[Hosea, 14:2–14:10]
“Return O Israel to the Lord your God, for you have fallen because of your sin” [14:2]. Repent Israel and be pious so that it should not happen to you what happened to the city of Samaria. You have seen your sins before you and you stumbled because of them. Therefore, repent to Holy One, for no man can raise you up from the stumbling block of your sins, but only the Holy One when you will repent. Our sages say that repentance is a very good thing that goes up to the Throne of Glory of the Holy One, as the verse says, “to the Lord your God” [14:2].1Radak, Hosea, 14:2.
“Take words with you and return to God” [14:3]. The prophet said: The Holy One does not desire from you more to repent, only good words, that you should recognize your sins with your whole heart, not just with words from your mouth.2Radak, Hosea, 14:3.
“Say to him, take away all guilt and accept what is good” [14:3]. Say before the Holy One and say that He forgives and absolves all sins of whoever believes that the Holy One forgives. The Holy One forgives the transgressions of that one. Take to yourself a good heart and a good mouth for good words.3Radak, Hosea, 14:3.
“Instead of bulls, we will pay with our lips” [14:3]. The sacrifices that we would have brought, we will pay for with our lips. That is to say, prayer is in place of the sacrifices.
“Assyria will not save us” [14:4]. Recognize and say before the Holy One about the king of Assyria that we relied on him previously. Now we know well that he cannot help us, that he is no helper for you. Therefore, we will no longer send horses to ride, to the king of Assyria, that he should help us. We will not say about the foreign gods that were made by the work of our hands, that we should say about them that this is our god.4Radak, Hosea, 14:4.
“In You the orphans find mercy” [14:4]. Only in You, God, is our hope that You are merciful to orphans.
“I will heal their affliction, I will take them back in love” 14:5]. The prophet said: the Holy One has informed me that because you, Israel, spoke so well to me, I will heal them, remove their wildness and will love them. Even though they are not worthy to be loved, but I make a present to them, to freely love them, since My anger is taken away from them.
“I will be like the dew to Israel, he will blossom like the lily” [14:6]. I will be like a dew to Israel that never stops. It is found every day and is good for the grain and for the people. When people travel, the rain is good for the grain, but for the people it is bad. He cannot travel because of the rain. So too, God is equally good to Israel. Like a flowering rose, so too is Israel.
“He shall strike roots like a tree of Lebanon” [14:6]. Israel will be rooted like a tree in the forest whose roots are very deep and wide in the earth. So too will Israel be strong on the earth.5Radak, Hosea, 14:6.
“His boughs will spread far out, his beauty will be like the olive tree’s, etc.” [14:7]. His boughs will spread out in all directions and they will be lovely like olive trees that are lovely all year. The fragrance of Israel will be like that of a forest that contains all sorts of vegetation and wood that are fragrant from a distance. Israel will have a good name from a distance.
“Those who sit in his shade will be revived” [14:8]. Israel will return to the land of Israel and will sit in the city of the Holy One. They will always dwell there because they observe the commandments of the Holy One, just like a person remains alive when he has wheat. They will blossom like a vine, his fragrance like wine. Therefore, he says the taste of wine, since Israel is compared to a wine.6Radak, Hosea, 14:8.
“Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?” [14:9]. The Holy One said: when Ephraim will say, why do I need the foreign gods, I would rather serve the Holy One. The Holy One will then respond that the verse says further, “I responded and look after you.” When Ephraim will speak thusly, then I, God, will respond to Ephraim in all of his travails and will look to always see the good in Ephraim, all the time.
“I am like a verdant cypress, your fruit comes from Me” [14:9]. I want to be to Israel like a cypress full of branches that one can bend the head of the tree to the branch that is on the ground. So am I, God, very high in the heavens and I show Myself to you on the earth, just like the young tree bends to the ground from its great height. If you want to say, how is a cypress tree that has no fruit? Therefore, the verse says here: everyone will find their fruit from Me.7Radak, Hosea, 14:9.
“He who is wise understands these and one who is discerning will know them” [14:10]. When Hosea finished his prophecy, he said: who might understand and reflect on the punishments that I have told you until here and you should know them.
“For the paths of God are straight and the righteous will walk on them, etc.” [14:10]. The paths of the Holy One are just and the righteous walk on them. However, the evildoers will stumble on the same path, when they cannot keep the Torah.
The Talmud says in [tractate] Sanhedrin, what is the meaning of the verse “according to their understanding” [13:2]. Rabbi Isaac said: each one of them made an image of his false god and kept the image in his purse and as soon as he thought of his false god, he took out the image and kissed it. And what is the meaning of the verse “let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves” [13:2]. Rabbi Isaac said: the priest of the false gods looked to steal much money from the wealthy people. They took the calves that they worshiped as a false god, and starved them and did not feed them. They made an image of each wealthy man and placed it near the crib of the calf, where it would have eaten. The calves constantly looked at this image and recognized it. Later, the priests let the calves loose in the market. The calves ran after the wealthy men and they rubbed themselves against the rich men. The calves thought that this was the image that stood near their crib, since they looked like them. The priests said that the calf wants that you should pay for having it sacrificed and that is why it is rubbing against you. In this way, the priests picked up the money. This is the meaning of the verse “sacrifices of man; kissing calves” [13:2]. That is to say, what the calves kiss and rub against the people who will have them slaughtered for their sake.8B. Sanhedrin, 63b.
The Talmud says in [tractate] Yoma. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish said that repentance is a great thing, since the Holy One makes the premeditated sins of the person as if he never committed the transgressions as the verse says, “for you have stumbled in your iniquity” [14:2]. That is to say, you have stumbled with your transgressions. That is to say, not deliberately, just like someone who falls over something and does not see it. Rabbi Isaac said: It is said in the land of Israel, in the name of Rabbah the son of Mari. Come and see the difference between the Holy One and people. When a person argues with his friend and wants to apologize to him, he is in doubt if his friend will accept his apology. When he does know that his friend will accept his apology, he does not know if he will be satisfied with money or with good words. However, the Holy One is not so. When a person commits transgressions against Him, He is satisfied with good words, as the verse says in the haftorah, “take words with you and return to God” [14:3]. Take good words with you and repent. It is the same for the Holy One if he had built an altar and brought a sacrifice on it, as the verse says, “instead of bulls, we will pay with our lips” [14:3]. Rabbi Isaac said: If a person commits a sin for which is punishable by death, when a cow or a hen dies, or a glass is broken, or a finger is broken, that person’s sin is forgiven and he has atoned for the sin for which he should have suffered. The cow or hen or glass is his expiation. Therefore, a person should not be anguished when he suffers a loss.9B. Yoma, 86b, with some interpolations.