Re: "Is it not written in your law , I said Ye are gods?
Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:55 am
Although this is not directly related to the title of the thread, it seems worth addressing here in light of the previous message as pertains to #2.
As I understand citing of Hosea 11:1 by Matthew, it appears to be well within the range of Hosea's reasonable intention.
Believing that Hosea had a Pentateuch to review in his day (I trust that the Torah was accessible to him), it follows that he would have been drawing from the record of "Balaam's oracles" for quotables, among other familiar scripture for his context (is that what they call intertextuality?). The similar quote in Numbers 23:22 says "God brought them out of Egypt" - this appears to be speaking about the nation of Israel, but the nearly identical mention in the following chapter (24:8) "God brought him forth out of Egypt" (distinctive in his use of the 3 ms suffix [vav]) looks like it's speaking about the anticipated king - then yet to come.
The notion about the king isn't imposed upon the text, but follows from the previous verse (24:7) "his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted." Evidently this king would be exalted over the Amalekites - maybe the writer of Samuel (among others) was also conscious of the prospects of such a king reign. [It makes sense that Hosea would have recognized the Numbers 23 account as a recounting of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, at the hand of Moses, while the chapter 24 oracle anticipated the prophet greater than Moses - Hosea appears to offer such clues.]
Another hint to both Hosea and Matthew is in 24:9 (the verse following the verse that I think Hosea quoted) "He crouched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion" - so forth. The verse offers a textual link to Genesis 49:9 speaking of Judah "he crouched as a lion", the following verse stating "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come". This appears to highlight the promised king from Judah.
The mention of Hosea in 12:11 "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes" coupled with the fact that "the spirit of God came upon" Balaam (Numbers 24:2) prior to his recorded utterance may serve to accent the point.
Matthew's inclusion of the guiding 'star' within his composition suggests that his strategy in quoting Hosea was probably connected to the Numbers 24 narrative as well - v17 presents the passage misappropriated by 'r' Akiba referring to Bar-Kosiba (aka "kochva") in the 2nd century: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel"...etc. [It might be worth highlighting the fact that in v14 the use of the phrase 'latter days' {aharit hayyamim} precludes this oracle, a phrase that appears to frequently (if not always) point(s) forward to the future reign of this special king/Messiah. Though I have never investigated many of David Kimchi's ideas, I may have seen him quoted as having understood this phrase within the Tanakh to point to the Messiah - without exception.]
Happy in Jesus...
Steven D.
As I understand citing of Hosea 11:1 by Matthew, it appears to be well within the range of Hosea's reasonable intention.
Believing that Hosea had a Pentateuch to review in his day (I trust that the Torah was accessible to him), it follows that he would have been drawing from the record of "Balaam's oracles" for quotables, among other familiar scripture for his context (is that what they call intertextuality?). The similar quote in Numbers 23:22 says "God brought them out of Egypt" - this appears to be speaking about the nation of Israel, but the nearly identical mention in the following chapter (24:8) "God brought him forth out of Egypt" (distinctive in his use of the 3 ms suffix [vav]) looks like it's speaking about the anticipated king - then yet to come.
The notion about the king isn't imposed upon the text, but follows from the previous verse (24:7) "his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted." Evidently this king would be exalted over the Amalekites - maybe the writer of Samuel (among others) was also conscious of the prospects of such a king reign. [It makes sense that Hosea would have recognized the Numbers 23 account as a recounting of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, at the hand of Moses, while the chapter 24 oracle anticipated the prophet greater than Moses - Hosea appears to offer such clues.]
Another hint to both Hosea and Matthew is in 24:9 (the verse following the verse that I think Hosea quoted) "He crouched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion" - so forth. The verse offers a textual link to Genesis 49:9 speaking of Judah "he crouched as a lion", the following verse stating "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come". This appears to highlight the promised king from Judah.
The mention of Hosea in 12:11 "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes" coupled with the fact that "the spirit of God came upon" Balaam (Numbers 24:2) prior to his recorded utterance may serve to accent the point.
Matthew's inclusion of the guiding 'star' within his composition suggests that his strategy in quoting Hosea was probably connected to the Numbers 24 narrative as well - v17 presents the passage misappropriated by 'r' Akiba referring to Bar-Kosiba (aka "kochva") in the 2nd century: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel"...etc. [It might be worth highlighting the fact that in v14 the use of the phrase 'latter days' {aharit hayyamim} precludes this oracle, a phrase that appears to frequently (if not always) point(s) forward to the future reign of this special king/Messiah. Though I have never investigated many of David Kimchi's ideas, I may have seen him quoted as having understood this phrase within the Tanakh to point to the Messiah - without exception.]
Happy in Jesus...
Steven D.