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A large number of the uses of
express the “healing” of the nation—such
“healing” not only involves God’s grace and forgiveness, but also the nation’s
repentance. Divine discipline leads to repentance and “healing”: “Come, and let us return
unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us …” (Hos. 6:1). God promises: “For I
will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord …” (Jer.
30:17). Even foreign cities and powers can know God’s “healing” if they repent (Jer.
51:8-9).
False prophets are condemned because they deal only with the symptoms and not
with the deep spiritual hurts of the people: “They have healed also the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jer. 6:14;
also 8:11).
TO HEAR
A. Verb.
(
, 8085), “to hear, hearken, listen, obey, publish.” This word occurs
throughout the Semitic languages including biblical Hebrew and Aramaic.
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occurs
in all historical layers of Hebrew, and about 1,160 times in the Bible. The word is attested
9 times in biblical Aramaic.
Basically, this verb means to “hear” something with one’s ears, but there are several
other nuances. In Gen. 37:17, a man told Joseph that he “heard” Joseph’s brothers say,
“Let us go to Dothan”; in other words, he unintentionally “overheard” them say it.
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can also be used of “eavesdropping, or intentionally listening in on a
conversation; so Sarah “overheard” what the three men said to Abram (Gen. 18:10).
Joseph asked his brothers to “listen” as he recounted what he had dreamed (Gen.
37:6). In 1 Chron. 28:2, David told his audience to “listen” as he spoke; they were to give
him their undivided attention.
To “hear” something may imply to “have knowledge,” as when Abimelech told
Abraham that he did not know about the controversy over the wills because no one had
told him and neither had he “heard” it (Gen. 21:26).
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may also imply to “gain
knowledge” or to “get knowledge”: “… The Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard
[the report] …” (Jer. 37:5).
Again, the word may mean to “come into knowledge about.” Moses told the unclean
men to wait while he “listened” to what the Lord would command regarding them (Num.
9:8). His intent clearly was more than just to “hear” something; he intended to “gain
some knowledge” from the Lord.
The verb can represent the mere “hearing” of something, as when Adam and Eve
“heard” the sound of God walking in the garden (Gen. 3:8—first biblical occurrence). To
“make someone hear” something (without any specification of what was heard) suggests
“summoning” the person (1 Kings 15:22).
“Hearing” can be both intellectual and spiritual. Spiritually, one may “hear” God’s
Word (Num. 24:4), or “learn” it from God. Conversely, God told Abraham that He had
“heard” his prayer and would act accordingly (Gen. 17:20). In this context, to “hear”
means not only to hear what is said, but to agree with its intention or petition (cf. Gen.
16:11). In the case of hearing and hearkening to a higher authority,
can mean to