Old Testament Commentary - Hosea 12

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 12 The Lord uses prophets and visions and similitudes to guide his people, but they become rich and will not wait on the Lord—Ephraim provoked him most bitterly.
1 ^aEPHRAIM feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a ^bcovenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2 The LORD hath also a ^acontroversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
3 ¶ He took his brother by the ^aheel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: 4 Yea, he had power over the ^aangel, and ^bprevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in ^cBeth-el, and there he spake with ^dus; 5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his ^amemorial. 6 Therefore ^aturn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
7 ¶ He is a merchant, the ^abalances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. 8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin. 9 And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in ^atabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. 11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in ^aGilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. 12 And Jacob fled into the country of ^aSyria, and Israel served for a ^bwife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
13 And by a ^aprophet the ^bLORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his ^ablood upon him^a, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.	14^a therefore shall he [Jesus] leave his blood upon him Though it was Judah who tried, judged and called for the death of Jesus, it was also Rome who was complicite in the deed. Though Pilate symbolically washed the blood from his hands, in truth it could be so removed, for it was under the order and command of Rome that Jerusalem was and by the authority's sanction was the Messiah crucified. And it is thought that while Judah and its priest brought a curse upon the Jews, so also it is thought that Ephraim was not without fault as the leaders of Rome were of scattered Israel/Ephraim.