the house of Judah will I grant clemency, and I will save them by the Lord their God, but I will not save them with the bow, with the sword, with war, with steeds, or with riders.
ז. וְאֶת בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם וְהוֹשַׁעְתִּים בַּיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וְלֹא אוֹשִׁיעֵם בְּקֶשֶׁת וּבְחֶרֶב וּבְמִלְחָמָה בְּסוּסִים וּבְפָרָשִׁים
Rashi Comments:
But to the house of Judah will I grant clemency: after I terminate the kingdom of Israel, for after the ten tribes were exiled, the house of Judah was the object of clemency from Hezekiah until Zedakiah.
Mahx Notes: to the house of Judah will I grant clemency = to save by the Lord their God is not to save by the sword. From the time of the sin of the spies Israel was saved by the sword only for the purpose of chastisement, because of the lack of perfect faith. When Judah is saved for the sake of the promise of Mashiach made to David and for Jerusalem's sake, it shall not be by the sword but by the demonstration of miraculous power, as in the day of the redemption from Egypt. Nevertheless, even as the house of Israel turned to dependence upon the strength of the arm and not purely on G-d, so the house of Judah also turned to dependence upon the strength of the arm, and so it would prove necessary that the salvation of the tribe of Judah through G-d's miraculous power be demonstrated to be for David's sake, according to the promise made to him concerning Mashiach, and for Jerusalem's sake, as Mashiach's promised bride. And this will be seen.
8. And she weaned Lo-ruhamah, and she conceived and bore a son.
ח. וַתִּגְמֹל אֶת לֹא רֻחָמָה וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן
Rashi Comments:
And she weaned Lo ruhamah: According to the Targum, we explain: And that generation shall perish among the nations where they were exiled.
and she conceived and bore a son: According to the Targum: And they continued and committed evil deeds. But according to its simple meaning, we explain it as it apparently means.
9. And He said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be yours.
ט. וַיֹּאמֶר קְרָא שְׁמוֹ לֹא עַמִּי כִּי אַתֶּם לֹא עַמִּי וְאָנֹכִי לֹא אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם
Mahx Notes: It is as if G-d said to Israel, "You have said to me, 'You are not our God! Therefore you have yourselves declared that you are not my people. I will accept your decision and I will not be yours, so far as your decision goes. But your decision is not my decision, and therefore, 'In the place where it was said to you, You are not my people, it shall be said to you, The children of the living God!" (see verse 1 chapter 2).
CHAPTER 2: A PRUNED VINE
1. And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which shall neither be measured nor counted; and it shall come to pass that, instead of saying to them, "You are not My people," it shall be said to them, "The children of the living God.”
א. וְהָיָה מִסְפַּר בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּחוֹל הַיָּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִמַּד וְלֹא יִסָּפֵר וְהָיָה בִּמְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יֵאָמֵר לָהֶם לֹא עַמִּי אַתֶּם יֵאָמֵר לָהֶם בְּנֵי אֵל חָי
Rashi Comments:
And the number… shall be: What is the connection of retribution and consolation juxtaposed in one speech? ... This can be compared to a king who became angry with his wife. He summoned a scribe to come and write a bill of divorcement. Before the scribe arrived, the king became reconciled with his wife. Said the king, “Is it possible that this scribe should leave here divided?” I.e. his heart should be divided and bewildered, saying, “Why did the king send for me?” He said to him, “Come and write that I am doubling her kethubah.” And according to its simple meaning, this is the reason for its juxtaposition. “For you are not My people, and I will not be yours.” I will show Myself as though I am not yours, and you shall be exiled among the nations, and even there you shall multiply and grow, and there you shall lay it to your heart to return to Me, as it is said through Moses (Deut. 30:1,3): Read more...
Mahx Note: Rashi refers to the teaching of aggadah teaching in the Talmud in Pesachim 87b, the homiletic teaching, that we have looked at in our notes on chapter one, that relate a dialogue between G-d and Hosea in which Hosea is heard saying to G-d concerning unrepentant Israel, “Exchange them for another nation.” Rashi relates that the sages teach that later Hosea felt that he had sinned and stood and begged mercy for them (See above 1:2). Here Rashi explains this whole projected exchange between G-d and Hosea in this matter with another parable from the sages concerning the King's scribe, (see above).
In the first explanation of G-d's commanding Hosea to marry a prostitute, where a dialogue between G-d and Hosea is projected, Homer is made responsible for the notion of replacement theology. In the second explanation Hosea is cast only as a scribe called to notarize a divorce that the king himself desires but then decides against. In the second case, instead of the reversal being due to Hosea's learning from his own experience that G-d cannot divorce his wife even though she is unfaithful to him, Hosea, as the scribe, is still made the key to the reversal but for a different reason. The king does not want the scribe to leave thinking that he may have really wanted to divorce his wife. Therefore he puts it on the record that the reason he called the scribe was to write a doubling of her kethubah (dowery).
By bringing the parable of the king and the scribe, Rashi shows that, while the projected dialogue in the Talmud that blames Hosea for the notion of replacement theology is quite forceful and extensive, it is only a literary device intended to teach a deep truth concerning this mysterious prophecy. In fact, this literary device that blames the prophet for G-d's temporary rejection of Israel makes it out as if it were only Hosea who needed to learn about the true nature of G-d and his love for Israel and that while Israel was unfaithful to G-d her unfaithfulness was not what was actually responsible for her rejection.
How much does strict justice in relation to Israel's unfaithfulness to G-d have to do with the great judgment of Israel in the prophecy of Hosea being called Lo Ammi, Not-My-People? And how much does G-d's desire to justify Israel as his wife have to do with his promise to call Israel Ammi, My-People, again? The sages looked at the way that retribution and consolation were juxtaposed in one speech here at the beginning of chapter two and these questions were raised for them. It is these questions that are at the very heart of the meaning of atonement and the justification of life itself. As Paul said, it was the Good News that he received which he also taught that Mashiach died for our sins, according to the Scriptures... And in the Scriptures of the prophecy of Hosea we see the Good News promised to Israel, where it was said to you You are not my people, in that very place it shall be said to you You are my people, where a replacement theology seemed to be declared in that very speech a non-replacement theology shall be proclaimed!
This is the meaning of G-d's turning Israel's replacement theology back upon her, having turned it inside out and upside down. For it was Israel whose theology would have replaced G-d for a gentile-like king. It is therefore her own measure that G-d measures back to her in allowing her to seem to be Not His People. But it is this measure that exhausts her very existence, and when it exhausts her then she is left to find in her exhaustion that she yet does exist because it was she who rejected G-d and not G-d who rejected her. She ends by having no existence in her own definition or in the definition of the nations, but still existing and eternally existing in the definition of G-d. It is in this way that Hosea learns and we all learn what the meaning of the atonement is, according to the Scriptures, and what the meaning of the justification of life is. For it is in this way of Israel's redemption that HaShem is revealed and the knowledge of his name fills the earth as the waters fill the seas.
2. And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head, and they shall go up from the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.
ב. וְנִקְבְּצוּ בְּנֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַחְדָּו וְשָׂמוּ לָהֶם רֹאשׁ אֶחָד וְעָלוּ מִן הָאָרֶץ כִּי גָדוֹל יוֹם יִזְרְעֶאל
Rashi Comments:
one head: David their king.
for great is the day of Jezreel: The gathering of their sowing.
3. Say to your brethren, "Ammi," and to your sisters, "Ruhamah."
ג. אִמְרוּ לַאֲחֵיכֶם עַמִּי וְלַאֲחוֹתֵיכֶם רֻחָמָה
Rashi Comments:
Say to your brethren, “Ammi”: To be explained according to the Targum: Return to My Torah, and I will grant clemency to your nation.
4. Strive with your mother, strive, for she is not My wife, and I am not her Husband, and let her remove her harlotries from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts.
ד. רִיבוּ בְאִמְּכֶם רִיבוּ כִּי הִיא לֹא אִשְׁתִּי וְאָנֹכִי לֹא אִישָׁהּ וְתָסֵר זְנוּנֶיהָ מִפָּנֶיה וְנַאֲפוּפֶיהָ מִבֵּין שָׁדֶיהָ
Rashi Comments:
Strive with your mother, strive: With your nation of today, which is the mother of future generations.
and her adulteries from between her breasts: It is customary among the adulteresses that they [i.e., their lovers] squeeze them between their breasts. Jonathan renders: And the worship of idols from among her cities.
5. Lest I strip her naked and leave her as [on] the day she was born; and I make her like a desert, and I set her like an arid land, and cause her to die of thirst.
ה. פֶּן אַפְשִׁיטֶנָּה עֲרֻמָּה וְהִצַּגְתִּיהָ כְּיוֹם הִוָּלְדָהּ וְשַׂמְתִּיהָ כַמִּדְבָּר וְשַׁתִּהָ כְּאֶרֶץ צִיָּה וַהֲמִתִּיהָ בַּצָּמָא
Rashi Comments:
as [on] the day she was born: Like the day that I found her in Egypt, as is delineated in Ezekiel (16:4, 5): “And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel was not cut etc. No eye took pity on you etc. with a loathing of your body.”
like a desert: This alludes to the decrees that I decreed upon you (Parshandatha: them) in the desert, viz. that there they should perish and there they would die (Num. 14:35).
and [I will] cause her to die: Jonathan renders: And I will kill her.
6. And I will not pity her children for they are children of harlotries.
ו. וְאֶת בָּנֶיהָ לֹא אֲרַחֵם כִּי בְנֵי זְנוּנִים הֵמָּה
7. For their mother played the harlot; she who conceived them behaved shamefully, for she said, "I will go after my lovers, those who give my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drinks."
ז. כִּי זָנְתָה אִמָּם הוֹבִישָׁה הוֹרָתָם כִּי אָמְרָה אֵלְכָה אַחֲרֵי מְאַהֲבַי נֹתְנֵי לַחְמִי וּמֵימַי צַמְרִי וּפִשְׁתִּי שַׁמְנִי
וְשִׁקּוּיָי
Rashi Comments:
their mother: Their nation.
she who conceived them behaved shamefully: Jonathan, who renders: Their teachers are ashamed. The wise men who teach them with instructions are ashamed before the ignorant populace. They tell them, “You shall not steal,” but they steal. “You shall not lend for interest,” but they lend.
Mahx Notes = It would almost seem that Paul, in the first chapters of Romans, is quoting directly from Targum Johathan here. How might this inform us about Paul's understanding of Hosea?
after my lovers: In the ways of the nations.
8. Therefore, behold I will close off your way with thorns, and I make a fence against her, and she shall not find her paths.
ח. לָכֵן הִנְנִי שָׂךְ אֶת דַּרְכֵּךְ בַּסִּירִים וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת גְּדֵרָהּ וּנְתִיבוֹתֶיהָ לֹא תִמְצָא
Rashi Comments:
behold I will close off: Heb. שֵׂךְ an expression of closing. Comp. (Isaiah 5: 5) “remove its hedge (מְשׂוּכָּתוֹ) ” ; (Proverbs 15:19) “as though hedged (כִּמְשֻּׂכַת) by thorns.”
your way: The ways and paths in which you go.
9. And she shall pursue her lovers and not overtake them, and she shall seek them and not find them; and she shall say, "I will go and return to my first Husband, for it was better for me then than now.
ט. וְרִדְּפָה אֶת מְאַהֲבֶיהָ וְלֹא תַשִּׂיג אֹתָם וּבִקְשָׁתַם וְלֹא תִמְצָא וְאָמְרָה אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה אֶל אִישִׁי הָרִאשׁוֹן כִּי טוֹב לִי אָז מֵעָתָּה
Rashi Comments:
her lovers: Egypt and Assyria, and you will not be able to seek aid from them.
And she shall pursue: Heb. וְרִדְּפָה This is one of the intensive conjugations. Comp. (Proverbs 12:11) “and he who pursues empty ones” (porcacier in O.F:, poursuivra in modern French), to pursue. I.e. she will follow them and not overtake them.
and she shall seek them: Heb. וּבִקְשָׁתַם, a combination of אוֹתָם וּבִקְשָׁה.
10. But she did not know that I gave her the corn, the wine, and the oil, and I gave her much silver and gold, but they made it for Baal.
י. וְהִיא לֹא יָדְעָה כִּי אָנֹכִי נָתַתִּי לָהּ הַדָּגָן וְהַתִּירוֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָר וְכֶסֶף הִרְבֵּיתִי לָהּ וְזָהָב עָשׂוּ לַבָּעַל
Rashi Comments:
But she did not know: She did not lay it to her heart, but showed herself as unknowing.
and I gave her much silver and gold: but they made it for Baal.
11. Therefore, I will return and take My corn in its time and My wine in its appointed season, and I will separate My wool and My flax, to cover her nakedness.
יא. לָכֵן אָשׁוּב וְלָקַחְתִּי דְגָנִי בְּעִתּוֹ וְתִירוֹשִׁי בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ וְהִצַּלְתִּי צַמְרִי וּפִשְׁתִּי לְכַסּוֹת אֶת עֶרְוָתָהּ
Rashi Comments:
in its time: At the time the produce completes its ripening.
and I will separate: [Heb. וְהִצַּלְתִּי] from her My wool and My flax, which was to cover her nakedness. Every expression of הָצָלָה in Scripture is an expression of separation and setting apart. Proof of this we find in (Gen. 31: 9) “And God separated (וַיַצֵּל) your father’s cattle,” (ibid.:16) “For all the wealth that… separated (הִצִיל).”
12. And now, I will bare her disgrace before the eyes of her lovers, and no man shall save her from My hand.
יב. וְעַתָּה אֲגַלֶּה אֶת נַבְלֻתָהּ לְעֵינֵי מְאַהֲבֶיהָ וְאִישׁ לֹא יַצִּילֶנָּה מִיָּדִי
Rashi Comments:
and no man shall save her from My hand: Even the merits of the Patriarchs have been depleted. [from Shabbath 55a]
13. And I will terminate all her rejoicing, her festival[s], her new moon[s], and her Sabbath[s], and all her appointed seasons.
יג. וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי כָּל מְשׂוֹשָׂהּ חַגָּהּ חָדְשָׁהּ וְשַׁבַּתָּהּ וְכֹל מוֹעֲדָהּ
Mahx Notes: All these judgments upon Israel took place and were fulfilled in the judgments upon the the ten tribes. Because these things happened to these tribes they happened in effect to Benjamin and Judah as well, even though certain observances were preserved for the house of Judah. This was not for Judah's merit that these observances were preserved but for the sake of Mashiach.
14. And I will lay waste her vine[s] and her fig tree[s], [concerning] which she said, "They are my hire, which my lovers have given me," and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
יד. וַהֲשִׁמֹּתִי גַּפְנָהּ וּתְאֵנָתָהּ אֲשֶׁר אָמְרָה אֶתְנָה הֵמָּה לִי אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ לִי מְאַהֲבָי וְשַׂמְתִּים לְיַעַר וַאֲכָלָתַם חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה
Rashi Comments:
And I will lay waste: Heb. וַהֲשִׁמֹּתִי, an expression of desolation (שְּׁמָמָה).
hire: אֶתְנָה, like אֶתְנָן.
and I will make them a forest: where the beasts walk and eat the fruit.
Mahx Notes: In Bava Kama 80a, in the Gemara's discussion of Joshua's first upon settling the Land, we read (as elaborated by the ArtScroll translation): "That people shall pasture their animals in privately held forests and the owners shall not object. Rav Pappa said: We have not stated this ruling except with regard to small domesticated animals (e.g. sheep and goats) pasturing in an exceedingly large and dense forest, however, with regard to small domesticated animals pasturing in small forests and large domesticated animals (e.g. cows and horses) pasturing in large and dense forests, we have not stated it, since the damage to the forest in either case is too great. And all the more so in the case of large domesticated animals pasturing in a small forest that we do not allow it."
If we read this prophecy in Hosea in light of this ruling concerning the first rule of Joshua for settling the Land, we easily see how Hosea may be using the animals as stand-ins for the gentiles. And, measure for measure, we might imagine that just as the Israelites had to come to agreement how that they would manage the ecology of their forests, to keep the goats and cows, etc., from ravaging them, without at the same time being hostile toward those who managed the goats and cows, so now in their own chastisement they would be the forests and the gentiles like the animals foraging in the forests would live among them and ravage them, unless their chastisement would be mitigated for the sake of their salvation.
Just as the sages would see in their Torah wisdom that there was a need for discernment in the application of the first rule of Joshua for settling the Land, so there would be a need for restraint of the gentiles when they would be allowed to forage in the forest of Israelites. For even the small forces of the gentiles could not be allowed to forage freely in the small, thin forests, and the larger forces of the gentiles would have to be restrained from ever freely foraging in the forests of Israelites, whether small and thin or large and dense, lest the forest of Israelites be damaged beyond repair. Therefore, not because it was deserved, but for the sake of Mashiach, the devastation of the forests of Israelites was mitigated, even in accordance with the wisdom of the Torah sages. [see more on this below on verse 20]
15. And I will visit upon her the days of the baalim, to whom she burnt incense, and she adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry, and went after her lovers, and she forgot Me, says the Lord.
טו. וּפָקַדְתִּי עָלֶיהָ אֶת יְמֵי הַבְּעָלִים אֲשֶׁר תַּקְטִיר לָהֶם וַתַּעַד נִזְמָהּ וְחֶלְיָתָהּ וַתֵּלֶךְ אַחֲרֵי מְאַהֲבֶיהָ וְאוֹתִי שָׁכְחָה נְאֻם יְהֹוָה
Rashi Comments:
And I will visit upon her: the retribution of…
the days of the baalim to whom she burnt incense: constantly to them, and this is a present tense.
and she adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry: Heb. וַתַּעַד, an expression of jewelry (עֲדִי). Like a harlot who adorns herself to greet her paramours. And חֶלְיָתָה is an Arabic term meaning jewelry.
16. Therefore, behold I will allure her and lead her into the desert, and I will speak comfortingly to her heart.
טז. לָכֵן הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מְפַתֶּיהָ וְהֹלַכְתִּיהָ הַמִּדְבָּר וְדִבַּרְתִּי עַל לִבָּהּ
Rashi Comments:
Therefore, behold I will allure her: I will persuade her to be drawn after Me (losanjier in O.F., to flatter or cajole). Other editions read: atrayray in O.F. (attirerai). I will lure, attract. And what is the allurement?
and lead her into the desert: In exile, which is to her like a desert and a wasteland. And there she will lay up to her heart that it was better for her when she performed My will than when she rebelled against Me.
17. And I will give her her vineyards from there and the depth of trouble for a door of hope, and she shall dwell there as in the days of her youth, and as the day of her ascent from the land of Egypt.
יז. וְנָתַתִּי לָהּ אֶת כְּרָמֶיהָ מִשָּׁם וְאֶת עֵמֶק עָכוֹר לְפֶתַח תִּקְוָה וְעָנְתָה שָּׁמָּה כִּימֵי נְעוּרֶיהָ וּכְיוֹם עֲלוֹתָהּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם
Rashi Comments:
her vineyards: Jonathan rendered this as an expression of managers and leaders. Comp. (Job 24:18) “he will not face the way of the vineyards,” meaning that the people of the generation of the flood had made up their mind not to follow the righteous leaders, such as Noah and Methusalah. And so, (Song 1:6) “my vineyard I did not guard.” The allusion is to the worship of idols instead of worshipping God, the Leader. Another explanation:
and lead her into the desert: To the desert of Sihon and Og, and with the same expression Ezekiel prophesied (20:35, 38), “And I will bring you there to the desert of the peoples, and I will contend with you there, etc. As I continued with your forefathers etc., and I will bring them into the tradition of the covenant. And I will purge you of those who rebel…” but the righteous I will keep alive. That is the intention of “her vineyards.” [from Ruth Rabbah 5:6, Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 49b].
and the depth of trouble: Heb. עֶמֶק עָכוּר. The depth of the exile where they were troubled I will give her for a door of hope (an expectation of hope), for, out of those troubles, she will take heart to return to Me.
and she shall dwell there: and she shall dwell there: Heb. וְעָנְתָה, an expression of dwelling. Comp. (Nahum 2:12) “a den (מְעוֹן) of lions.” [from Machbereth Menachem p. 135]
as in the days of her youth: as in the days of her youth: when she dwelt in Egypt a long time.
and as the day of her ascent, etc.: and as the day of her ascent, etc.: as Israel cried out to me in Egypt because of the subjugation and I redeemed her, so also now.
Mahx Notes = The KJV translates:
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope:
and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
The JPS, following Rashi, has "the depth of trouble for a door of hope," instead of, "the valley of Achor for a door of hope". If we read this as Rashi does, we can nevertheless see the use of the Hebrew word, "achor" as an allusion to the great trouble that took place there in the days of Yehoshua/Joshua, and see the hope for Israel's redemption from that trouble as representative of her hope from all trouble she has had entering into the Land in fulfillment of the covenant promise.
the Vineyard = Passages in the Prophets like this in Hosea about the pruned Vine or Vineyard were clearly in Yehoshua's mind in giving his Vineyard Parables and in his teaching in Yochanan/John 15.
18. And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord, you shall call [Me] Ishi, and you shall no longer call Me Baali.
יח. וְהָיָה בַיּוֹם הַהוּא נְאֻם יְהֹוָה תִּקְרְאִי אִישִׁי וְלֹא תִקְרְאִי לִי עוֹד בַּעֲלִי
Rashi Comments:
you shall call [Me] Ishi, etc: You shall worship Me out of love and not out of fear. Ishi is an expression of marriage and the love of one’s youth.
Baali: An expression of mastership and fear. And our Rabbis (Pesachim 87a, Kethuboth 71b) explained: Like a bride in her father-in-law’s house, and not like a bride in her father’s house.
Mahx Notes: like a bride in her Father-in-law's house.... We will see that Ephraim will learn from converts the conversion of his own heart from being mastered by fear in divine service to being mastered by love in divine service. A bride in a father-in-law's house is subject to fear, as she does not know him, not being raised by him. But a bride in her own father's house is not subject to fear, for she knows her father, having been raised in the palm of his hand like a dove.
19. And I will remove the names of the baalim from her mouth, and they shall no longer be mentioned by their name.
יט. וַהֲסִרֹתִי אֶת שְׁמוֹת הַבְּעָלִים מִפִּיהָ וְלֹא יִזָּכְרוּ עוֹד בִּשְׁמָם
Rashi Comments:
and they shall no longer be mentioned: I.e. Israel shall no longer be mentioned by the name of the baalim. Or, the baalim shall no longer be mentioned by the name of Israel, saying that they are their gods. Or, the name of the baalim shall no longer be mentioned, as it is stated. (Isa. 2:18) “And the idols shall completely pass away.”
20. And I will make a covenant for them on that day with the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the sky and the creeping things of the earth; and the bow, the sword, and war I will break off the earth, and I will let them lie down safely.
כ. וְכָרַתִּי לָהֶם בְּרִית בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא עִם חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְעִם עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְרֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה אֶשְׁבּוֹר מִן הָאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁכַּבְתִּים לָבֶטַח
Rashi Comments:
with the beasts of the field: for I will destroy harmful creatures from the world. And so Scripture states (Isa. 11:9): “They shall neither harm nor destroy etc.”
Mahx Notes: Previously in Bava Kama 80a, the Gemara, [see above on verse 14], in talking in general about the Mishnah's restrictions on keeping small domestic animals in the Land, relate a story about one time when Rav and Shmuel and Rav Assi were going to attend a bris milah, the ceremony of the circumcision of an eight day old boy, which the Talmud here calls, שבוע הבן "a week of a son". Due to an ongoing issue of the honor of place between three rabbis attending a bris, there is a delay of their entering the house. During this delay they witness a cat biting off the hand of a small child. In this way, the matter of a child’s bris and a child’s welfare intersect in the discussion of the issue of securing the settling the Land and the possible interference of domesticated or undomesticated animals being kept in the Land in this process. The rabbis attempt to make rulings about white and black cats as a way of speaking about euthanizing vicious cats. The ruling is difficult because, apparently, while black cats had been much more domesticated at the time, and, indeed, it had been a white cat that had bitten off the hand of the infant, it was known that sometimes black cats would give birth to a white cat, or a white cat would give birth to a black cat. Therefore it was not sufficient to simply say that all white cats were vicious and, because they might attack humans, should be euthanized. Nevertheless, the domestication of cats and that they should be kept in the Land, in principle, was seen as good and helpful to the Land.
The challenge that the sages found here in determining the right Torah ruling was very much like the one they would find when seeking to clarify Joshua's first rule upon entering the Land, that small domestic animals could be kept freely in forested areas and that any landowners in these areas must show hospitality toward the animal keepers in this regard. The prophetic quality of the Land of Israel was that it would be the place of the beginning of peace for all the earth, the place of the overthrowing of the sin of Adam and of the curse. Therefore, finding Torah rulings which led not only toward peace between people but also toward ecological peace, including matters concerning the domestication of animals, was essential.
On the occasion when the three rabbis, Rav and Shmuel and Rav Assi together witnessed the white cat biting off the hand of the infant, they did so because they were in the midst of a process of seeking to fully make peace among themselves. If they had not been involved in doing this, the Talmud tells us that they would have directly entered the house where the Bris was to take place, which it here, deliberately calls the house of, שבוע הבן "a week of a son", and then goes on to say that some call this, the house of ישוע הבן "Yeshua the son", which might be also translated, "a salvation of the son". [By first calling the bris milah "a week of a son", the Talmud is then able to directly point to its also being called, "a salvation of the son", which is literally, "Yeshua the son". And this is in a time and in a culture where this expression was politically the kind of expression that would normally (otherwise) always be avoided.]
The notes in the ArtScroll version of this passage, the Talmud's use of this expression here, ישוע הבן , there are several different ways suggested that calling the bris milah "a salvation of the son" might be understood. In Aramaic ישוע "salvation", the ArtScroll notes say, is translated as פורקן "redemption", [see Heb. פדיון], so that we would be speaking of the redemption of the son, pidyon haben. On the p'shat, or basic, level the circumcision of a son on the eighth day is not the salvation or the redemption of the son. But, on a higher, prophetic, level is there a sense where this becomes true? By looking at these things in the light of our discussion of Hosea's prophecy here, we can draw some clear and definite conclusions.
When God has so fulfilled his covenant that it becomes a covenant with "the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the sky and the creeping things of the earth", the white cat will be equally at peace as the black cat. The three rabbis will have perfect peace between themselves from the beginning and will have no need for delay in entering into the house of ישוע הבן "Yeshua the son".
However the practices or understandings of the Israelites around the ceremony of a son on the eighth day, the sign of God's eternal covenant with Israel that Israel should be settled in the Land of Israel in peace, they are, all together, like a song that sings about this great salvation. They point prophetically to this time of ecological peace, the restoration and extension of the Garden of Eden from the Land of Israel into all the earth. They talk about the firstborn of Egypt being cut off by the judgment of God and the circumcised sons of Israel being redeemed to God. And above all they sing about the redemption of the one son, Mashiach, whose redemption redeems all.
21. And I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness and with justice and with loving-kindness and with mercy.
כא. וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי לְעוֹלָם וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בְּצֶדֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּט וּבְחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים
Rashi Comments:
with righteousness and with justice: which you practice.
and with loving-kindness and with mercy: which will come to you from Me because of them. Concerning our father Abraham, it is written (Gen 18:19): “For I love him since he commands etc. to perform righteousness and justice.” And, corresponding to them, He bestowed upon his children loving-kindness and mercy, as it is said (Deut. 13:18): “And He shall grant you mercy” ; (ibid. 7:12) “And the Lord your God shall keep for you the covenant and the loving- kindness.” When they ceased to perform righteousness and justice, as it is said (Amos 5:7): “Those who turn justice into wormwood, and righteousness they leave on the ground,” also the Holy One, blessed be He, took away from them the loving-kindness and the mercy, as it is said (Jer. 16:5): “for I have gathered in My peace from this people, says the Lord, the loving-kindness and the mercies.” And when they will return to perform righteousness and justice, they shall be redeemed immediately, as it is said (Isa. 1: 27): “Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her penitent through righteousness.” And the Holy One, blessed be He, will add mercy and loving-kindness to them and make a crown of all four of them and place it on their head.
22. And I will betroth you to Me with faith, and you shall know the Lord.
כב. וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בֶּאֱמוּנָה וְיָדַעַתְּ אֶת יְהֹוָה
Rashi Comments:
And I will betroth you to Me with faith: For the reward of the faith, for, while in exile, you believed in the promises through My prophets. [from Mechilta 14: 31 with variations]
23. And it shall come to pass on that day, [that] I will answer, says the Lord; I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth.
כג. וְהָיָה | בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶעֱנֶה נְאֻם יְהֹוָה אֶעֱנֶה אֶת הַשָּׁמָיִם וְהֵם יַעֲנוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ
Rashi Comments:
I will answer the heavens: to pour upon the clouds from the rivulet of good that depends on My word. They will, in turn, answer to pour water upon the earth.
24. And the earth shall answer the corn and the wine and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel.
כד. וְהָאָרֶץ תַּעֲנֶה אֶת הַדָּגָן וְאֶת הַתִּירוֹשׁ וְאֶת הַיִּצְהָר וְהֵם יַעֲנוּ אֶת יִזְרְעֶאל
Rashi Comments:
Jezreel: The people of the exile who were scattered and then in-gathered.
25. And I will sow her for Me in the land, and I will have compassion upon the unpitied one, and I will say to them that are not My people, "You are My people," and they shall say, "[You are] my God."
כה. וּזְרַעְתִּיהָ לִּי בָּאָרֶץ וְרִחַמְתִּי אֶת לֹא רֻחָמָה וְאָמַרְתִּי לְלֹא עַמִּי עַמִּי אַתָּה וְהוּא יֹאמַר אֱלֹהָי
Rashi Comments:
And I will sow her for Me in the land: As one who sows a se’ah in order to gather many korim, so will many proselytes be added to them. [from Pesachim 87b]
Mahx Notes: so will many proselytes/converts be added to them... See note above verse 18
א. דְּבַר יְהֹוָה | אֲשֶׁר הָיָה אֶל הוֹשֵׁעַ בֶּן בְּאֵרִי בִּימֵי עֻזִּיָּה יוֹתָם אָחָז יְחִזְקִיָּה מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה וּבִימֵי יָרָבְעָם בֶּן יוֹאָשׁ מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל
Rashi Comments:
The word of HaShem /theName/ the LORD which came to Hosea the son of Beeri in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, etc.: He buried these four kings during his lifetime... [from Pesachim 87b].
and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash: He was of the sons of Jehu [i.e., a great grandson of Jehu], and he too reigned with Uzziah and Jotham...
2. At the first, when HaShem spoke to Hosea, HaShem said unto Hosea, Go, take yourself a wife who is a prostitute and children of harlotry; for the land commits harlotry in going astray from HaShem.
ב. תְּחִלַּת דִּבֶּר יְהֹוָה בְּהוֹשֵׁעַ וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל הוֹשֵׁעַ לֵךְ קַח לְךָ אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים וְיַלְדֵי זְנוּנִים כִּי זָנֹה תִזְנֶה הָאָרֶץ מֵאַחֲרֵי יְהֹוָה
Rashi Comments:
At the beginning of the Lord’s speaking to Hosea: [See Judaica translation] Lit. in the beginning the Lord spoke to Hosea. Therefore, our Rabbis stated: The first of the four prophets who prophesied (in these days): Hosea, Isaiah, Amos, and Micah.... But the simple meaning of the verse is: At the beginning of the speech which the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to Hosea, he said this to him.
take yourself a wife of harlotry: Our Rabbis said: This is to be explained according to its apparent meaning: Since he said about Israel, “Exchange them for another nation,” as is explained in Pesachim at the beginning of the chapter entitled האשה, “The woman” (87a).
and children of harlotry: For she will bear you children who will be of possible illegitimacy. And Jonathan paraphrased: Prophesy a prophecy about the inhabitants of the cities of idolatry.
The word קַח, stated here is an expression of teaching, [derived from לֶקַח, doctrine]. Teach them to repent.
goes astray: Heb. תִּזְנֶה. This is the present tense.
Mahx Note: Rashi quoting the sages of the Talmud clarifies the understanding that G-d's instruction to Hosea to take a practicing prostitute as a wife is a prophetic analogy of how G-d is about to define his relationship with Israel, that he will turn her "replacement theology" back upon her, for the sake of her correction. When G-d speaks by Hosea and says, (verse 9, see note there), "And He said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be yours," the idea of a replacement theology, of G-d replacing Israel with another people that this statement evokes, was in truth a response to Israel's asking for a king like unto the kings of the nations. This request is pointed out here by God through the prophet to be spiritually adulterous.
Israel's idea of replacing G-d with another, a gentile-like king, was the first complete theology of replacement. It is as if they said, "We do not want to be G-d's kingdom. We want to be the kingdom of a different king, a different kind of king, a king like the kings of the nations." This desire that was found in Israel to be a nation like any other nation, with a religion like any other religion, is the true genius of replacement theology, and it is the essence of the replacement theology of the so called, Christian civilization as well as the Islamic civilization.
The essence of those replacement theologies found in those civilizations is not in all honesty that they should be G-d's only chosen people in place of Israel but that Israel should be assimilated among them, as just another nation like them, that there should be no unique and chosen nation, but that all nations should be equal. This is the true essence of replacement theology. For it is in Israel's sanctification and redemption that G-d reveals himself for judgment and salvation in all the world, and it is this very revelation of the one true God which Humanity under the spell of sin desires to resist with all its power.
The Talmudic sages adopt a homiletic explanation of why G-d tells Hosea to take a prostitute as a wife in which we are invited to listen in, as it were, to a conversation between G-d and the prophet which has taken place behind the scenes. This explanation, in effect, puts the blame on Hosea for the judgment of the disowning of Israel, which we will look into more deeply in notes on chapter 2 verse 1. Once this Talmudic teaching is clearly understood it will help us to understand with a new perspective how and why it has been allowed that Paul, and even Yehoshua himself, have been blamed historically by some for the replacement theology of Imperial Christianity, when in truth G-d's correction of Israel is in control of all apparent replacement of Israel in history. When G-d's correction of Israel is complete all theologies of replacement will be made manifestly meaningless and will be vacated and abandoned by their creators.
3. And he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
ג. וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיִּקַּח אֶת גֹּמֶר בַּת דִּבְלָיִם וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ בֵּן
Rashi Comments:
Gomer: Our Rabbis (Pesachim 87a) said. That was her name by dint of her harlotry, for all would gratify their lust on her (גּוֹמְרִין) and they would tread upon her like a pressed fig (דְּבֵלָה). [That is a euphemism for sexual contact.] Jonathan, however, paraphrases: גֹּמֶר, that if they would return from their way, their retribution would be finished, and if not, they will be like unripe figs falling from the fig tree.
and she conceived and bore: Jonathan paraphrases: And they continued to do evil deeds.
Mahx Notes: unripe figs = Green Figs: Mark 11:13 "Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 Yehoshua/Jesus told it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again!' and his disciples heard it."
Both sources that Rashi quotes can be connected to Mark 11:13 and 14. Yehoshua sees and reveals a parable and a prophecy in the unripe figs of the fig tree. Although it was not the season for figs, Yehoshua treated the tree as though it ought to have miraculously bore fruit early because it was destined that he should come early to look for food upon its branches. The parable teaches that his coming to Israel was in a certain way early. It was, as it were, against nature. Yet Israel was not called of G-d to be natural Adam, but to be a new, miraculous Adam. Had they repented before hand, heeding the prophets, heeding the call to repentance of Yochanan the Immerser, they would have been miraculusly able to bear witness to the resurrection of the dead; their fruit would have been prepared to meet their Mashiach. They would not have been like green figs fallen from the fig tree.
Again, because they were unrepentant from the time of Samuel the prophet they were like a natural fig tree, one which was like "Gomer" to the surrounding nations, who took her and gratified their lust upon her as a pressed fig. For Israel in her own self had no supernatural power to resist them.
4. And the Lord said to him: Name him Jezreel, for, in a short time, I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will terminate the kingdom of the house of Israel.
ד. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֵלָיו קְרָא שְׁמוֹ יִזְרְעֶאל כִּי עוֹד מְעַט וּפָקַדְתִּי אֶת דְּמֵי יִזְרְעֶאל עַל בֵּית יֵהוּא וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי מַמְלְכוּת בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל
Rashi Comments:
Name him Jezreel: Jonathan renders: Call their name the scattered ones. I.e. prophesy over them that they will be exiled, and they will be sown among the peoples.
the blood of Jezreel: To be understood according to its Aramaic translation: the blood of the house of Ahab, whom Jehu slew in Jezreel because they worshipped Baal, and he and his sons went afterwards and worshipped pagan deities; therefore, I account for them the blood of the house of Ahab as innocent blood.
upon the house of Jehu: Jeroboam the son of Joash was of the sons of Jehu, and his son Zechariah was assassinated.
5. And it shall come to pass on that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.
ה. וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וְשָׁבַרְתִּי אֶת קֶשֶׁת יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעֵמֶק יִזְרְעֶאל
6. And she conceived again and bore a daughter, and He said to him: Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will not continue to grant clemency to the house of Israel, but I will mete out their portion to them.
ו. וַתַּהַר עוֹד וַתֵּלֶד בַּת וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ קְרָא שְׁמָהּ לֹא רֻחָמָה כִּי לֹא אוֹסִיף עוֹד אֲרַחֵם אֶת בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי נָשֹא אֶשָּׂא לָהֶם
Rashi Comments:
I will not continue to grant clemency, Heb.: אֲרַחֵם, like לְרַחֵם, to grant clemency.
but I will mete out their portion to them: I will mete out to them the portion of their cup and their deed. This expression is like (Gen. 43: 34), “And he gave out portions (וַיִּשָּׂא מַשְׂאֹת).”
7. But to the house of Judah will I grant clemency, and I will save them by the Lord their God, but I will not save them with the bow, with the sword, with war, with steeds, or with riders.
ז. וְאֶת בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם וְהוֹשַׁעְתִּים בַּיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם וְלֹא אוֹשִׁיעֵם בְּקֶשֶׁת וּבְחֶרֶב וּבְמִלְחָמָה בְּסוּסִים וּבְפָרָשִׁים
Rashi Comments:
But to the house of Judah will I grant clemency: after I terminate the kingdom of Israel, for after the ten tribes were exiled, the house of Judah was the object of clemency from Hezekiah until Zedakiah.
Mahx Notes: to the house of Judah will I grant clemency = to save by the Lord their God is not to save by the sword. From the time of the sin of the spies Israel was saved by the sword only for the purpose of chastisement, because of the lack of perfect faith. When Judah is saved for the sake of the promise of Mashiach made to David and for Jerusalem's sake, it shall not be by the sword but by the demonstration of miraculous power, as in the day of the redemption from Egypt. Nevertheless, even as the house of Israel turned to dependence upon the strength of the arm and not purely on G-d, so the house of Judah also turned to dependence upon the strength of the arm, and so it would prove necessary that the salvation of the tribe of Judah through G-d's miraculous power be demonstrated to be for David's sake, according to the promise made to him concerning Mashiach, and for Jerusalem's sake, as Mashiach's promised bride. And this will be seen.
8. And she weaned Lo-ruhamah, and she conceived and bore a son.
ח. וַתִּגְמֹל אֶת לֹא רֻחָמָה וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן
Rashi Comments:
And she weaned Lo ruhamah: According to the Targum, we explain: And that generation shall perish among the nations where they were exiled.
and she conceived and bore a son: According to the Targum: And they continued and committed evil deeds. But according to its simple meaning, we explain it as it apparently means.
9. And He said: Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be yours.
ט. וַיֹּאמֶר קְרָא שְׁמוֹ לֹא עַמִּי כִּי אַתֶּם לֹא עַמִּי וְאָנֹכִי לֹא אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם
Mahx Notes: It is as if G-d said to Israel, "You have said to me, 'You are not our God! Therefore you have yourselves declared that you are not my people. I will accept your decision and I will not be yours, so far as your decision goes. But your decision is not my decision, and therefore, 'In the place where it was said to you, You are not my people, it shall be said to you, The children of the living God!" (see verse 1 chapter 2).
CHAPTER 2: A PRUNED VINE
1. And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which shall neither be measured nor counted; and it shall come to pass that, instead of saying to them, "You are not My people," it shall be said to them, "The children of the living God.”
א. וְהָיָה מִסְפַּר בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּחוֹל הַיָּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִמַּד וְלֹא יִסָּפֵר וְהָיָה בִּמְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יֵאָמֵר לָהֶם לֹא עַמִּי אַתֶּם יֵאָמֵר לָהֶם בְּנֵי אֵל חָי
Rashi Comments:
And the number… shall be: What is the connection of retribution and consolation juxtaposed in one speech? ... This can be compared to a king who became angry with his wife. He summoned a scribe to come and write a bill of divorcement. Before the scribe arrived, the king became reconciled with his wife. Said the king, “Is it possible that this scribe should leave here divided?” I.e. his heart should be divided and bewildered, saying, “Why did the king send for me?” He said to him, “Come and write that I am doubling her kethubah.” And according to its simple meaning, this is the reason for its juxtaposition. “For you are not My people, and I will not be yours.” I will show Myself as though I am not yours, and you shall be exiled among the nations, and even there you shall multiply and grow, and there you shall lay it to your heart to return to Me, as it is said through Moses (Deut. 30:1,3): Read more...
Mahx Note: Rashi refers to the teaching of aggadah teaching in the Talmud in Pesachim 87b, the homiletic teaching, that we have looked at in our notes on chapter one, that relate a dialogue between G-d and Hosea in which Hosea is heard saying to G-d concerning unrepentant Israel, “Exchange them for another nation.” Rashi relates that the sages teach that later Hosea felt that he had sinned and stood and begged mercy for them (See above 1:2). Here Rashi explains this whole projected exchange between G-d and Hosea in this matter with another parable from the sages concerning the King's scribe, (see above).
In the first explanation of G-d's commanding Hosea to marry a prostitute, where a dialogue between G-d and Hosea is projected, Homer is made responsible for the notion of replacement theology. In the second explanation Hosea is cast only as a scribe called to notarize a divorce that the king himself desires but then decides against. In the second case, instead of the reversal being due to Hosea's learning from his own experience that G-d cannot divorce his wife even though she is unfaithful to him, Hosea, as the scribe, is still made the key to the reversal but for a different reason. The king does not want the scribe to leave thinking that he may have really wanted to divorce his wife. Therefore he puts it on the record that the reason he called the scribe was to write a doubling of her kethubah (dowery).
By bringing the parable of the king and the scribe, Rashi shows that, while the projected dialogue in the Talmud that blames Hosea for the notion of replacement theology is quite forceful and extensive, it is only a literary device intended to teach a deep truth concerning this mysterious prophecy. In fact, this literary device that blames the prophet for G-d's temporary rejection of Israel makes it out as if it were only Hosea who needed to learn about the true nature of G-d and his love for Israel and that while Israel was unfaithful to G-d her unfaithfulness was not what was actually responsible for her rejection.
How much does strict justice in relation to Israel's unfaithfulness to G-d have to do with the great judgment of Israel in the prophecy of Hosea being called Lo Ammi, Not-My-People? And how much does G-d's desire to justify Israel as his wife have to do with his promise to call Israel Ammi, My-People, again? The sages looked at the way that retribution and consolation were juxtaposed in one speech here at the beginning of chapter two and these questions were raised for them. It is these questions that are at the very heart of the meaning of atonement and the justification of life itself. As Paul said, it was the Good News that he received which he also taught that Mashiach died for our sins, according to the Scriptures... And in the Scriptures of the prophecy of Hosea we see the Good News promised to Israel, where it was said to you You are not my people, in that very place it shall be said to you You are my people, where a replacement theology seemed to be declared in that very speech a non-replacement theology shall be proclaimed!
This is the meaning of G-d's turning Israel's replacement theology back upon her, having turned it inside out and upside down. For it was Israel whose theology would have replaced G-d for a gentile-like king. It is therefore her own measure that G-d measures back to her in allowing her to seem to be Not His People. But it is this measure that exhausts her very existence, and when it exhausts her then she is left to find in her exhaustion that she yet does exist because it was she who rejected G-d and not G-d who rejected her. She ends by having no existence in her own definition or in the definition of the nations, but still existing and eternally existing in the definition of G-d. It is in this way that Hosea learns and we all learn what the meaning of the atonement is, according to the Scriptures, and what the meaning of the justification of life is. For it is in this way of Israel's redemption that HaShem is revealed and the knowledge of his name fills the earth as the waters fill the seas.
2. And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head, and they shall go up from the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.
ב. וְנִקְבְּצוּ בְּנֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יַחְדָּו וְשָׂמוּ לָהֶם רֹאשׁ אֶחָד וְעָלוּ מִן הָאָרֶץ כִּי גָדוֹל יוֹם יִזְרְעֶאל
Rashi Comments:
one head: David their king.
for great is the day of Jezreel: The gathering of their sowing.
3. Say to your brethren, "Ammi," and to your sisters, "Ruhamah."
ג. אִמְרוּ לַאֲחֵיכֶם עַמִּי וְלַאֲחוֹתֵיכֶם רֻחָמָה
Rashi Comments:
Say to your brethren, “Ammi”: To be explained according to the Targum: Return to My Torah, and I will grant clemency to your nation.
4. Strive with your mother, strive, for she is not My wife, and I am not her Husband, and let her remove her harlotries from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts.
ד. רִיבוּ בְאִמְּכֶם רִיבוּ כִּי הִיא לֹא אִשְׁתִּי וְאָנֹכִי לֹא אִישָׁהּ וְתָסֵר זְנוּנֶיהָ מִפָּנֶיה וְנַאֲפוּפֶיהָ מִבֵּין שָׁדֶיהָ
Rashi Comments:
Strive with your mother, strive: With your nation of today, which is the mother of future generations.
and her adulteries from between her breasts: It is customary among the adulteresses that they [i.e., their lovers] squeeze them between their breasts. Jonathan renders: And the worship of idols from among her cities.
5. Lest I strip her naked and leave her as [on] the day she was born; and I make her like a desert, and I set her like an arid land, and cause her to die of thirst.
ה. פֶּן אַפְשִׁיטֶנָּה עֲרֻמָּה וְהִצַּגְתִּיהָ כְּיוֹם הִוָּלְדָהּ וְשַׂמְתִּיהָ כַמִּדְבָּר וְשַׁתִּהָ כְּאֶרֶץ צִיָּה וַהֲמִתִּיהָ בַּצָּמָא
Rashi Comments:
as [on] the day she was born: Like the day that I found her in Egypt, as is delineated in Ezekiel (16:4, 5): “And as for your birth, on the day you were born your navel was not cut etc. No eye took pity on you etc. with a loathing of your body.”
like a desert: This alludes to the decrees that I decreed upon you (Parshandatha: them) in the desert, viz. that there they should perish and there they would die (Num. 14:35).
and [I will] cause her to die: Jonathan renders: And I will kill her.
6. And I will not pity her children for they are children of harlotries.
ו. וְאֶת בָּנֶיהָ לֹא אֲרַחֵם כִּי בְנֵי זְנוּנִים הֵמָּה
7. For their mother played the harlot; she who conceived them behaved shamefully, for she said, "I will go after my lovers, those who give my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drinks."
ז. כִּי זָנְתָה אִמָּם הוֹבִישָׁה הוֹרָתָם כִּי אָמְרָה אֵלְכָה אַחֲרֵי מְאַהֲבַי נֹתְנֵי לַחְמִי וּמֵימַי צַמְרִי וּפִשְׁתִּי שַׁמְנִי
וְשִׁקּוּיָי
Rashi Comments:
their mother: Their nation.
she who conceived them behaved shamefully: Jonathan, who renders: Their teachers are ashamed. The wise men who teach them with instructions are ashamed before the ignorant populace. They tell them, “You shall not steal,” but they steal. “You shall not lend for interest,” but they lend.
Mahx Notes = It would almost seem that Paul, in the first chapters of Romans, is quoting directly from Targum Johathan here. How might this inform us about Paul's understanding of Hosea?
after my lovers: In the ways of the nations.
8. Therefore, behold I will close off your way with thorns, and I make a fence against her, and she shall not find her paths.
ח. לָכֵן הִנְנִי שָׂךְ אֶת דַּרְכֵּךְ בַּסִּירִים וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת גְּדֵרָהּ וּנְתִיבוֹתֶיהָ לֹא תִמְצָא
Rashi Comments:
behold I will close off: Heb. שֵׂךְ an expression of closing. Comp. (Isaiah 5: 5) “remove its hedge (מְשׂוּכָּתוֹ) ” ; (Proverbs 15:19) “as though hedged (כִּמְשֻּׂכַת) by thorns.”
your way: The ways and paths in which you go.
9. And she shall pursue her lovers and not overtake them, and she shall seek them and not find them; and she shall say, "I will go and return to my first Husband, for it was better for me then than now.
ט. וְרִדְּפָה אֶת מְאַהֲבֶיהָ וְלֹא תַשִּׂיג אֹתָם וּבִקְשָׁתַם וְלֹא תִמְצָא וְאָמְרָה אֵלְכָה וְאָשׁוּבָה אֶל אִישִׁי הָרִאשׁוֹן כִּי טוֹב לִי אָז מֵעָתָּה
Rashi Comments:
her lovers: Egypt and Assyria, and you will not be able to seek aid from them.
And she shall pursue: Heb. וְרִדְּפָה This is one of the intensive conjugations. Comp. (Proverbs 12:11) “and he who pursues empty ones” (porcacier in O.F:, poursuivra in modern French), to pursue. I.e. she will follow them and not overtake them.
and she shall seek them: Heb. וּבִקְשָׁתַם, a combination of אוֹתָם וּבִקְשָׁה.
10. But she did not know that I gave her the corn, the wine, and the oil, and I gave her much silver and gold, but they made it for Baal.
י. וְהִיא לֹא יָדְעָה כִּי אָנֹכִי נָתַתִּי לָהּ הַדָּגָן וְהַתִּירוֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָר וְכֶסֶף הִרְבֵּיתִי לָהּ וְזָהָב עָשׂוּ לַבָּעַל
Rashi Comments:
But she did not know: She did not lay it to her heart, but showed herself as unknowing.
and I gave her much silver and gold: but they made it for Baal.
11. Therefore, I will return and take My corn in its time and My wine in its appointed season, and I will separate My wool and My flax, to cover her nakedness.
יא. לָכֵן אָשׁוּב וְלָקַחְתִּי דְגָנִי בְּעִתּוֹ וְתִירוֹשִׁי בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ וְהִצַּלְתִּי צַמְרִי וּפִשְׁתִּי לְכַסּוֹת אֶת עֶרְוָתָהּ
Rashi Comments:
in its time: At the time the produce completes its ripening.
and I will separate: [Heb. וְהִצַּלְתִּי] from her My wool and My flax, which was to cover her nakedness. Every expression of הָצָלָה in Scripture is an expression of separation and setting apart. Proof of this we find in (Gen. 31: 9) “And God separated (וַיַצֵּל) your father’s cattle,” (ibid.:16) “For all the wealth that… separated (הִצִיל).”
12. And now, I will bare her disgrace before the eyes of her lovers, and no man shall save her from My hand.
יב. וְעַתָּה אֲגַלֶּה אֶת נַבְלֻתָהּ לְעֵינֵי מְאַהֲבֶיהָ וְאִישׁ לֹא יַצִּילֶנָּה מִיָּדִי
Rashi Comments:
and no man shall save her from My hand: Even the merits of the Patriarchs have been depleted. [from Shabbath 55a]
13. And I will terminate all her rejoicing, her festival[s], her new moon[s], and her Sabbath[s], and all her appointed seasons.
יג. וְהִשְׁבַּתִּי כָּל מְשׂוֹשָׂהּ חַגָּהּ חָדְשָׁהּ וְשַׁבַּתָּהּ וְכֹל מוֹעֲדָהּ
Mahx Notes: All these judgments upon Israel took place and were fulfilled in the judgments upon the the ten tribes. Because these things happened to these tribes they happened in effect to Benjamin and Judah as well, even though certain observances were preserved for the house of Judah. This was not for Judah's merit that these observances were preserved but for the sake of Mashiach.
14. And I will lay waste her vine[s] and her fig tree[s], [concerning] which she said, "They are my hire, which my lovers have given me," and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
יד. וַהֲשִׁמֹּתִי גַּפְנָהּ וּתְאֵנָתָהּ אֲשֶׁר אָמְרָה אֶתְנָה הֵמָּה לִי אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ לִי מְאַהֲבָי וְשַׂמְתִּים לְיַעַר וַאֲכָלָתַם חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה
Rashi Comments:
And I will lay waste: Heb. וַהֲשִׁמֹּתִי, an expression of desolation (שְּׁמָמָה).
hire: אֶתְנָה, like אֶתְנָן.
and I will make them a forest: where the beasts walk and eat the fruit.
Mahx Notes: In Bava Kama 80a, in the Gemara's discussion of Joshua's first upon settling the Land, we read (as elaborated by the ArtScroll translation): "That people shall pasture their animals in privately held forests and the owners shall not object. Rav Pappa said: We have not stated this ruling except with regard to small domesticated animals (e.g. sheep and goats) pasturing in an exceedingly large and dense forest, however, with regard to small domesticated animals pasturing in small forests and large domesticated animals (e.g. cows and horses) pasturing in large and dense forests, we have not stated it, since the damage to the forest in either case is too great. And all the more so in the case of large domesticated animals pasturing in a small forest that we do not allow it."
If we read this prophecy in Hosea in light of this ruling concerning the first rule of Joshua for settling the Land, we easily see how Hosea may be using the animals as stand-ins for the gentiles. And, measure for measure, we might imagine that just as the Israelites had to come to agreement how that they would manage the ecology of their forests, to keep the goats and cows, etc., from ravaging them, without at the same time being hostile toward those who managed the goats and cows, so now in their own chastisement they would be the forests and the gentiles like the animals foraging in the forests would live among them and ravage them, unless their chastisement would be mitigated for the sake of their salvation.
Just as the sages would see in their Torah wisdom that there was a need for discernment in the application of the first rule of Joshua for settling the Land, so there would be a need for restraint of the gentiles when they would be allowed to forage in the forest of Israelites. For even the small forces of the gentiles could not be allowed to forage freely in the small, thin forests, and the larger forces of the gentiles would have to be restrained from ever freely foraging in the forests of Israelites, whether small and thin or large and dense, lest the forest of Israelites be damaged beyond repair. Therefore, not because it was deserved, but for the sake of Mashiach, the devastation of the forests of Israelites was mitigated, even in accordance with the wisdom of the Torah sages. [see more on this below on verse 20]
15. And I will visit upon her the days of the baalim, to whom she burnt incense, and she adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry, and went after her lovers, and she forgot Me, says the Lord.
טו. וּפָקַדְתִּי עָלֶיהָ אֶת יְמֵי הַבְּעָלִים אֲשֶׁר תַּקְטִיר לָהֶם וַתַּעַד נִזְמָהּ וְחֶלְיָתָהּ וַתֵּלֶךְ אַחֲרֵי מְאַהֲבֶיהָ וְאוֹתִי שָׁכְחָה נְאֻם יְהֹוָה
Rashi Comments:
And I will visit upon her: the retribution of…
the days of the baalim to whom she burnt incense: constantly to them, and this is a present tense.
and she adorned herself with her earrings and her jewelry: Heb. וַתַּעַד, an expression of jewelry (עֲדִי). Like a harlot who adorns herself to greet her paramours. And חֶלְיָתָה is an Arabic term meaning jewelry.
16. Therefore, behold I will allure her and lead her into the desert, and I will speak comfortingly to her heart.
טז. לָכֵן הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מְפַתֶּיהָ וְהֹלַכְתִּיהָ הַמִּדְבָּר וְדִבַּרְתִּי עַל לִבָּהּ
Rashi Comments:
Therefore, behold I will allure her: I will persuade her to be drawn after Me (losanjier in O.F., to flatter or cajole). Other editions read: atrayray in O.F. (attirerai). I will lure, attract. And what is the allurement?
and lead her into the desert: In exile, which is to her like a desert and a wasteland. And there she will lay up to her heart that it was better for her when she performed My will than when she rebelled against Me.
17. And I will give her her vineyards from there and the depth of trouble for a door of hope, and she shall dwell there as in the days of her youth, and as the day of her ascent from the land of Egypt.
יז. וְנָתַתִּי לָהּ אֶת כְּרָמֶיהָ מִשָּׁם וְאֶת עֵמֶק עָכוֹר לְפֶתַח תִּקְוָה וְעָנְתָה שָּׁמָּה כִּימֵי נְעוּרֶיהָ וּכְיוֹם עֲלוֹתָהּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם
Rashi Comments:
her vineyards: Jonathan rendered this as an expression of managers and leaders. Comp. (Job 24:18) “he will not face the way of the vineyards,” meaning that the people of the generation of the flood had made up their mind not to follow the righteous leaders, such as Noah and Methusalah. And so, (Song 1:6) “my vineyard I did not guard.” The allusion is to the worship of idols instead of worshipping God, the Leader. Another explanation:
and lead her into the desert: To the desert of Sihon and Og, and with the same expression Ezekiel prophesied (20:35, 38), “And I will bring you there to the desert of the peoples, and I will contend with you there, etc. As I continued with your forefathers etc., and I will bring them into the tradition of the covenant. And I will purge you of those who rebel…” but the righteous I will keep alive. That is the intention of “her vineyards.” [from Ruth Rabbah 5:6, Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 49b].
and the depth of trouble: Heb. עֶמֶק עָכוּר. The depth of the exile where they were troubled I will give her for a door of hope (an expectation of hope), for, out of those troubles, she will take heart to return to Me.
and she shall dwell there: and she shall dwell there: Heb. וְעָנְתָה, an expression of dwelling. Comp. (Nahum 2:12) “a den (מְעוֹן) of lions.” [from Machbereth Menachem p. 135]
as in the days of her youth: as in the days of her youth: when she dwelt in Egypt a long time.
and as the day of her ascent, etc.: and as the day of her ascent, etc.: as Israel cried out to me in Egypt because of the subjugation and I redeemed her, so also now.
Mahx Notes = The KJV translates:
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope:
and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
The JPS, following Rashi, has "the depth of trouble for a door of hope," instead of, "the valley of Achor for a door of hope". If we read this as Rashi does, we can nevertheless see the use of the Hebrew word, "achor" as an allusion to the great trouble that took place there in the days of Yehoshua/Joshua, and see the hope for Israel's redemption from that trouble as representative of her hope from all trouble she has had entering into the Land in fulfillment of the covenant promise.
the Vineyard = Passages in the Prophets like this in Hosea about the pruned Vine or Vineyard were clearly in Yehoshua's mind in giving his Vineyard Parables and in his teaching in Yochanan/John 15.
18. And it shall come to pass on that day, says the Lord, you shall call [Me] Ishi, and you shall no longer call Me Baali.
יח. וְהָיָה בַיּוֹם הַהוּא נְאֻם יְהֹוָה תִּקְרְאִי אִישִׁי וְלֹא תִקְרְאִי לִי עוֹד בַּעֲלִי
Rashi Comments:
you shall call [Me] Ishi, etc: You shall worship Me out of love and not out of fear. Ishi is an expression of marriage and the love of one’s youth.
Baali: An expression of mastership and fear. And our Rabbis (Pesachim 87a, Kethuboth 71b) explained: Like a bride in her father-in-law’s house, and not like a bride in her father’s house.
Mahx Notes: like a bride in her Father-in-law's house.... We will see that Ephraim will learn from converts the conversion of his own heart from being mastered by fear in divine service to being mastered by love in divine service. A bride in a father-in-law's house is subject to fear, as she does not know him, not being raised by him. But a bride in her own father's house is not subject to fear, for she knows her father, having been raised in the palm of his hand like a dove.
19. And I will remove the names of the baalim from her mouth, and they shall no longer be mentioned by their name.
יט. וַהֲסִרֹתִי אֶת שְׁמוֹת הַבְּעָלִים מִפִּיהָ וְלֹא יִזָּכְרוּ עוֹד בִּשְׁמָם
Rashi Comments:
and they shall no longer be mentioned: I.e. Israel shall no longer be mentioned by the name of the baalim. Or, the baalim shall no longer be mentioned by the name of Israel, saying that they are their gods. Or, the name of the baalim shall no longer be mentioned, as it is stated. (Isa. 2:18) “And the idols shall completely pass away.”
20. And I will make a covenant for them on that day with the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the sky and the creeping things of the earth; and the bow, the sword, and war I will break off the earth, and I will let them lie down safely.
כ. וְכָרַתִּי לָהֶם בְּרִית בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא עִם חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְעִם עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְרֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה וְקֶשֶׁת וְחֶרֶב וּמִלְחָמָה אֶשְׁבּוֹר מִן הָאָרֶץ וְהִשְׁכַּבְתִּים לָבֶטַח
Rashi Comments:
with the beasts of the field: for I will destroy harmful creatures from the world. And so Scripture states (Isa. 11:9): “They shall neither harm nor destroy etc.”
Mahx Notes: Previously in Bava Kama 80a, the Gemara, [see above on verse 14], in talking in general about the Mishnah's restrictions on keeping small domestic animals in the Land, relate a story about one time when Rav and Shmuel and Rav Assi were going to attend a bris milah, the ceremony of the circumcision of an eight day old boy, which the Talmud here calls, שבוע הבן "a week of a son". Due to an ongoing issue of the honor of place between three rabbis attending a bris, there is a delay of their entering the house. During this delay they witness a cat biting off the hand of a small child. In this way, the matter of a child’s bris and a child’s welfare intersect in the discussion of the issue of securing the settling the Land and the possible interference of domesticated or undomesticated animals being kept in the Land in this process. The rabbis attempt to make rulings about white and black cats as a way of speaking about euthanizing vicious cats. The ruling is difficult because, apparently, while black cats had been much more domesticated at the time, and, indeed, it had been a white cat that had bitten off the hand of the infant, it was known that sometimes black cats would give birth to a white cat, or a white cat would give birth to a black cat. Therefore it was not sufficient to simply say that all white cats were vicious and, because they might attack humans, should be euthanized. Nevertheless, the domestication of cats and that they should be kept in the Land, in principle, was seen as good and helpful to the Land.
The challenge that the sages found here in determining the right Torah ruling was very much like the one they would find when seeking to clarify Joshua's first rule upon entering the Land, that small domestic animals could be kept freely in forested areas and that any landowners in these areas must show hospitality toward the animal keepers in this regard. The prophetic quality of the Land of Israel was that it would be the place of the beginning of peace for all the earth, the place of the overthrowing of the sin of Adam and of the curse. Therefore, finding Torah rulings which led not only toward peace between people but also toward ecological peace, including matters concerning the domestication of animals, was essential.
On the occasion when the three rabbis, Rav and Shmuel and Rav Assi together witnessed the white cat biting off the hand of the infant, they did so because they were in the midst of a process of seeking to fully make peace among themselves. If they had not been involved in doing this, the Talmud tells us that they would have directly entered the house where the Bris was to take place, which it here, deliberately calls the house of, שבוע הבן "a week of a son", and then goes on to say that some call this, the house of ישוע הבן "Yeshua the son", which might be also translated, "a salvation of the son". [By first calling the bris milah "a week of a son", the Talmud is then able to directly point to its also being called, "a salvation of the son", which is literally, "Yeshua the son". And this is in a time and in a culture where this expression was politically the kind of expression that would normally (otherwise) always be avoided.]
The notes in the ArtScroll version of this passage, the Talmud's use of this expression here, ישוע הבן , there are several different ways suggested that calling the bris milah "a salvation of the son" might be understood. In Aramaic ישוע "salvation", the ArtScroll notes say, is translated as פורקן "redemption", [see Heb. פדיון], so that we would be speaking of the redemption of the son, pidyon haben. On the p'shat, or basic, level the circumcision of a son on the eighth day is not the salvation or the redemption of the son. But, on a higher, prophetic, level is there a sense where this becomes true? By looking at these things in the light of our discussion of Hosea's prophecy here, we can draw some clear and definite conclusions.
When God has so fulfilled his covenant that it becomes a covenant with "the beasts of the field and with the fowl of the sky and the creeping things of the earth", the white cat will be equally at peace as the black cat. The three rabbis will have perfect peace between themselves from the beginning and will have no need for delay in entering into the house of ישוע הבן "Yeshua the son".
However the practices or understandings of the Israelites around the ceremony of a son on the eighth day, the sign of God's eternal covenant with Israel that Israel should be settled in the Land of Israel in peace, they are, all together, like a song that sings about this great salvation. They point prophetically to this time of ecological peace, the restoration and extension of the Garden of Eden from the Land of Israel into all the earth. They talk about the firstborn of Egypt being cut off by the judgment of God and the circumcised sons of Israel being redeemed to God. And above all they sing about the redemption of the one son, Mashiach, whose redemption redeems all.
21. And I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness and with justice and with loving-kindness and with mercy.
כא. וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי לְעוֹלָם וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בְּצֶדֶק וּבְמִשְׁפָּט וּבְחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים
Rashi Comments:
with righteousness and with justice: which you practice.
and with loving-kindness and with mercy: which will come to you from Me because of them. Concerning our father Abraham, it is written (Gen 18:19): “For I love him since he commands etc. to perform righteousness and justice.” And, corresponding to them, He bestowed upon his children loving-kindness and mercy, as it is said (Deut. 13:18): “And He shall grant you mercy” ; (ibid. 7:12) “And the Lord your God shall keep for you the covenant and the loving- kindness.” When they ceased to perform righteousness and justice, as it is said (Amos 5:7): “Those who turn justice into wormwood, and righteousness they leave on the ground,” also the Holy One, blessed be He, took away from them the loving-kindness and the mercy, as it is said (Jer. 16:5): “for I have gathered in My peace from this people, says the Lord, the loving-kindness and the mercies.” And when they will return to perform righteousness and justice, they shall be redeemed immediately, as it is said (Isa. 1: 27): “Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and her penitent through righteousness.” And the Holy One, blessed be He, will add mercy and loving-kindness to them and make a crown of all four of them and place it on their head.
22. And I will betroth you to Me with faith, and you shall know the Lord.
כב. וְאֵרַשְׂתִּיךְ לִי בֶּאֱמוּנָה וְיָדַעַתְּ אֶת יְהֹוָה
Rashi Comments:
And I will betroth you to Me with faith: For the reward of the faith, for, while in exile, you believed in the promises through My prophets. [from Mechilta 14: 31 with variations]
23. And it shall come to pass on that day, [that] I will answer, says the Lord; I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth.
כג. וְהָיָה | בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶעֱנֶה נְאֻם יְהֹוָה אֶעֱנֶה אֶת הַשָּׁמָיִם וְהֵם יַעֲנוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ
Rashi Comments:
I will answer the heavens: to pour upon the clouds from the rivulet of good that depends on My word. They will, in turn, answer to pour water upon the earth.
24. And the earth shall answer the corn and the wine and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel.
כד. וְהָאָרֶץ תַּעֲנֶה אֶת הַדָּגָן וְאֶת הַתִּירוֹשׁ וְאֶת הַיִּצְהָר וְהֵם יַעֲנוּ אֶת יִזְרְעֶאל
Rashi Comments:
Jezreel: The people of the exile who were scattered and then in-gathered.
25. And I will sow her for Me in the land, and I will have compassion upon the unpitied one, and I will say to them that are not My people, "You are My people," and they shall say, "[You are] my God."
כה. וּזְרַעְתִּיהָ לִּי בָּאָרֶץ וְרִחַמְתִּי אֶת לֹא רֻחָמָה וְאָמַרְתִּי לְלֹא עַמִּי עַמִּי אַתָּה וְהוּא יֹאמַר אֱלֹהָי
Rashi Comments:
And I will sow her for Me in the land: As one who sows a se’ah in order to gather many korim, so will many proselytes be added to them. [from Pesachim 87b]
Mahx Notes: so will many proselytes/converts be added to them... See note above verse 18