Hosea 6:1

He hath torn, and he will heal us. The presence of the pronoun imparts emphasis to the statement, so that it is rather, he it is that hath torn ; and the preterit of this verse, compared with the future in verse 14 of the foregoing chapter, implies that the destruction there predicted has become an accomplished fact. He hath smitten, and he will bind us up. The language is figurative, and borrowed from medical science. Jehovah, not Jareb nor any sovereign of Assyria, is the physician. Long before he had assured his people Israel of this, saying, "I am the Lord that healeth thee" ( Exodus 15:26 ); and again, "I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal" ( Deuteronomy 32:39 ). Aben Ezra, commenting on yachbeshena, alludes to the ancient mode of surgical practice, probably as indicated m Isaiah 1:6 : A wound needs to be pressed out and bound up, and afterwards softened with oil."