Hosea 12:3-13

3 In the womb he deceived his brother, and in his manhood he struggled with God.

4 He struggled with [the] angel and prevailed; he pleaded for his mercy. He met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.

5 Yahweh the God of hosts, Yahweh [is] his renowned name!

6 But you, you must return to your God; keep love and justice, and wait continually for your God.

7 [The] trader, in his hand [are] scales of deceit; he loves to oppress.

8 And Ephraim said, "Surely, I am rich, I gained wealth for myself; in all my toil they have not found guilt in me that is [sin].

9 But I [am] Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt; I will make you live in tents again, like the days of [the] appointed festival.

10 I spoke to the prophets; I myself multiplied revelations and through the hand of the prophets I will destroy.

11 If [in] Gilead [there is] evil, surely they will come to nothing. In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls, also their altars will be like stone heaps on furrows of [the] field.

12 Jacob fled [to] the open field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he watched over [sheep].

13 And by a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was watched over.

Hosea 12:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO HOSEA 12

This chapter contains complaints and charges both against Israel and Judah, and threatens them with punishment in case they repent not, which they are exhorted to: and first Ephraim is charged with idolatry, vain confidence in, and alliances with, foreign nations, Ho 12:1; and then the Lord declares he has a controversy with Judah, and will punish the inhabitants of it for their sins, Ho 12:2; which are aggravated by their being the descendants of so great a man as Jacob, who got the advantage of his elder brother, had much power with God, and received favours from him, and they also, Ho 12:3-5; and therefore are exhorted to turn to God, wait on him, and do that which is right and good, Ho 12:6. Ephraim is again in his turn charged with fraudulent dealing in trade, and with oppression, and the love of it; and yet pretended he got riches by his own labour, without wronging any, Ho 12:7,8; nevertheless, the Lord promises them public ordinances of worship, and joy in them, and the ministry of his prophets, Ho 12:9,10; though for the present they were guilty of gross idolatry, Ho 12:11; which is aggravated by the raising of Jacob their progenitor from a low estate, and the wonderful preservation of him, and the bringing of them out of Egypt, Ho 12:12,13; and the chapter is closed with observing Ephraim's bitter provocation of God, for which his reproach should return unto him, and his blood be left upon him, Ho 12:14.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "us"
• [b]. Or "false balances"
• [c]. Or "I found"
• [d]. Or "from"
• [e]. Hebrew "revelation"
• [f]. Or "the land of Aram"
• [g]. Israel