Hosea 12:2-14

The Lord's Indictment of Israel and Judah

2 ¹The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds.

3 ²In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.

4 He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favor. ³He met God^[a] at Bethel, and there God spoke with us--

5 the LORD, the God of hosts, ⁴the LORD is his memorial name:

6 "So you, ⁵by the help of your God, return, ⁶hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God."

7 A merchant, in whose hands are ⁷false balances, he loves ⁸to oppress.

8 Ephraim has said, "Ah, but ⁹I am rich; I have found wealth for myself; in all my labors ¹⁰they cannot find in me iniquity or sin."

9 ¹¹I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt; I will again make you ¹²dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.

10 ¹³I spoke to the prophets; it was I who multiplied ¹⁴visions, and through the prophets gave parables.

11 ¹⁵If there is iniquity in Gilead, they shall surely come to nothing: ¹⁶in Gilgal they sacrifice bulls; ¹⁷their altars also are like stone heaps ¹⁸on the furrows of the field.

12 ¹⁹Jacob fled to the land of Aram; there Israel ²⁰served for a wife, and for a wife he guarded sheep.

13 By ²¹a prophet ²²the LORD brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded.

14 ²³Ephraim has given bitter provocation; so his Lord ²⁴will leave his bloodguilt on him ²⁵and will repay him for his disgraceful deeds.

Hosea 12:2-14 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.

Cross References

• 1. See Hosea 4:1
• 2. Genesis 25:26; [Genesis 27:36]
• 3. Genesis 28:12, 19; Genesis 35:9, 10, 15
• 4. Exodus 3:15
• 5. Hosea 14:1, 2; Joel 2:12, 13
• 6. [Micah 6:8]
• 7. Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11; [Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 20:23]
• 8. Micah 2:2
• 9. Zechariah 11:5; Revelation 3:17
• 10. [Deuteronomy 29:19]
• 11. Hosea 13:4
• 12. See Leviticus 23:39-43; Nehemiah 8:14-18
• 13. [2 Kings 17:13]
• 14. [Joel 2:28]
• 15. Hosea 6:8
• 16. Hosea 4:15; Hosea 9:15
• 17. Hosea 8:11
• 18. Hosea 10:4
• 19. Genesis 28:5
• 20. Genesis 29:20, 28
• 21. [Deuteronomy 18:15]
• 22. Exodus 12:50, 51; Psalms 77:20; See Isaiah 63:11-14
• 23. 2 Kings 17:17
• 24. See Hosea 4:2
• 25. ver. 2

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew him