I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the fat of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
All Commentaries on Hosea 13:8 Go To Hosea 13
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
In fulfillment of holy Writ, the truth has resounded through the voice of the apostles, for the psalmist has sung, “Their voice has gone forth unto all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” So also “Christ our Passover is sacrificed,” for of him the prophet had foretold: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and he was mute as a lamb before its shearer, and he opened not his mouth.” Who is this man? He is the man of whom the prophet at once goes on to say, “In humility his judgment was taken away; who shall declare his generation?” I recognize the realization of so much humility in a king of so much power, for he who is as a lamb that opens not its mouth before its shearer is also “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” Who is this lamb and lion? He suffered death like a lamb, and he has devoured like a lion. Who is this lamb and lion? Meek yet courageous; lovable yet fearsome; innocent yet powerful; silent under judgment, yet roaring to pronounce judgment. Who is this lamb and lion—suffering like a lamb; rising up like a lion? Rather, is he not at the same time a lamb and lion in his suffering and his resurrection? Let us discern the lamb in the suffering. “He was,” as we have just reminded you, “mute as a lamb before its shearer, and he opened not his mouth.” Let us discern the lion in the suffering.
