The infidelity of the past (Hos 9:10-9:10)

“Like grapes

In the wilderness,

I found Israel.

Like the first fruit

On the fig tree,

In its first season,

I saw your ancestors.

But they came

To Baal-peor.

They consecrated themselves

To Baal,

A thing of shame.

They became detestable,

Like the thing they loved.”

Yahweh, via Hosea, pointed out that their ancestors were like grapes plucked in the wilderness. They were like the first fruits of the first season of a fig tree. In the wilderness, they made a covenant with Yahweh. But then, their ancestors came to Baal-peor, as mentioned in Numbers, chapter 25. There, they intermarried with the women of Moab and worshipped the Canaanite fertility god of Baal. Thus, they consecrated themselves to the shameful Baal god. They became detestable, just like this Baal god. All this happened as they entered the land of Canaan.