Produced by TheMediaDesk, ©2022
Posted on CCPC's website 2022
The Minor Prophets Study Index page.
This is a long term, in depth, wide focus study of the Minor Prophets, drawing as much from the history of their times as possible, as well as looking at the original language of the prophet.chapter 6
2
“ye·hay·ye·nu” (he will restore to life / revive) after two days, on day “has·se·li·si” (the third) “ye·qi·me·nu” (he will stand / raise us up), “we·nh·yeh” (have life / be alive) “le·pa·naw” (in his face / presence).
No discussion of that verse is needed here.
3
“we·ne·de·‘ah” (let us find out / perceive / discern), “nir·de·pah” (pursue / run after) “la da at” (knowledge / wisdom) of YHWH. “ke·sa·har” (as the dawn) “na·ko·wn” (is established) “mo·w·sa·’ow” (his going out / forth) and He will come like the rain to us, “ke·mal·qo·wos yo·w·reh a res” (like the spring rains and the fall / early winter rains to the earth).
4
“mah ’e·‘e·seh le ka” (what to do to you) “’ep·ra·yim” and “ye·hu·dah", for your “e·has·de·kem” (goodness / faithfulness) is like a cloud, “boqer we·kat·tal” (morning dew) early it goes away.
5
“'al- ken” ((in English the order would be:) according to / on the grounds of this) “ha·sab·ti” (cut or hewn (or divided)) by the prophets - “ha·rag·tim” (have slain them) “be·’im·re- pi” (by words of (my) mouth) - judgments like daylight goes forth.
We saw this in the Revelation study in chapter 11 with the Two Witnesses and then later in 19 with the Rider on the white horse.
6 One of the most famous verses in the OT from the KJV.
For “he·sed” (goodness / kindness / faithfulness) “ha·pas·ti” (delight in / take pleasure in), and not “za·bah” (sacrifice) - “we·da·‘at” (knowledge / perception) of God “me·‘o·lo·wt” (more than whole burned offerings).
When the meaning of the Hebrew words are considered it intensifies the verse that was quoted by Christ in Matthew 9.
7
But they, like men, “‘a·be·ru” (alienate / do away with) the covenant - there “ba ga du” (they act deceitfully / treacherously) with Me.
8
“Gilad” is a city of “'a wen” (trouble / wickedness / sorrow), and defiled with blood.
9
“u·ke·hak·ke” (wait (in ambush) a man like a band of robbers, so the company of priests “ye·ras·se·hu” (murder) on their way to “Sek mah” (Shechem) because they commit “zim·mah” (wickedness / mischief / lewdness).
Shechem was the first capital and major religious center of the the Northern Kingdom in the land of Ephraim “’ep·ra·yim”.
10
The house of Israel I have “rai ti” (inspected / looked into) and “sa·‘a·ru·ri·yah” (seen an appalling / horrible thing) there is “ze nut” (unfaithfulness / harlotry) of “’ep·ra·yim”, “nit ma” (defiled / unclean) is “yis·ra·’el”.
11
“ye·hu·dah” is set a harvest “be·su·bi” (return / restore / bring back) “se but” (fortunes / captives (in the OT the word is translated 'fortune' more often than 'captive')) “ammi” (my people).
Chapter 7
1
“ke·ra·pe·’i” ....
A Medical Tangent
“And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.” Luke 5 : 31 (KJV)
When Christ said that, Galen, the famous Greek physician and writer would not be born for over 120 years, and Avicenna (Ibn Sina) with his groundbreaking ideas on cardiology is nearly a thousand years in the future. Although Hippocrates had done his work on the scientific study of medicine some four hundred years before, including inventing a type of aspirin. So, what sort of physician was He talking about, and for that matter, what sort of medial professional was “the beloved physician” (see Colosians 4: 14), Luke himself?
We'll start with a look at Luke. While we do not know where the gospel writer was from, including whether or not he was a Gentile, a Jewish convert, or anything else about him, there are some very ancient traditions that make him to be at least a half-breed Jew from Antioch or elsewhere in Asia Minor. Which is interesting when you take a look at Galen who was born and began his training in Pergamon, another Greek city, although it is at the other end of the peninsula. Both cities would have had the educational base developed under the Hellenistic system laid out by Alexander the Great in his empire around 300 BC where the ideas put down by Hippocrates were studied.
But what sort of medicine were they studying? Well, we have to look at the writings of Galen and then make a guess as to what would have been involved a century before and how far they had come since Hippocrates.
One of the strengths of Galen's medical science was in his codifying a system of pharmacology and defining the treatment of various diseases with medicinal substances. He also stated in no uncertain terms that the Quality of the ingredients was far more important than the Quantity of them.
In spite of Imhotep's work describing over 200 diseases, and recommending treatments for them, the field of medicine hadn't progressed much in the twenty five centuries since.
Medications were still mostly plant based, potions and salves, and was only slightly removed from relying on traditional “folk medicines” that often did more harm than good. Those recipes were often handed down from grandmother to granddaughter and from the old man farmer on the edge of town to an apprentice. We saw one of those in a previous focus. The terebinth tree was a source for some medications, and garlic was used for various ailments, as were various mints, honey, and olive oil. They had an impressive medicine cabinet, and a lot of them have been proven to work, at least when properly used, and if the disease had not progressed beyond a certain point.
One of the things the Alexander's Empirical School did was to gather all the learning from the various areas the empire reached and collect them into what we would call a University, based in Alexandria in Egypt. There, the best information in science was taught to the best and brightest, and there, those remedies were examined objectively and the ones that didn't work could be weeded out.
Galen was sent to Alexandria to finish his schooling and to get some experiance, which paid off, because he ended up in Rome where he was the personal doctor for the emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
There is no reason to doubt that Luke followed something of the same path in his time, going as far as the local teachers and mentors could take him, then going to Egypt to become a physician. And, for the most part, the type of physician they were we would call a GP, General Practitioner, with very few specialties other than, say, mid-wifery, or 'battlefield medic'.
But again, what sort of medicine were they practicing?
Well, that depends. Galen documented even performing cataract surgery with a long needle, and doing other invasive procedures while working in Pergamon and in Rome, especially on injured gladiators. There is no documentation to suggest that Luke ever did anything like that, but it is likely he did have at least some training along those lines. However, surgery was the “treatment of last resort” because there simply was no concept of sterile conditions. Infectious agents weren't even supposed until another legendary figure, Paracelsus, wrote about it some fifteen hundred years later. All the people of Luke and Galen's day knew was that when the body was opened up, either through violence like the gladiators, or a direct attempt by the physician to effect some cure, the outcome was often unfortunate.
To compare the, say, setting of a broken arm of a gladiator in the bowels of the Colosseum to what would be done today in a modern hospital is unfair. If they had an MRI machine, he would have used it. Right? Ibn Sina, and Galen, and Luke, and even Hippocrates and Imohotep did the best they could with what they had. And when you come down to it, 'make the patient comfortable and do what you can' is still the working advice.
The same could be said for the physicians of the time of Hosea, which was, more or less, around the time Hippocrates would have been practicing. Which brings us nicely to a quote from another physician:
“The universities do not teach all things, so a doctor must seek out old wives, gypsies, sorcerers, wandering tribes, old robbers, and such outlaws and take lessons from them. A doctor must be a traveler… Knowledge is experience.”
- Paracelsus
There are extensive links below.
End medical tangent
.... “ke·ra·pe·’i” (to heal / make healthy / act as a physician) to “Yisrael”, “we·nig·lah” (revealed / uncovered), “'a won” (iniquity / depravity) of “’ep·ra·yim” and the “we·ra·‘o·wt” (evil / (includes: malignancy)) of “so·me·ro·wn” (Samaria (the word means: watch mountains)), for they have “pa·‘a·lu” (make / made / do / work) “sa qer” (deceit / fraud / falsehood (implies intentional act)) - and a thief comes in and “pa sat” (strips off / raids), 'ge dud” (band of marauders) outside.
2
“u bal” (hardly / not / haven't) “yo·me·ru” (said / spoke / declare (this is the only place in the OT where it is translated 'considered' out of 550 occurrences)) with “lil·ba·bam” (mind / inner man / heart) “ra·‘a·tam” (evil / etc. (same root as verse 1)) - that I remember now “se ba bum” (encircling / around) them - their deeds are in front of me.
3
With their “ra·‘a·tam” (evil / etc. (same root as verse 1)) cause “ye·sam·me·hu-” (to rejoice / be glad) a king, and with “u·be·ka·ha·se·hem” (lying / deception / hypocrisy) a prince.
4
They are all “me·na·’a·pim” (adulterers), see the NIV.
5 Discrepancies between translations. Again.
In the time of the king “he·he·lu” (made ill / weak / deceased) princes / rulers “ha mat” (skin / bottle) “mi·ya·yin” (wine) - “ma sak” (he seized / drew) “ya dow” (hand (implies strength)) “lo·se·sim” (derision / scorn).
This apparently ties back to verse 3 with the king and princes being happy that the people are evil and it is God that is pulling them out with His strength.
6 more disagreement
“ki qe·re·bu kat·tan·nur” (because they approach / bring close 'like' an oven) “lib·bam” (their heart), while they wait in ambush, all night their baker sleeps, in the morning burns in the fire's flame.
'what does that mean?'
It is apparently talking about building up desire for whatever debauchery is on tap, then acting on it. Which leads to the following item...
7
The whole /all are hot like a furnace / oven, “we·’a·ke·lu” (devoured / consumed) their judges, all their “mal·ke·hem” (kings) “na·pa·la” (are fallen / cast down). “en qo re ba·hem 'e lay” ((none of them call upon Me)).
8
“’ep·ra·yim” is “ba·‘am·mim” (among the 'foreign' nations), he “yit·bo·w·lal” (has mixed) “’ep·ra·yim” is not a cake overturned.
9
“za·rim” (foreigners / strangers) have consumed his “ko·how” (strength / power), but he does not know it. Yes, gray hairs “za·re·qah” (scattered) on him, and he doesn't know it.
10
and speaks of the “ge·’o·wn” (majesty / pride (almost 'arrogance')) of Israel to his face, but they do not return to YHWH their God, nor do they seek Him through all this.
11
“’ep·ra·yim” is like a dove / pigeon “po·w·tah” (open / gullible / 'simple minded') “'en leb” (without mind / understanding) - “mis ra yim” (Egypt) they call, “'as sur” (Assyria) they go.
12
Read the NIV
13
Woe / Alas to them for “na de du” (they have retreated / strayed / departed) from me, “sod” ('violence, havoc, devastation, ruin' (those four words in the Strong's) because they have “pa·se·‘u” (rebelled / revolted) against Me and though I “'ep dem” (ransomed / rescued) them, they have spoken “ke·za·bim” (lies / falsehoods) against Me.
14
And not “za·‘a·qu” (cry out / call for help) to Me “be·lib·bam” (mind / heart / inner self (with understanding)), “ye·ye·li·lu” (wailed / howled) in bed - they gather together for grain and new wine, “yit·go·w·ra·ru” (this word is usually translated as: sojourn (brief stay as a traveler)) “ya·su·ru” (depart / turn aside) from Me.
Some Hebrew manuscripts include "they gather together 'and slash themselves'... ". Self-bloodletting was also a feature of many pagan worship practices. The best Biblical example is the party the prophets of Ba'al had on Mount Carmel.
15
I “yis·sar·ti” (chastised / disciplined) them, and strengthened their arms / shoulders, toward me “ye·has·se·bu” (they calculate / devise) “ra” (evil (has implications of malignancy)).
16
They turn back, but not to the Most High, they are like a “ke·qe·set” (hunting bow) that is “re·mi·yah” (deceitful / treacherous (unreliable)) - shall be cast down by the sword their princes / leaders “miz·za·‘am” (indignation) of their tongues. This shall be their derision in Egypt.
Egypt was one of the foreign powers Israel was trying to play up to. Egypt didn't buy into it.
End 7
Imhotep – The First Physician https://www.pastmedicalhistory.co.uk/imhotep-the-first-physician/
This article has some good information, and a bit of speculation tossed in and well blended, like an elixir from some physician of old: Luke https://biblearchaeology.org/research/new-testament-era/3237-luke-the-physician-with-medicine-for-the-souls
http://www.greekmedicine.net/whos_who/Hippocrates.html
-and-
Galen http://www.greekmedicine.net/whos_who/Galen.html
There are also articles about Avicenna and Paracelsus on this site.
“Avicenna's contribution to cardiology” from the The National Institutes of Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3952394/
Sources used throughout entire study:
Bible Hub Interlinear pages:
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/hosea/1.htm We'll change this link as we change books.
the Geneva Bible downloadable https://archive.org/details/TheGenevaBible1560
the 1611 KJV https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611-Bible/
The Minor Prophets Study Index page.
NOTE: The Bible Study Lesson presented above is posted as a reference document to begin a conversation of the topic. And that's it. Please accept it at such.
http://centralparkchurchofchrist.org
With the assistance and cooperation of The Media Desk.