Hosea 12

1 Ephraim feedeth (on the) wind, and followeth heat. All day he multiplieth leasing, and destroying; and he made bond of peace with Assyrians, and bare oil into Egypt. (Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and followeth after the east wind. All day they multiplieth lies, and destruction; and they made a covenant of peace with Assyria, and carried tributes of oil to Egypt.)

2 Therefore the doom of the Lord is with Judah, and visiting is on Jacob; by the ways of him, and by the findings of him, he shall yield to him. (And so the Lord hath a judgement to bring against Judah, and Jacob shall be punished; yea, because of their ways, and their deeds, the Lord shall yield vengeance unto them.)

3 In the womb he supplanted his brother, and in his strength he wrestled with the angel.

4 And he was strong to the angel, and was comforted [And he had victory at the angel, and he was comforted]; he wept, and prayed (to) him; in Bethel he found him, and there he spake with us. (And he was strong against the angel/And he fought against the angel, and was the stronger; and he wept, and prayed to him; yea, he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with him.)

5 And the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, is the memorial of him. (With the Lord God of hosts, yea, the Lord is his name.)

6 And thou shalt turn (again) to thy God. Keep thou mercy and doom, and hope thou ever[more] in thy God. (And thou shalt return to thy God. Practise thou love and justice/Practise thou love and judgement, and hope thou forevermore in thy God.)

7 Canaan loved false challenge, a guileful balance in his hand. (The merchant loved false practises, yea, a deceitful balance was in his hands.)

8 And Ephraim said, Nevertheless I am made rich, I have found an idol to me; all my travails shall not find to me the wickedness, which I sinned. (And Ephraim said, Nevertheless I am made rich, I have made my fortune; and in all my labours no one shall not find any wickedness in me, by which I have sinned.)

9 And I am thy Lord God from the land of Egypt; yet I shall make thee to sit in tabernacles, as in the days of feast. (And I am the Lord thy God since thy days in the land of Egypt; and I shall make thee to sit in tents again, like in the old days.)

10 And I spake by prophets, and I multiplied vision, either prophesy, and I was likened in the hand of (the) prophets. (And I spoke by prophets, and I multiplied visions, or prophesies, and I used likenesses, or parables, in the hands of the prophets.)

11 If Gilead worshippeth an idol, therefore they err in vain offering to oxes in Gilgal; for why and the altars of them shall be as heaps on the furrows of the field.

12 Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and served, either kept (sheep) for a wife. (Jacob fled into the country of Syria, or Aram, and then Israel served a man in order to get a wife, yea, served him, and kept sheep, for a wife.)

13 But by a prophet the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was kept (safe). (But by a prophet the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet they were kept alive.)

14 Ephraim stirred me to wrathfulness in his bitternesses, and the blood of him shall come on him; and his Lord shall restore to him the shame of him. (Ephraim stirred me to bitter anger, and his blood shall come upon him; and his Lord shall return his shame unto him.)

Hosea 12 Commentary

Chapter 12

Judah and Israel reminded of the Divine favours. (1-6) The provocations of Israel. (7-14)

Verses 1-6 Ephraim feeds himself with vain hopes of help from man, when he is at enmity with God. The Jews vainly thought to secure the Egyptians by a present of the produce of their country. Judah is contended with also. God sees the sin of his own people, and will reckon with them for it. They are put in mind of what Jacob did, and what God did for him. When his faith upon the Divine promise prevailed above his fears, then by his strength he had power with God. He is Jehovah, the same that was, and is, and is to come. What was a revelation of God to one, is his memorial to many, to all generations. Then let those who have gone from God, be turned to him. Turn thou to the Lord, by repentance and faith, as thy God. Let those that are converted to him, walk with him in all holy conversation and godliness. Let us wrestle with Him for promised blessings, determined not to give over till we prevail; and let us seek Him in his ordinances.

Verses 7-14 Ephraim became a merchant: the word also signifies a Canaanite. They carried on trade upon Canaanitish principles, covetously and with fraud and deceit. Thus they became rich, and falsely supposed that Providence favoured them. But shameful sins shall have shameful punishments. Let them remember, not only what a mighty prince Jacob was with God, but what a servant he was to Laban. The benefits we have had from the word of God, make our sin and folly the worse, if we put any slight upon that word. We had better follow the hardest labour in poverty, than grow rich by sin. We may form a judgment of our own conduct, by comparing it with that of ancient believers in the like circumstances. Whoever despises the message of God, will perish. May we all hear his word with humble, obedient faith.

Chapter Summary

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.