u/salamacast

▲ 1 r/ChristianApologetics+1 crossposts

Hosea 9:6 is a prediction of Muhammad (by name!)

The long, detailed version is on my blog

AboutSalama.blogspot.com/2019/10/hosea-96-is-prediction-of-muhammad.html

The verse is difficult to translate, even the Greek LXX had to change some letters to make it coherent.
Reading the English translations conceals the problematic words. To see them you have to read annotated versions.
Hosea 9:6 says
כי-הנה הלכו מ:שד מצרים תקבצ:ם מף תקבר:ם מחמד ל:כספ:ם קמוש יירש:ם חוח ב:אהלי:הם

מִצְרַיִם תְּקַבְּצֵם
Egypt will gather them,
מֹף תְּקַבְּרֵם
Memphis will bury them,
מַחְמַד לְכַסְפָּם
The desirable things of their silver
קִמּוֺשׂ יִירָשֵׁם
Nettles possess them,
חוֺחַ בְּאָהֳלֵיהֶם
Thorn is in their tents.

In Hebrew, the prepositions are attached to the words, which makes reading the text difficult sometimes. You will notice that this Hebrew section uses somewhat poetic 2-word smaller sections. The first line has the word EGYPT then the word Will Gather Them (yes, it's one word in Hebrew. Arabic has the same structure)
The second line: Memphis & Will Bury Them.
The third is the funny one!
MHMD & For Their Money.
The fourth line: Nettles & Will Inherit Them.
The fifth line: Thorns & In Their Homes.

The 3rd line is very difficult to translate as a separate sentence, so translators tend to combine it with the 4th, ignoring a pesky preposition (the Hebrew letter L, which means: for), and reconstructing the two sentences into a new one.
Why?
The problem they face is that the Hebrew word MHMD is a simple word, means "pleasant, desired or desirable".. but "The desire for your silver" isn't a complete sentence, AND doesn't mesh well with the next sentence.
(See: The Septuagint Text of Hosea Compared with the Massoretic Text, The University of Chicago Press, by Gaylard H. Patterson)

This is why the New Oxford Annotated Bible says: "Nettles shall possess their precious things of silver. (Meaning of Hebrew uncertain)"

The Jewish Study Bible had a cute solution. They changed the order of the lines, bringing the 3rd line (the pesky one about silver) to the top!
"Behold, they have gone from destruction
[With] the silver they treasure.
Egypt shall hold them fast,
Moph shall receive them in burial.
Weeds are their heirs;
Prickly shrubs occupy their [old] homes"

I like the added "with" :) When the glove doesn't fit, YOU MAKE IT FIT!

The Pulpit Commentary: "The LXX; again puzzled by the word maehmad, mistook it for a proper name"
They had to change it to something else. They made it a city's name.
μαχμας το αργυριον αυτων ολεθρος κληρονομησει ακανθαι εν τοις σκηνωμασιν αυτων
So the Septuagint changed the spelling completely!
It became מכמס (Strong #H4363, Mikmac) [A name of a city, literally means "Hidden"]
MHMD --> MKMS (!!)
Septuagint in English, Brenton's edition:
"Therefore, behold, they go forth from the trouble of Egypt, and Memphis shall receive them, and Machmas shall bury them: [as for] their silver, destruction shall inherit it; thorns [shall be] in their tents"

All of these conflicting attempts, just because they didn't understand at the time that the word was a proper name, a prophecy about Muhammad's 625 CE incident with the Jewish tribe Banu Nadir (visiting them, asking them to honor the peace treaty by contributing to a blood-money he had to pay.. their attempt to assassinate him.. his retaliation by banishing the whole tribe)

reddit.com
u/salamacast — 22 hours ago

If Samuel's ghost was a demonic trick, then why not Paul's "Jesus" too??

In 1 Corinthians 15:8 Paul said: "Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also"

In 1 Samuel 28, the witch of En-dor supposedly brought up for king Saul the ghost of prophet Samuel, who looked like him and made a true political prophecy. The Old Testament context treats this as the real Samuel, but some Christians deny the concept of ghosts (as they should) and say it was a demonic ruse, a trick, and the prophecy was a lucky guess.
Fine. They are reinterpreting the uncomfortable parts of the Tanakh, using mental gymnastics that contradict the gist of the story (as usual!), but their interpretation throws doubt on many other apparitions!

reddit.com
u/salamacast — 23 hours ago
▲ 1 r/Bible

If Samuel's ghost was a demonic trick, then why not Paul's "Jesus" too??

In 1 Corinthians 15:8 Paul said: "Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also"

In 1 Samuel 28, the witch of En-dor supposedly brought up for king Saul the ghost of prophet Samuel, who looked like him and made a true political prophecy. The Old Testament context treats this as the real Samuel, but some Christians deny the concept of ghosts (as they should) and say it was a demonic ruse, a trick, and the prophecy was a lucky guess.
Fine. They are reinterpreting the uncomfortable parts of the Tanakh, using mental gymnastics that contradict the gist of the story (as usual!), but their interpretation throws doubt on many other apparitions!

reddit.com
u/salamacast — 1 day ago
▲ 0 r/Bible

Did the Tanakh confirm that the Genesis snake was the Devil?

u/salamacast — 3 days ago