Hosea 12:2

2 Now the LORD is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.

Hosea 12:2 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 12:2

The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah
The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as well as the ten tribes; for though they had ruled with God, and had been faithful with the saints in the first times of the apostasy of Israel; yet afterwards they sadly degenerated, and fell into idolatry likewise, particularly in the time of Ahaz, in which Hosea prophesied; and therefore the Lord had somewhat against them; nor would he spare them, but reprove them by the prophets, and rebuke them in his providences; bring them to his bar, and lay before them their evils, and threaten them with punishment in case of impenitence, as follows: and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
all the posterity of Jacob, whether Ephraim or Judah; those of the ten tribes, or of the two, who all descended from Jacob: or, "will visit according to his ways" ^F19; if right, and agreeably to the mind and word of God, in a way of grace and mercy; but if wrong, crooked, and perverse, then in a way of punishment; for visiting is used both ways: according to his doings will he recompense him;
as they were good or bad; if good, will reward them with a reward of grace; if bad, with vengeance. The Targum paraphrases it,

``according to his right works.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F19 (wykrdk-dqpl) "ad visitandum juxta vias ejus", Pagninus, Montanus; "visitabit secundum vias ejus", Piscator.

Hosea 12:2 In-Context

1 The people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They pile up lies and violence; they are making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.

2 Now the LORD is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.

3 Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.

4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him —

5 the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, the LORD is his name!

Footnotes

• [a] Jacob sounds like the Hebrew word for “deceiver.”