So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley, and a half homer of barley:
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Those are the seven and eight of which Hosea says that with this number he bought and took to himself the fullness of faith, for you read, “And I went and bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver and for a core of barley and for a half core of barley and a measure of wine.” The Lord had told him previously to buy a harlot, and it is proof that he bought her, since he declares how much he paid. The fifteen pieces of silver consist of seven and eight.
Core. Septuagint, "gomor of barley, and for a nebel of wine. "The woman must consequently have been of very mean condition. In the East wives are still, even among Christians, purchased according to their rank, often without being seen or consulted. The parents give part of the price to the bride. (Calmet)
The unbelieving Jews, who refrain from idols, receive some temporal advantages; but not thirty pieces of silver, or three cores of wheat, denoting the faith of the blessed Trinity and the observance of the decalogue, whereby they might obtain eternal life. Towards the end of the world they shall be converted. (Worthington)
And how shall I speak of the whore married by the prophet? She is the figure either of the church as gathered in from the Gentiles, or—an interpretation that better suits the passage—of the synagogue. She, Israel, was first adopted from among the idolaters by Abraham and Moses. She has now denied the Savior and proved unfaithful to him. Therefore she has long been deprived of her altar, priests and prophets and has to abide many days to return to her first husband. For when the faithfulness of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, all Israel shall be saved.
