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Hosea 12

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1
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. ​
2
Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. ​

The Example of Jacob, Israel's Ancestor 3–6

3
In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God: ​
4
yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us, ​
5
even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name. ​
6
Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually. ​

Ephraim’s Deceit and False Riches 7–8

7
He isa trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. ​
8
And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin. ​

God’s Deliverance and Impending Judgment 9–14

9
But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. ​
10
I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.
11
Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field. ​
12
And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. ​
13
And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. ​
14
Ephraim hath provoked to anger most bitterly: therefore shall his blood be left upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Hosea 12

Verse 1

feedeth on wind — Ra’ah is the shepherd’s verb for pasturing a flock, so Ephraim grazes on wind and follows ‘the east wind’ (qadim), the wind that makes what is planted wither (Ezek 17:10). The covenant with the Assyrians and the oil sent to Egypt match ‘they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria’ (Hos 7:11).

Verse 2

a controversy with Judah — Riv is a legal dispute, the word of the LORD’s charge against the land in Hos 4:1. Here it reaches Judah as well, and ‘Jacob’ stands for the whole people. ‘Recompense’ is shub, to turn back: the doings come back on the doer, as in ‘reward them their doings’ (Hos 4:9).

Verse 3

by the heel — Aqab, to take by the heel, gives Jacob his name (Gen 25:26). ‘Had power with God’ is sarah, to have power as a prince, which gives the name Israel in ‘as a prince hast thou power with God and with men’ (Gen 32:28). This verb is found only in these two verses.

Verse 4

he wept, and made supplication — Genesis records Jacob’s hold on the angel, ‘I will not let thee go, except thou bless me’ (Gen 32:26), and Hosea adds that he wept. ‘Supplication’ is chanan, to ask for favour. ‘He found him in Bethel’ recalls the place ‘where God spake with him’ (Gen 35:15), and ‘with us’ takes later generations into what was said there.

Verse 5

the LORD is his memorial — ‘Hosts’ is tsaba, armies. ‘Memorial’ is zeker, the word of Ex 3:15: ‘this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.’ The name given to Moses is the name by which the LORD is to be remembered.

Verse 6

keep mercy and judgment — ‘Turn’ is shub, the verb rendered ‘recompense’ in v.2 and ‘return’ in 14:1. ‘Keep’ is shamar, to guard, and the two things guarded are chesed (‘mercy’) and mishpat (‘judgment’), as in ‘to do justly, and to love mercy’ (Mic 6:8). ‘Wait’ is qavah, to look for with expectation.

Verse 7

a merchant — The Hebrew is Kena’an, Canaan, the nation’s own name. The people who took Canaan’s land are called by it while they keep ‘balances of deceit’, though ‘a false balance is abomination to the LORD’ (Prov 11:1). ‘Oppress’ is ashaq, the verb of Amos 4:1.

Verse 8

Yet I am become rich — ‘Substance’ is ’on, the same word as ‘strength’ in v.3. In Jacob it had power with God, and in Ephraim it is wealth: ‘I have found me out substance’. The boast matches ‘My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth’ (Deut 8:17) and ‘I am rich, and increased with goods’ (Rev 3:17).

Verse 9

dwell in tabernacles — ‘I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt’ echoes Ex 20:2 and returns in 13:4. ‘Tabernacles’ is ohel, tents, recalling the booths of the feast, kept ‘that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths’ (Lev 23:43). Readers take the promise as a return to wilderness life or as a renewed feast.

Verse 11

Gilead… Gilgal — ‘Is there iniquity in Gilead?’ echoes 6:8, ‘Gilead is a city of them that work iniquity’. At Gilgal Joshua pitched twelve stones (Josh 4:20), and the LORD said, ‘This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt’ (Josh 5:9), which gave the place its name. Now its altars are ‘as heaps’, gal, something rolled.

Verse 12

fled into the country of Syria — Aram is the land of Laban, to which Jacob fled (Gen 27:43) and where he ‘served seven years for Rachel’ (Gen 29:20). The offerer of firstfruits later confessed, ‘A Syrian ready to perish was my father’ (Deut 26:5). ‘Kept sheep’ is shamar, the verb that v.13 turns to Israel: ‘by a prophet was he preserved’.

Verse 13

by a prophet — Moses is the prophet meant: ‘there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses’ (Deut 34:10). ‘Preserved’ is shamar, the shepherd’s verb of v.12 and the ‘keep’ of v.6. The flock was led as the Psalm says, ‘Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron’ (Ps 77:20).

Verse 14

most bitterly — Tamrurim is the plural of bitterness, the bitterest provocation. ‘Leave his blood upon him’ means that the blood Ephraim has shed stays on him, as ‘blood toucheth blood’ (Hos 4:2). ‘Return’ is shub for the third time (vv.2, 6, 14): the reproach Ephraim brought comes back to him from his Lord.