But in whichever way this question may be solved — whether these occurrences be regarded as a real and ex- ternal transaction, or as a piece of spiritual scenery, or only (\Mtsii Miscell. Sac. p. 90) as an allegorical de- scription— it is agreed on all hands that the actions are typical ; that they are, as Jerome calls them, sacrumenta J'uturoriim. One question which sprang out of the lit- eral view was whether the connection between Hosea and Gomer was marriage or fornication. Another ques- tion which followed immediately upon the preceding was " an Deus possit dispensare ut fornicatio sit licita." This latter question was much discussed by the school- men, and by the Thomists it was avowed in the affirm- ative.
Expositors are not at all agreed as to the meaning of the phrase " wife of whoredoms," D'lJ^St nilJN; wheth-
er the phrase refers to harlotry before marriage, or un' faithfulness after it. It may afford an casj' solution of the difficidty if we look at the antitype in its history and character. AdiUtery is the appellation of idolatrous apostasy. The Jewish nation were espoused to God. The contract was formed in Sinai ; but the Jewish peo- ple had prior to this period gone a-whoring. Josh. xxiv, 2-14, " Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, and they served other gods." Comp. Lev. xvii, 7, in which it is implied that idolatrous pro- pensities had also developed themselves during the abode in Egypt : so that the phrase here employed may signify one devoted to lasciviousness prior to her mar- riage. Yet this propensity of the Israelites to idolatry had been measiurably covert prior to the Exode. On the other hand, none but a female of previously lewd inclinations would be likely to violate her conjugal ob- ligations ; and Eichhorn shows that marrying an avow- ed harlot is not necessarily implied by B"'2i;t IT^X, which may very well imply a -wife who after marriage becomes an adulteress, even though chaste before. In any case the marriage must be supposed to have been a real contract, or its significance would be lost. Jer. ii, 2, " I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." The facts in the case of the Israelitish nation correspond with this symbol of a woman who had been of bad repute before marriage, and who proved a notorious profligate after- wards. D^3^;t ''^'^, children of whoredoms, refer most naturally to the tvro sons and daughter afterwards to be I born. They were not the prophet's own, but a spurious offspring palmed upon him by his faithless spouse, as is intimated in the allegory, and they followed the perni- cious example of the mother. Spiritual adultery was the debasing sin of Israel. "Non dicitur," observes Manger, " cognovit uxorem, sed simpliciter concepit et peperit." The children are not his. It is said, indeed, in ver. 3, " She bare Mm a son." The word ib is want- ing in some JNISS. and in some copies of the Sept. If genuine, it only shows the effrontery of the adulteress, and the patience of the husband in receiving and edu- cating as his own a spurious brood. The IsraeUtes who had been received into covenant very soon fell from their first love, and were characterized by insatiable spiritual wantonness: yet their INIaker, their husband, did not at once divorce them, but exhibited a marvel- lous long-suffering.
The names of the children being sjTnbolica],the name of the mother has been thought to have a similar signi- fication. Gomer Bath-Diblaim may have the symbolic sense of "one thoroughly abandonetl to sensual delights;" "I'C J signifies completion (Ewald, Grammat. § 228) ; TS n'I'b S'n, "daiif/hter of grape-cahes," the dual form being expressive of the mode in which these dainties were baked in double layers. The names of the children are Jezreel, Lo-ruhamah, and Lo-ammi. The prophet ex- plams the meaning of the appellations. It is generally supposed that the names refer to three successive gener- ations of the Israelitish people. Hengstenberg, on the other hand, argues that " wife and children both are the people of Israel : the three names must not be consid- ered separately, but taken together." But as the mar- riage is first mentioned, and the births of the children are detailed in order, some time elapsing between the events, we rather adhere to the ordinary exposition. Nor is it without reason tliat the second child is de- scribed as a female. The first child, Jezreel, may refer to the first dynasty of Jeroboam I and his successors, which was terminated in the blood of Ahab's house shed by Jehu at Jezreel. The name suggests also the cruel and fraudiUent possession of the vineyard of Na- both," which was in Jezreel," where, too, the woman Jez- ebel was slain so ignominiously (1 Kings xvi, 1 ; 2 Kings ix, 21). But since Jehu and his family had become as corrupt as their predecessors, the scenes of Jezreel
HOSEA
355
HOSEA
were again to be enacted, anil Jehu's race, must perish. Jezreel, the spot referred to by the prophet, is also, ac- cording to Jerome, the place where the Assyrian army routed the Israelites. The name of this child associates the past and future, symbolizes past sins, intermediate punishments, and final overthrow. The name of the second child, Lo-ruhamah, " not-pitied," the appellation of a degraded daiif/Jite?; may refer to the feeble, effemi- nate period which followed the overthrow of the first djniasty, when Israel became weak and helpless as well as sunk and abandoned. The favor of God was not ex- liibited to the nation : they were as abject as impious. But tlie reign of Jeroboam II was prosperous ; new en- ergy was infused into the kingdom ; gleams of its for- mer prosperity shone upon it. This revival of strength in that generation may be typified by the birth of a third child, a son, Lo-ammi, " not-my-people" (2 Kings xiv, 25). Yet prosperity did not bring with it a revival of piety; still, although their vigor was recruited, they were not God's people (Lectures on the Jeiri.<Ii Ai/tli/ni- ties and Scriptures, by J. G. Palfrey, ii, 422, Bosdm, is ! 1 ). Sec each name in its place.