Hosea 12
12
Israel, a Deceitful Son
11:12 Yahweh says: # 11:12 In the English Bible, v.
1
is included in ch.
11
as v.
12
. However, the Hebrew text labels the verse as
12:1
, and indeed, the content of the verse fits better in this context. Therefore, the translation team has placed this verse in ch.
12
for smoother reading while retaining the English notation. The team reminds the reader that verse and chapter numbers have been added to Scripture by translators and are not part of the inspired text. “All around me are the lies of Ephraim, # 11:12 Or “I am besieged [as with a surrounding army] with Ephraim’s lies.”
and nothing Israel says can be trusted.
Judah, on the other hand, still walks with God;
he remains faithful to the Holy One.
1Ephraim follows fantasies, like feeding on the wind.
They chase the desert wind all day long; # 12:1 Or “the east wind [off the desert],” which is a metaphor for Assyria. See
Jer. 18:17
;
Ezek. 17:10
;
Hos. 13:15
.
they multiply their lies and violence.
They make a treaty with Assyria,
and at the same time, they send a gift of olive oil to Egypt.”
2Yahweh is bringing charges against Judah.
He will punish Jacob # 12:2 Jacob was the ancestor of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, and his name is used here as a metonymy for the people of Israel. as his conduct deserves;
he will repay the people for what they have done.
3In his mother’s womb, Jacob grabbed his twin brother’s heel;
when he grew to be a man, he struggled with God. # 12:3 See
Gen. 32:24–30
.
4He wrestled with the angel and won;
he wept and sought his blessing. # 12:4 Or “favor.” The implication is that if God gave strength and endurance to Jacob to prevail in his wrestling match, wouldn’t God also give the Israelites strength to prevail without their having to turn to Egypt and Assyria for help?
God met him at Bethel,
and there he spoke to us.
5Yes, Yahweh is the God of Angel Armies.
Yahweh—remember his name!
Return to God
6And you, to your God you must return.
Stand guard over divine love and justice
and always put your trust in him
as you wait patiently for your God. # 12:6 The Hebrew can be translated as both “put your trust in your God” and “wait patiently for your God.” This translation includes both forms.
7Israel, you are like merchants # 12:7 There is a play on words that is lost in translation. The word for “merchants” is also the word for “Canaanites.” Hosea was comparing the dishonesty of the Israelites to that of their pagan neighbors, the Canaanites. The implication is that the Israelites were acting as dishonestly as their cheating neighbors. using fraudulent scales.
How you love to cheat your customers!
8Ephraim boasts, “Look how rich I have become!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself.
There’s nothing wrong with the profits I have made.
Is there anything sinful about that?” # 12:8 Or “In all that I have gained, I did not incur guilt.” There is a play on words with the word for “guilt” (Hb. ’on ), which has a homonym meaning “wealth.”
9“I, Yahweh, have been your true God
ever since your days in Egypt.
Yet, I will make you live in tents again # 12:9 That is, as punishment for their apostasy, Israel would be dislodged from their homes and live a nomadic life again in tents, as they did in their wilderness wandering.
as you did when we first met in the Tent of Meeting.” # 12:9 See
Ex. 33:7
.
10“I am the One who speaks through the prophets,
and reveals to them vision after vision.
Through the ministry of prophets,
I reveal my message in parables.” # 12:10 Or “oracles of doom.” Some Jewish commentators translate this as “I appeared under many guises.” Jesus’ preferred method of teaching was allegory (parables; see
Matt. 13:34
;
Mark 4:34
).
11“Gilead is full of nothing but iniquity! # 12:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Therefore, its people will be wiped out.
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
That is why I will make their altars
nothing but heaps of stones
on the furrows of the plowed fields.”
12Jacob fled to the land of Aram, # 12:12 This is the land of Haran, where Abraham came from. See
Gen. 27:41–45
.
where Israel became a servant to win a wife.
He took care of another man’s sheep to pay the bride-price. # 12:12 See
Gen. 29:15–30
.
13By a prophet, Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt;
By a prophet named Moses, he cared for his people, Israel. # 12:13 God was reminding Israel of the many blessings that came to them through his prophets and urging them not to despise the prophets’ ministries. See
1 Thess. 5:20
.
14But the people of Israel have provoked him to bitter anger.
Yahweh will hold the Israelites responsible
for the crimes of bloodshed they have committed. # 12:14 Or literally “and his bloods upon him he will leave.”
Their master will make them pay
for all the disgraceful things they have done.
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Hosea 12: TPT
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