Hosea 12

Chapter 12 of Hosea is one of the judgment prophecies in the latter part of the book. Following Hosea 11, which speaks of God's love that cannot bring itself to give Israel up, it again brings charges against the sins of Ephraim (northern Israel). The Hebrew Bible numbers what English Bibles call 11:12 as 12:1, so the verse numbers in this chapter differ by one between the Hebrew and English texts.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Ephraim pursues what is empty, as though feeding on wind. It makes a covenant with Assyria and sends oil to Egypt. The LORD declares that he also has a controversy with Judah and will repay Jacob according to his ways.
• Verses 3–6 The chapter recalls how Jacob took his brother by the heel in the womb, how he strove with the angel and prevailed, weeping and making supplication, and how he met God at Bethel. It then urges the people to return to God and to keep mercy and justice.
• Verses 7–8 Ephraim is rebuked for deceiving like a merchant with false balances while boasting that, having grown rich, it has committed no sin.
• Verses 9–10 God, who brought them out of Egypt, declares that he will again make them dwell in tents. God has spoken through the prophets, by visions, and by similitudes.
• Verse 11 The iniquity of Gilead and the sacrifice of bullocks at Gilgal are condemned. Their altars will become like heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
• Verses 12–14 After recounting how Jacob fled to the country of Aram and kept sheep to obtain a wife, the chapter contrasts this with how God brought Israel out of Egypt by a prophet and preserved them. Ephraim's provoking sin will be repaid in full.

Key Verses

• Hosea 12:6 "Keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually." This is the chapter's central exhortation, a call to return issued in the midst of a prophecy of judgment.
• Hosea 12:4 "He wept, and made supplication unto him." This verse portrays Jacob's wrestling as an act of clinging to God.

People and Places

• Jacob: The ancestor of the Israelite people. In this chapter the name also refers to the people of Israel.
• Esau: Jacob's twin brother, referred to in verse 3 as "his brother."
• Ephraim: The name of the leading tribe of northern Israel, used for the northern kingdom as a whole.
• Bethel: The place where Jacob met God.
• Gilead: A region east of the Jordan River.
• Gilgal: A place of sacrifice west of the Jordan River.
• Aram: The region where Jacob took refuge with his uncle Laban.
• The "prophet" of verse 13: Commonly understood to be Moses.

Points for Reflection

• Verses 3–4 retell in condensed form Genesis 25 (the heel), Genesis 32 (the wrestling), and Genesis 28 and Genesis 35 (Bethel).
• Genesis calls Jacob's opponent "a man" and does not say that Jacob wept. At this point Hosea's retelling differs in wording from Genesis.
• Interpretations of Jacob differ. Some read the passage as a warning that the deceitful ancestor's character lives on in his deceitful descendants; others read the weeping, supplicating Jacob as a model of repentance.
• In verses 12–13, the same Hebrew verb is reportedly used both for Jacob "keeping" sheep and for God "preserving" Israel by a prophet. The wording is read as drawing a contrast between human labor and God's care.
• The dwelling in tents in verse 9 recalls the Feast of Tabernacles. Interpreters are divided over whether to read it as judgment (a return to the wilderness) or as a promise of restoration.
• The chapter is not directly quoted in the New Testament. However, verse 6, with its emphasis on mercy and justice, shares a theme with Micah 6:6–8 and Matthew 23:23.