OSIMO
338
OSIMO
live to Juda; the second, which is of far greater im-
portance, consists of the Messianic passages which, it
IS said, lie outside the range of the prophet's vision. It
is pos.sible to detect several pn)l)abl<' glosses in the
first series: the second assertion is purely arbitrary.
The Messianic texts have all the characteristics of
Osee's style; they arc closely connected with the eon-
text and are entirely in accordance with his general
doctrines.
Te.\ching. — It is fundamentally the same as that of Amos: — the same strict Monotheism, the same ethi- cal conception which paves the way for the Brnli ixiii- pcres and the worship which mu.st be in spirit and in truth. Only Osee lays much more stress on the idolatry which perhaps had been increased in the interval and was in any case better known to the Ephrairaite Prophet than to his .ludean predecessor. And Amos had in return a much more extended historical and geographical horizon. O.see sees but the dying Israel. His characteristic point of view is the bond between Jahve and Israel. Jahve is the spouse of Israel, the bride of Jahve, — a profoundly philosophical and mys- tical image which ai)pears here for the first time and which we find again in Jeremias, Ezechiel, Canticle of Canticles, Apocalypse, etc.
(a) The Ancient AUiance. — Jahve has taken to Him- self His spouse by redeeming her out of the bondage of Egypt. Ho has united Himself to her on Sinai. The bride owed fidelity and exclusive love, trust, and obedi- ence to the spouse; but alas! how has she observed the conjugal compact? Fidelity. — She has prostituted herself to the IBaals and Astartes, degrading herself to the level of the infamous practices of the Canaanite high places. She has worshipped the calf of Samaria and has given herself up to every superstition. No doubt she has also paid homage to Jahve, but a hom- age wholly external and carnal instead of the adora- tion which must be above all things internal and which He Himself exacts: "With their flocks, and with their lierds they shall go to seek the Lord, and shall not find him . . ."(v, 6). " For I desired mercy and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than holocaiists" (\'i, 6). Trust has failed in like manner. Costly alliances were sought with other nations as though the protection of the spouse were not sufficient: — "Ephraim hath given gifts to his lovers (viii,9). He hath made a covenant with the Assyrians, and carried oil into Egypt ' ' (Vulg. , xii, 1 ) . The very favours which she has received from Jahve in her ingratitude she ascribes to fal.se gods. She said: "I will go after my lovers, that gave me my bread, and my water, my wool, and my flax" (Vulg.,ii, 5). Obedience: — All the laws which govern the pact of union have been violated: "Shall I write to him [Ephraim] my manifold laws, which have been accounted as foreign" (viii, 12). It is a question here at least primarily of the Mosaic legis- lation. Osee and Amos in spite of contrary opinion knew at least in substance the contents of the Penta- teuch. Anarchy is therefore rife in politics and religion : "They have reigned but not by me: they have been princes, and I knew not: of their silver, and their gold they have made idols to themselves" I. viii, 4).
The root of all these evils is the absence of "knowl- edge of God " (iv-v) for which the priest especially and the princes are to blame, an absence of theoretical knowledge no doubt, but primarily of the practical knowledge which has love for its object. It is the ab- sence of this practical knowledge chiefly that Osee laments. The Prophet employs yet another symbol for the bond of union. He sets forth in some exquisite lines the symbol of the chosen son. Jahve has given birth to Israel by redeeming it out of the bondage of Egypt. He has borne it in his arms, has guided its first feeble steps and sustained itwith bonds of love; he has reared and nourished it (xi, 1 sq.) and the only re- turn made by Ephraim is apostasy. Such is the his- tory of the covenant. The day of retribution is at
hand; it has even dawned in anarchy, civil war, and
every kind of scourge. The consummation is immi-
nent. It would seem that repentance itself would be
unable to ward it off. As later Jeremias, so now Osee
announces to his people with indescribable emotion the
final ruin: Jezrahel "Disgraced", "Not my people."
The children of Israel are about to go into exile, there
they "shall sit many days without king, and without
prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and
without ephod and without teraphim " (iii, 4). Na-
tional authority shall come to an end and public na-
tional religion will be no more.
(b) The New Covenant. — Yet the love of Jahve will change even this evil into a remedy. The unworldly princes, now separated from the people, will no longer draw them into sin. The disappearance of the exter- nal national religion will cause the idolatrous sacri- fices, symbols, and oracles to disappear at the same time. .\nil the road will be open to salvation; it will come "at the end of days". Jahve cann<jt abandon forever His chosen son. At the very thought of it He is filled with compassion and his heart is stirred within him. Accordingly after having been the lion which roars against his guilty people He will roar against their enemies, and His children will come at the sound of His voice from all the lands of their exile (xi, 10 .sq.). It will be, as it were, a new exodus from Egypt. Juda will be reinstated and a remnant of the tribe of Ephraim shall be joined with him (vi, 11 — vii, la). "The children of Israel shall return and shall .seek the Lord their God, and David their king" (iii, 5). The new alliance shall never be broken: it shall be contracted in justice and in righteousness, in kindness and in love, in fidelity and knowledge of God. There shall be reconciliation with nature and peace among men and with God. Prosperity and un- limited extension of the people of God shall come to pass, and the children of this new kingdom shall be called the sons of the living God. Great shall be the day of Jezrahel (the day when "God will sow"); (ch. ii), ch. i, 1-3 (Vulg., i, 10— ii, 1) ought likely to be set at theendof ch. ii. Cf. Condamin in "Revue biblique", 1902, 386 sqq. This is an admirable sketch of the Church which Christ is to found seven and a half centuries later. The doctrine of Osee, like that of Amos, manifests a transcendence which his historical and religious surroundings cannot explain. Digitus Dei est hie.
Among Catholic commentaries cf. especially Van Hoonacker, Les dome pelits prophiles (Paris. 1908). Among Protestant works Harper, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Amos and Hosea (Edinburgh, 1905). a commentary of Liberal tendencies.
Jean CalSs.
Osimo, Diocese of (Auximana), in the Province of Ascoli Piceno, Italy. Osimo was contained in the territory of the Donation of Pepin. In the conflicts between the popes and the Swabian emperors, it was Ghibelhne; but remained faithful when in 1375, at the instigation of the Florentines, nearly all the cities of the Pontifical States rebelled against the Holy See. Among other rulers it had Pandolfo Malatesta (1416); Francesco Sforza (1435); and finally, Buccolino, who surrendered the city to the Holy See in 1494. Rem- nants of the Roman walls and baths still exist; the cathedral is of the eighth century, restored and en- larged by Bishop Gentilis (1205) ; the baptistery of the church of St. John the Baptist is notable; the com- munal palace possesses a collection of inscriptions; the Collegio Campana had among its students Leo XII and Pius VIII. Saints Florentius, Sisinnius, and Diocletius were martyrs of Osimo; the city venerates as its first bishop St. Leopardus, of unknown era; the first bishop of certain date is Fortunatus (649). Among its prelates were Vitalianus (743), and Gen- tilis (1177). Gregory IX transferred the sec to Ricanati in 1240 to punish Osimo for its felony, but Bishop Rinaldo persuaded Urban IV to restore the
