a punishment

December 10, 2018

Mute Zechariah (Lk 1:20-1:20)

“Now,

You will become mute!

You will be

Unable to speak

Until the day

That these things

Will happen!

You did not

Believe my words!

They will be fulfilled

In their due time!”

 

καὶ ἰδοὺ ἔσῃ σιωπῶν καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος λαλῆσαι ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας γένηται ταῦτα, ἀνθ’ ὧν οὐκ ἐπίστευσας τοῖς λόγοις μου, οἵτινες πληρωθήσονται εἰς τὸν καιρὸν αὐτῶν

 

Luke pointed out that Zechariah would receive a punishment, because he doubted that he and his wife would have a son, as in verse 18.  Thus, the angel Gabriel told Zechariah that he would become silent or mute (καὶ ἰδοὺ ἔσῃ σιωπῶν).  He would not be able to speak (καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος λαλῆσαι) until the day when all these things would happen (ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας γένηται ταῦτα).  This was his punishment for not believing the words of the angel Gabriel (ἀνθ’ ὧν οὐκ ἐπίστευσας τοῖς λόγοις μου).  He did not believe that they would come to pass or be fulfilled in the right or correct season or time (οἵτινες πληρωθήσονται εἰς τὸν καιρὸν αὐτῶν).  He would be punished, but not with a permanent punishment or death penalty.  Zechariah would be mute for a short period of time.

 

September 27, 2017

The breakup (Hos 2:2-2:3)

“Plead with your mother!

Plead!

She is not my wife!

I am not her husband!

She should put away

Her whoring

From her face.

She should put away

Her adultery

From between her breasts.

Otherwise,

I will strip her naked.

I will expose her

As in the day

She was born.

I will make her

Like a wilderness.

I will turn her

Into a parched land.

I will kill her

With thirst.”

Now the prophet Hosea really tore into Gomer. He told the children that Gomer was not his wife and that he was not her husband. Gomer had to stop her whoring ways. She continued to commit adultery, although she bore 3 children. Hosea had a punishment for her. He was going to strip her naked, so that she would be like the day she was born. He was going to turn her into a wilderness or a parched land. He was going to kill her with thirst. I guess that there was no reconciliation here. The verse numbering system is not the same here for various bibles, since the Bible of Jerusalem has this at the end of the chapter.

January 6, 2016

The wise child (Prov 10:2-10:5)

“A wise child makes a glad father.

But a foolish child is a mother’s grief.

Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit anyone.

But righteousness delivers from death.

Yahweh does not let the righteous go hungry,

But he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

A slack hand causes poverty.

But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

A child who gathers in summer is prudent,

But a child who sleeps in harvest brings shame.”

Right from the start of these sayings there is the contrast between the wise and the foolish child. Wickedness did not bring profit, but righteousness would save you from death. Early death was considered a punishment for sin. Yahweh would not let the righteous go hungry, but the wicked would be hungry. Notice the contrast and the idea of ‘but’. Here we have the classic explanation of poverty. You are poor because you do not work hard. You are rich because you have worked hard. There is never any mention of circumstances. Once again, we are back at the prudent child who gathers in the summer, while the other shameful child sleeps during the harvest time.