Hosea 12:3

3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God.

Hosea 12:3 in Other Translations

3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:

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

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

3 In the womb, that heel, Jacob, got the best of his brother. When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God.

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God:

3 Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother's heel while the two of them were in their mother's womb. When Jacob became a man, he struggled with God.

3 In the womb he grasped his brother's heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God.

3 Even before Jacob was born, he was holding on to his brother's heel. When he became a man, he struggled with God.

Hosea 12:3 Meaning and Commentary

Hosea 12:3

He took his brother by the heel in the womb
That is, Jacob took his brother Esau by the heel, as he came forth from his mother's womb; the history of it is in ( Genesis 25:25 Genesis 25:26 ) . It is here observed, upon mentioning the name of Jacob in ( Hosea 12:2 ) , meaning the posterity, of the patriarch; but here he himself is intended, and occasionally taken notice of, to show how very different his posterity were from him, and how sadly degenerated; as well as to upbraid them with ingratitude, whose ancestors, and they also, had received such and so many favours from the Lord; Jacob the patriarch was a hero from the womb, but they transgressors from it; this action of his observed was a presage and pledge of his having the superiority of his brother, and of his getting the birthright and blessing from him. So the Targum,

``prophet, say unto them, was it not said of Jacob, before he was born, that he would be greater than his brother?''

see ( Romans 9:11 Romans 9:12 ) . In this action there was something divine, miraculous, and preternatural; it was not the effort of nature merely, but contrary to it, or at least above it; and not done by chance, but ordered by the providence of God, as a prediction and testification of his future greatness, and even of his posterity's, in times yet to come, as Kimchi observes, who refers to ( Obadiah 1:18 ) ; and by his strength he had power with God;
the Targum is, with the angel, as in ( Hosea 12:4 ) ; he is called a man in the history of this event in ( Genesis 32:24 ) ; not that he was a mere man, since he is here expressly called God, and afterwards the Lord God of hosts; and there it is evident, from the context, he was a divine Person, and no other than the Son of God; who, though not as yet incarnate, appeared in a human form, as a presage of his future incarnation; though this was not a mere apparition, spectre, or phantasm, as Josephus ^F20 calls it; for it was not in a dream, or in a visionary way, that this wrestling and striving was between this divine Person in this form and Jacob, but in reality; it was a real substance which the Son of God formed, animated, actuated, and assumed, for that time and purpose, and then laid it aside; which touched Jacob, and he touched that, laid hold on it, and held it fast, and strove with it, and had power over it, and over God in it; even over him that is God over all, the true God and eternal life, the Lord Jesus Christ; not a created God, or God by office, but by nature; as the perfections that are in him, and the works and worship ascribed to him, declare: now Jacob had power over him "by his strength"; not by his natural strength; either of his body, which could not have been equal to the strength of this human body assumed for the time, as it was used and managed by a divine Person, unless he had been extraordinarily assisted and strengthened; or of his mind and soul, not by any spiritual strength he had of himself; but by what he had from this divine Person, with whom he wrestled; who put strength into him, and supported and increased the power and strength of faith in prayer; so that he prevailed over him, and got the blessing, for which reason his name was called Israel, ( Genesis 32:28 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 20. sect. 2.

Hosea 12:3 In-Context

1 Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence. He makes a treaty with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.

2 The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.

3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God.

4 He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—

5 the LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name!

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 25:26
• 2. Genesis 32:24-29