AZAMRA Bible: Hosea 5-6

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

AZAMRA and Rav Avraham ben Yaakov?

So that through them The האור Light, The רפואה Healing and The אהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

 

BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Hosea 5-6
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov

HOSEA CHAPTER 5

In studying Hosea (and the whole Bible) it is valuable to pay attention to the original Hebrew parshahs (chapters or sections) as written in the parchment scroll as opposed to the sometimes arbitrary chapter breaks that are conventionally used in the majority of printed Bibles.

In many printed Hebrew Bibles (but not in the written scroll), the parshah breaks are indicated by an enlarged Peh indicating PARSHAH PETHUHAH, an "open parshah", or an enlarged Samach indicated PARSHAH SETHUMAH, a "closed parshah". A Parshah Pethuhah is a more decisive break from what went before than a Parshah Sethumah, as suggested by the manner in which they are respectively written in the scroll. In the case of the parshah Pethuhah, the space that separates it from the preceding section is wider and more obvious than in the case of a Parshah Sethumah.

A Parshah Pethuhah is the equivalent of a chapter in itself – a section of the text that has own theme and purpose. A Parshah Sethumah is less separate from the Parshah that precedes it – it is more like a section break within a chapter.

Today's text, Hosea Chapters 5-6, makes up one whole prophecy. Ch 5 v 1 marks the start of a new Parshah Pethuhah that runs until the end of Ch 5 v 7. Ch 5 Verse 8, "Blast the shofar…" begins a Parshah Sethumah which runs continuously in the parchment scroll until the end of Ch 6 v 11. Thus the chapter break after 5:15 is arbitrary, and while it highlights the call for repentance in 6:1, it actually disrupts the continuity of the prophecy as a whole and its meaning. The real break in the prophecy is where the Parshah Sethumah starts at 5:8: this creates a pause in the prophecy before it continues further amplifying on the theme with which it started. Verses 5:1-7 are Introductory; verse 5:8-6:11 are elaboration.


V 1. This is a prophecy addressed to the heart of Judah no less than it is to the Ten Tribes, "Israel". RaDak explains (ad loc.) that the address to the Cohanim-priests and the House of Israel is directed in particular to Judah, who is here included in the generic Israel. The priests here are the true priests of God, who served in His Temple in Jerusalem in the territory of Judah.