Book of Hosea Chapter 13 Vs. 14

 The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. Hos. 13:14

I will ransom... The 22nd prophecy in Hosea (Hos. 13:14-16: Hos. 13:14 unfulfilled; Hos. 13:15-16 fulfilled). Next, Hos. 14:3.

Five Predictions—Unfulfilled:

1. I will ransom them from the power of sheol (Hos. 13:14).

2. I will redeem them from death.

3. I will be their plagues.

4. I will be the destruction of Sheol.

5. Repentance (change of mind in these matters) will be hidden from My eyes.

פָּדָה

pâdâh

paw-daw'

A primitive root: to sever, that is, ransom; generally to release, preserve: - X at all, deliver, X by any means, ransom, (that are to be, let be) redeem (-ed), rescue, X surely.

Six Predictions—Fulfilled:

1. An east wind will come, the wind of the Lord from the wilderness, and dry up his water supply (Hos. 13:15)

2. He will spoil the treasures of the pleasant vessels.

3. Samaria will become desolate (Hos. 13:16).

4. They will fall by the sword.

5. Their infants will be dashed in pieces.

6. Women with child will be ripped up.

power of the... The authority and bondage of sheol.

מִנֵּי מִנִּ מִן

min minnı̂y minnêy

min, min-nee', min-nay'

For H4482; properly a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses: - above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since X then, through, X whether, with.

יָד

yâd

yawd

A primitive word; a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.), in distinction from H3709, the closed one); used (as noun, adverb, etc.) in a great variety of applications, both literally and figuratively, both proximate and remote: - (+ be) able, X about, + armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, X bounty, + broad, [broken-] handed, X by, charge, coast, + consecrate, + creditor, custody, debt, dominion, X enough, + fellowship, force, X from, hand [-staves, -y work], X he, himself, X in, labour, + large, ledge, [left-] handed, means, X mine, ministry, near, X of, X order, ordinance, X our, parts, pain, power, X presumptuously, service, side, sore, state, stay, draw with strength, stroke, + swear, terror, X thee, X by them, X them-selves, X thine own, X thou, through, X throwing, + thumb, times, X to, X under, X us, X wait on, [way-] side, where, + wide, X with (him, me, you), work, + yield, X your-selves.

גָּאַל

gâ'al

gaw-al'

A primitive root, to redeem (according to the Oriental law of kinship), that is, to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative’s property, marry his widow, etc.): - X in any wise, X at all, avenger, deliver, (do, perform the part of near, next) kinsfolk (-man), purchase, ransom, redeem (-er), revenger.

grave... Hebrew: She’owl, the unseen world of departed spirits, not the grave where the body goes.

death... Hebrew: maveth, death; pestilence; ruin. It is the power of being ruined that God will deliver from. Satan had this power until Christ conquered him (Heb. 2:14-15). God will destroy death (1Cor. 15:24-28). This passage is quoted in 1Cor. 15:54-55.

מָוֶת

mâveth

maw'-veth

From H4191; death (natural or violent); concretely the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively pestilence, ruin: - (be) dead ([-ly]), death, die (-d).

O grave... Hebrew: She’owl, as defined, above. God will also destroy the power of hell so that it will not touch His people whom He will redeem. Death and hell will only cause those who reject His redemption to be marred, ruined, and punished. Repentance by God or the changing of His mind and plans concerning death and hell will never be such hope for the rebellious is vain and eternally hidden from the very eyes of God.

שְׁאֹל שְׁאוֹל

sh^e'ôl sh^e'ôl

sheh-ole', sheh-ole'

From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates: - grave, hell, pit.

Placing the strong affirmation of deliverance so abruptly after a denunciation intensified the wonder of His unrequited love (compare 11:8-9; Lev. 26:44). This can apply to God’s restoration of Israel from Assyria, and in future times from all the lands of the dispersion, preserving them and bringing them back to their land for the kingdom of Messiah (Ezek. Chapter 37).

It also speaks of the time of personal resurrection as (in Dan. 12:2-3). Repentant Israelites will be restored to the land and even raised from death to glory. Paul uses this text (in 1Cor. 15:55; quoting the LXX), to celebrate the future resurrection of the church. The Messiah’s great victory over death and the grave is the first fruits of the full harvest to come, when all believers will likewise experience the power of His resurrection.

These images reveal God’s power over death (1Cor. 15:55).

This is a promise that God will redeem them. Jesus defeated death, when He rose from the grave. This is a promise of restoration to them. Not restoration to their homeland, but restoration to their God. God will not repent of their punishment but will use it to change them.

קֹטֶב

qôṭeb

ko'-teb

From the same as H6986; extermination: - destruction.

נֹחַם

nôcham

no'-kham

From H5162, ruefulness, that is, desistance: - repentance.

עַיִן

‛Ayin

ah'-yin

Probably a primitive word; an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy a fountain (as the eye of the landscape): - affliction, outward appearance, + before, + think best, colour, conceit, + be content, countenance, + displease, eye ([-brow], [-d], -sight), face, + favour, fountain, furrow [from the margin], X him, + humble, knowledge, look, (+ well), X me, open (-ly), + (not) please, presence, + regard, resemblance, sight, X thee, X them, + think, X us, well, X you (-rselves).

Israel lies in the way of its own redemption-how truly this has been forced home upon them in one chapter after another! Shall God then step in and work a deliverance on the brink of death? From the hand of Sheol shall I deliver them? from death shall I redeem them? Nay, let death and Sheol have their way. Where are thy plagues, O death? where thy destruction, Sheol? Here with them. Compassion is hid from Mine eyes.

This great verse has been variously rendered. Some have taken it as a promise: I will deliver. I will redeem So the Septuagint translated, and St. Paul borrowed, not the whole Greek verse, but its spirit and one or two of its terms, for his triumphant challenge to death in the power of the Resurrection of Christ. As it stands in Hosea, however, the verse must be a threat. The last clause unambiguously abjures mercy, and the statement that His people will not be saved, for God cannot save them, is one in thorough harmony with all Hosea’s teaching.

Traditionally Hos. 13:14 has been interpreted as an expression of hope and a promise of salvation (NASB, NIV). However, this view is contextually problematic. Though Hosea’s prophecy is characterized by abrupt changes in tone, such a shift appears to be premature here the shift in this section appears to come in Hos. 14:1) and would leave Hos. 13:14 awkwardly connected with what follows cf. Hos. 13:14, I will have no compassion. The first two statements may be translated better as rhetorical questions implying a negative answer: Shall I ransom them from the power of sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? (RSV)

The next two questions Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? would then be appeals for death to unleash its plagues and destruction against Ephraim (cf. Hos. 13:14-16), not a triumphant cry of victory over death. Of course the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, applied the language of this text in the latter sense (cf. 1Cor. 15:55-56). However, in that context Paul was drawing on the language of Scripture as traditionally understood (cf. the LXX); he was not offering a textual and exegetical analysis of Hos. 13:14.

Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 32

 Jesus Heals Many

Mark 1:32 “And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.”

when the sun... An additional detail to Mat. 8:16. The sabbath was now past so it was not such a sin to be healed, as they thought in Mark 3:2; Luke 6:7; 13:10-16; John 5:9-18; 9:14, 9:16. Marking the close of the Sabbath and the easing of the restrictions associated with it. Specifically, rabbinic law prohibited carrying any burdens such as stretchers, on the Sabbath.

At even, when the sun did set.

An instance of Mark's habit of coupling similar words or phrases.

they brought unto... The report of Jesus’ healing of the demon-possessed man in the synagogue and Peter’s mother-in-law created a sensation in Capernaum and aroused the hopes of other sufferers.

That were sick.

, Mat. 4:24

Sickness, Disease, Torments, Taken, Lunatic

The description of the ailments to which our Lord's power was applied gains in vividness by study of the words in detail. In Mat. 4:23, the Rev. rightly transposes sickness and disease; for νόσος A. V., sickness carries the notion of something severe, dangerous, and even violent compare the Latin noceo, to hurt, to which the root is akin. Homer always represents νόσος as the visitation of an angry deity. Hence used of the plague which Apollo sent upon the Greeks (Iliad, 1:10). So, Sophocles (Antigone, 421) calls a whirlwind θείαν νόσον a divine visitation. Disease is, therefore, the more correct rendering as expressing something stronger than sickness or debility. Sickness, however, suits the other word, μαλακίαν. The kindred adjective, μαλακος, means soft, as a couch or newly ploughed furrow, and thus easily runs into our invidious moral sense of softness, namely, effeminacy or cowardice, and into the physical sense of weakness, sickness. Hence the word emphasizes the idea of debility rather than of violent suffering or danger.

In Mat. 4:24 we have, first, a general expression for ailments of all kinds: all that were sick lit., all who had themselves in evil case; πάντας τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας. Then the idea of suffering is emphasized in the word taken συνεχομένους , which means literally held-together or compressed; and so the Rev. holden is an improvement on taken, in which the A. V. has followed Wyc. and Tynd. The word is used of the multitude thronging Christ (Luke 8:45). Compare, also, how am I straitened (Luke 12:50); and I am in a strait (Phlp. 1:1-3). Then follow the specific forms of suffering, the list headed again by the inclusive word νόσοις, diseases, and the καὶ following having the force of and particularly. Note the word torments βασάνοις. Βάσανος originally meant the Lydian stone, or touchstone, on which pure gold, when rubbed, leaves a peculiar mark. Hence, naturally, a test; then a test or trial by torture. Most words, says Professor Campbell on the Language of Sophocles have been originally metaphors, and metaphors are continually falling into the rank of words, used by the writer as mere vehicles of expression without any sense of the picturesque or metaphorical element at their core. Thus, the idea of a test gradually passes entirely out of Βάσανος leaving merely the idea of suffering or torture. This is peculiarly noticeable in the use of this word and its derivatives throughout the New Testament; for although suffering as a test is a familiar New Testament truth, these words invariably express simply torment or pain. Wycliffe renders, they offered to him all men having evil, taken with divers sorrows and torments; and Tyndale, all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and gripings. Lunatic, or moon-struck, σεληνιαζομένους, is rendered by Rev. epileptic, with reference to the real or supposed influence of the changes of the moon upon the victims of epilepsy.

We see that the fame of Jesus had spread rapidly. By that evening a large group of sick and those possessed with devils had gathered to be healed. These that were brought were almost assuredly the ones whom the physicians had given up on.

When you are sick and there seems no hope, it is time to locate someone with great healing power, and that is just what these people did. Perhaps one reason they came late in the evening was so that they might not be seen by their neighbors.

Now here is a curious example of the peril of pressing too eagerly our inferences from the expressions of an evangelist. St. Mark tells us that they brought all their sick and them that were possessed with devils. And He healed not all, but many that were sick, and cast out many devils. How easily we might distinguish between all who came, and the many who were healed. Want of faith would explain the difference, and spiritual analogies would explain the difference, and spiritual analogies would be found for those who remained unhealed at the feet of the good Physician. These lessons might be very edifying, but they would be out of place, for St. Matthew tells us that He healed them all.

But who can fail to contrast this universal movement, the urgent quest of bodily health, and the willingness of friends and neighbors to convey their sick to Jesus, with our indifference to the health of the soul, and our neglect to lead others to the Savior. Disease being the cold shadow of sin, its removal was a kind of sacrament, an outward and visible sign that the Healer of souls was nigh. But the chillness of the shadow afflicts us more than the pollution of the substance, and few professing Christians lament a hot temper as sincerely as a fever.

The Healing of Many People at Sunset

This summary portrays the excitement in Capernaum generated by the miracles on that Sabbath. The double time reference, that evening after sunset, made it clear that the people of Capernaum waited until the Sabbath Day was over sunset before moving the sick lest they break the Law (cf. Exo. 20:10) or Rabbinic regulations which prohibited burden-bearing on that day (cf. Mark 3:1-5).

The townspeople brought lit., kept carrying, imperf. to Jesus all the physically sick and demon-possessed not possessed with devils, KJV, since there is only one devil. Again, a clear distinction is maintained between physical sickness and demon possession (cf. Mark 6:13).

Book of Hosea Chapter 13 Vs. 13

 The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children. Hos. 13:13

sorrows of a... This is speaking of the pain accompanied with childbirth. The severity of the punishment is compared to the pain of childbirth. His sorrow will overcome him. It is very bad to stay in the sin that got him into this trouble. His way out is through repentance.

חֵבֶל חֶבֶל

chebel chêbel

kheh'-bel, khay'-bel

From H2254; a rope (as twisted), especially a measuring line; by implication a district or inheritance (as measured); or a noose (as of cords); figuratively a company (as if tied together); also, a throe (especially of parturition); also ruin: - band, coast, company, cord, country, destruction, line, lot, pain, pang, portion, region, rope, snare, sorrow, tackling.

he is an... He will be destroyed as an unwise son and will suffer the pangs of a travailing woman.

לֹה לוֹא לֹא

lô' lô' lôh

lo, lo, lo

lo; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abstract negation); by implication no; often used with other particles: - X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig [-norant], much, less, nay, neither, never, no ([-ne], -r, [-thing]), (X as though . . . , [can-], for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.

חָכָם

châkâm

khaw-kawm'

From H2449, wise, (that is, intelligent, skilful or artful): - cunning (man), subtil, ([un-]), wise ([hearted], man).

the breaking forth... This refers to the birth canal. Employing this figure of giving birth, the Lord likens Ephraim to an unwise child, unwilling to move through to birth. By long deferring a “new birth” with repentance, the nation was like a child remaining in the canal dangerously long and risking death (2 Kings 19:3; Isa. 37:3; 66:9).

מִשְׁבֵּר

mishbêr

mish-bare'

From H7665, the orifice of the womb (from which the foetus breaks forth): - birth, breaking forth.

we see here, any basis for hope had all but disappeared. Israel had not responded to God’s call for repentance during the period of grace He had extended. The procrastinating nation was compared to a baby which does not come out of its mother’s womb despite her strenuous efforts in labor. Such a delay will result in death for both mother and child. Since the baby seemingly does not observe the proper time for his birth, he is referred to, figuratively, as without wisdom (cf. Ecc. 8:5).

ֵּן

bên

bane

From H1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like H1, H251, etc.): - + afflicted, age, [Ahoh-] [Ammon-] [Hachmon-] [Lev-]ite, [anoint-]ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, [Assyr-] [Babylon-] [Egypt-] [Grec-]ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, + spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous one, + valiant[-est], whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

Gathered is Ephraim’s guilt, stored up is his sin. The nation is pregnant - but with guilt! Birth pangs seize him but-the figure changes, with Hosea’s own swiftness, from mother to child-he is an impracticable son; for this is no time to stand in the mouth of the womb. The years that might have been the nation’s birth are by their own folly to prove their death. Israel lies in the way of its own redemption-how truly this has been forced home upon them in one chapter after another!

Any basis for hope had all but disappeared. Israel had not responded to God’s call for repentance during the period of grace He had extended. The procrastinating nation was compared to a baby which does not come out of its mother’s womb despite her strenuous efforts in labor. Such a delay will result in death for both mother and child. Since the baby seemingly does not observe the proper time for his birth, he is referred to, figuratively, as without wisdom (cf. Ecc. 8:5).

Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 31

Jesus Heals Many

 

Mark 1:31 “And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.”

Peter’s mother-in-law probably fixed a meal. Peter’s family is quickly and dramatically affected by his decision to follow Jesus. This whole incident reflects Peter’s point of view.

Here we see that just one touch from Jesus’ hand, and Peter’s mother-in-law was made whole. This was not a partial healing, but a total recovery. In fact, she was so much better instantly that she forgot her illness and began to minister to them.

This is very similar to the woman who just touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed. Just one touch of His hand can do mighty miracles. This type of healing instantly would be so dramatic that no one could deny it. The word would spread fast.

We are just emerging from that early period when belief in His power to heal might still be united with some doubt whether free application might be made to Him. His disciples might still be as unwise as those modern theologians who are so busy studying the miracles as a sign that they forget to think of them as works of love. Any such hesitation was now to be dispelled forever.

It is possible that such is the meaning of the expression, and if so, it has a useful lesson. Sometimes there are temporal gifts which we scarce know whether we should pray for, so complex are our feelings, so entangled our interests with those of others, so obscure and dubious the springs which move our desire. Is it presumptuous to ask? Yet can it be right to keep anything back, in our communion with our Father?

Again, now there is a curious similarity between the expression they tell Jesus of her and that phrase which is only applied to prayer when St. Paul bids us pray for all that is in our hearts. In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. So shall the great benediction be fulfilled: The peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts (Phlp. 4:6-7). All that is unholy shall be purified, all that is unwise subdued, all that is expedient granted.

If this be indeed the force of St. Mark’s phrase, Jesus felt their modest reticence to be a strong appeal, for St. Luke says they besought Him, while St. Matthew merely writes that He saw her lying. The Interpreter of St. Peter is most likely to have caught the exact shade of anxiety and appeal by which her friends drew His attention, and which was indeed a prayer.

The gentle courtesy of our Lord’s healings cannot be too much studied by those who would know His mind and love Him. Never does He fling a careless blessing as coarse benefactors fling their alms; we shall hereafter see how far He was from leaving fallen bread to be snatched as by a dog, even by one who would have welcomed a boon thus contemptuously given to her; and in the hour of His arrest, when He would heal the ear of a persecutor, His courtesy appeals to those who had laid hold on Him, Suffer ye thus far. Thus He went to this woman and took her by the hand and raised her up, laying a cool touch upon her fevered palm, bestowing His strength upon her weakness, healing her as He would fain heal humanity. For at His touch the disease was banished; with His impulse her strength returned.

We do not read that she felt bound thereupon to become an obtrusive public witness to His powers: that was not her function; but in her quiet home she failed not to minister unto Him who had restored her powers.

In compassionate response Jesus stood beside her and without a word simply grasped her hand and raised her up. The fever left completely, and without weakness she began to serve diēkonei, imperf. her guests.

Book of Hosea Chapter 13 Vs. 12

 The Lord's Relentless Judgment on Israel

The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid. Hos. 13:12

עָווֹן עָוֹן

‛âvôn ‛âvôn

aw-vone', aw-vone'

From H5753; perversity, that is, (moral) evil: - fault, iniquity, mischief, punishment (of iniquity), sin.

is bound up… Israel’s sins are all well-documented and safely preserved for the day of reckoning (compare 7:2; Deut. 32:24-35; Job 14:17).

צָרַר

tsârar

tsaw-rar'

A primitive root; to cramp, literally or figuratively, transitively or intransitively: - adversary, (be in) afflict (-ion), besiege, bind (up), (be in, bring) distress, enemy, narrower, oppress, pangs, shut up, be in a strait (trouble), vex.

The sin of Ephraim had not been forgotten. He might believe it to be hidden, but God knew. God would bring judgment upon them.

חַטָּאת חַטָּאָה

chaṭṭâ'âh chaṭṭâ'th

khat-taw-aw', khat-tawth'

From H2398; an offence sometimes habitual sinfulness, and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also, concretely an offender: - punishment of sin, purifying (-fication for sin), sin (-ner, offering).

God had not overlooked Israel’s guilt (cf. Hos. 10:2; 12:14; 13:16). Ephraim’s sinful deeds were compared to a document which is bound up (NASB; cf. NIV’s stored up) and a treasure which is stored up (NASB; cf. NIV’s) kept on record. Through both figures Israel’s sins were pictured as something guarded carefully till the day of retribution when they would be brought forth as testimony against the nation.

צָפַן

tsâphan

tsaw-fan'

A primitive root; to hide (by covering over); by implication to hoard or reserve; figuratively to deny; specifically (favorably) to protect, (unfavorably) to lurk: - esteem, hide (-den one, self), lay up, lurk (be set) privily, (keep) secret (-ly, place).

Gathered is Ephraim’s guilt, stored up is his sin. The nation is pregnant - but with guilt!