11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
When “Joseph was about thirty years old” he was released from his chains and interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. He was made the governor of Egypt. During the time of plenty, he gathered in the wheat, so that during the time of famine he would have some to distribute. I think that Joseph’s age of thirty came before as a type of the Savior’s thirty years. For this second Joseph did not gather in the kind of wheat that first Joseph did in Egypt. He, Jesus, gathers in true and heavenly wheat, so that in the time of abundance he might gather in the wheat that he will give out when famine is sent upon Egypt, “not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but hunger to hear the word of the Lord.”
It is prophesied, “Their young men will die by the sword, and their sons and daughters will perish in famine.” Those who hindered Jesus from teaching have not simply perished by the sword. But now, after the advent of the Lord, a more profound famine has come upon them. It is “not a famine of bread or thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord.” For the “Lord almighty” no longer “speaks” with them. This famine portends that prophecy would cease. And why do I say prophecy? The Lord ceased teaching them. Even if they bear the title sage a thousand times with them, the Word of the Lord is still not among them, since the verse has been fulfilled: “The Lord took away from Judea and Jerusalem the strong man and strong woman, the giant and the strong man, and the soldier and judge and prophet and diviner and elder and captain of fifty and the admirable adviser and master builder and intelligent pupil.” For he is no longer able to say, “Like a master builder I laid a foundation.” The builders have passed over, have come to the church, have laid the foundation, Jesus Christ. Those who came after them have also built on him.
The unreliability of excessive wealth may edify even to the point of eliciting contempt of corporal riches. Wealth is unstable. It is like a wave accustomed to change back and forth due to the violence of the wind. One might suppose that the people of Israel are rich, since they have the adoption of sons and divine worship, the promises and the patriarchs. However, they have become poor because of their sin against the Lord. “But they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good.” They have lacked nourishment in a certain way and have suffered hunger. For when they had put to death the bread of life, a hunger for the bread came upon them. A chastisement for the thirst was imposed on them, but “the hunger was not for sensible bread or the thirst for water, but a hunger to hear the Word of God.” Therefore “they have wanted and have suffered hunger.”
We harm both soul and body if we are guilty of lack of moderation to them both by fattening one beyond need or by causing them to waste away from starvation.… The Lord of all once admonished the Jewish people … by way of extreme indignation in the words, “I will deal you not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord,” to teach us that while one famine can torture the body, the other famine affects the soul. This very thing that the Lord threatened to inflict on them by way of punishment we now of our own volition secure for ourselves despite God’s show of care for us and his provision for us, through the advice of mentors, as well as the reading of Scriptures.
(Verse 11, 12) Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send forth (Vulgate: send) a famine upon the land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day, the fair virgins and young men shall faint for thirst. Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, and say, 'As your god, Dan, lives,' and, 'As the way of Beersheba lives,' they shall fall and never rise again. LXX: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And the waters shall be stirred up from the sea to the sea, and from the north to the east they shall go to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. In that day, the fair virgins and young men shall faint with thirst, those who swear by the sin of Samaria and say: As your god lives, O Dan, and as your god lives, O Bersabee. And they shall fall, and not rise again. In Hebrew, there are no waters, and 'propitiatio,' which we translate as forgiveness, and in Hebrew is called 'Asamath', signifies idol: which is the beginning of sins. The old story tells, both in Latin and Greek, and of all barbarian nations, nothing is harsher than hunger, which often compels the besieged to feed on human flesh, and to act according to their cruel nature: so that even parents do not spare their young children, and the marital affection tears apart the limbs of the beloved wife who was once loved. If hunger of bodies causes this, what should be said about the hunger of souls? which on the day of the resurrection of the Lord oppressed the people of the Jews, and joined with the most burning hunger, the thirst of those who do not have the bread that descends from heaven, and those waters that flowed from the belly of Jesus. The Law has been taken away from them, and the Prophets have fallen into eternal silence: they move from sea to sea, and from the British Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, that is, from the West to the South, and from the North to the East, foreigners throughout the whole world, are unable to find the word of God. In what place shall we ask the Jews where they think that day signifies, in which they endure the hunger of hearing the word of God: especially when they read the Scriptures and follow the humility of the letters? To them we suggest that the predicted hunger is spiritual understanding, in which Christ is seen, the passion of the Lord is found and the resurrection is discovered. They go around the world and seek the word of the Lord, and do not find it: because they have denied the Word of the Lord, which was done in the hands of all the prophets, which was in the beginning with the Father, which was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John I). At that time, beautiful virgins and young men, both chosen and educated (for this is what 'Baurim' signifies), became scarce due to thirst. The beautiful virgins represent the synagogues, and the chosen ones represent the teachers of the people. When they became scarce, they taught that the curses of Deuteronomy were fulfilled among the Jewish people (Deut. XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX). These chosen ones and teachers swore by the idol of Samaria, namely the golden calves, and said: 'May your God, Dan, live in the borders of the land of Judah, where Paneas is now, and at that time the golden calf was worshipped there. And may your way, Bersabee, live, for they rarely traveled there due to its long and difficult journey, both the just and unjust kings of Judah.' And because they have done this, therefore they shall fall down, and shall not rise again, that is, they shall not regain the state which they had before. But the Lord sends famine into the land over those who are earthly-minded: and it is not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord, when because of the sins of the people the teaching fails in the Churches. And from sea to sea, that is, from the salty and most bitter waves to the sea they reach: not encountering rivers, not sweetest and various springs, but again flowing toward bitter things. And from the North to the East, desiring to abandon the North (which is the most harsh wind and is called the right one by the ignorant) and to reach the East, which they will not be able to find, because they do not travel in a straight path, but wander on winding paths, and not holding to the royal road, they are led astray by crooked windings. At that time the souls of virgins would fail, whom the Apostle calls incorrupt: and he desires them to possess eternal chastity, writing to the Corinthians: For I have espoused you to one man, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear lest as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted, and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ (II Cor. X, 2, 3). And if all virgins were beautiful or good, he would never have said that good virgins would fail; but he placed good virgins in contrast to bad ones, who are holy in body and spirit. There are five foolish virgins who did not prepare oil for their lamps (Matthew 23). But those are good and beautiful virgins who had the light of virtues and entered the bridegroom's chamber. But the virgins will fail because they will not find the word of the Lord. From this we understand that when there is no teaching in the Churches, chastity will perish, purity will die, and all virtues will depart, because they have not eaten the word of the Lord. Whoever eats it will be satisfied, as Solomon says: The righteous person satisfies his soul, but the souls of the wicked will be hungry (Proverbs 13:2). And David, who reached old age, freely sang: I was young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging for bread (Psalm 37:25). How many martyrs perished of hunger in persecutions and lacked the sustenance of these bodies? Therefore, about the bread that comes down from heaven, it is said that whoever eats it will neither hunger nor thirst. With the virgins failing, the young men will also fail, those who had previously conquered the world. And they will fail because they swear by the idol of Samaria, which we always understand to be in the person of heretics, as the same prophet says: Woe to those who despise Zion and rely on the mountain of Samaria (Amos 6:1). For heretics despise the Church of God and rely on the falsehood of their teachings, raising themselves against the knowledge of God, dividing His people, and saying: We have no share in David, no inheritance in the son of Jesse (1 Kings 12:16). If anyone swears by the sin of Samaria and says, 'As the Lord lives, Dan, and as the way of Beersheba lives,' that person will fall and will not rise again. Dan could not find a possession in the last borders of Judah, as it is written in the book of Judges (Judges 18), and it is interpreted as judgement. And Beersheba, due to the variation of accents, is translated into our language as 'well of the oath' or 'well of satisfaction' or 'well of the seventh.' Therefore, heretics at the ends of the holy Scriptures thirst, despising the judgement of God and desiring the way of Beersheba, which was in the tribe of Judah. And desiring to imitate many sacraments of the Church, they claim to be satisfied and filled. To them, the Apostle Paul reproaches: Already you are satisfied, already you have become rich (1 Corinthians 4:8), and they swear in the name of the Lord, who once fell because they regarded their idols as their god and will not rise again. But those who want to repent and do not say, 'As the Lord lives, Dan, and as the way of Beersheba lives,' will hear through Jeremiah: Can one who falls not rise again? Or one who turns away not return? (Jeremiah 8:4).
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Amos 8:11