Hosea 12
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4Q166 "The Hosea Commentary Scroll", late first century B.C.
Book	Book of Hosea
Category	Nevi'im
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	28

Hosea 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.^[1][2] This chapter contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Hosea son of Beeri, and was delivered about the time of Israel's seeking the aid of the Egyptian king So, in violation of their covenant with Assyria (see Hosea 12:1). He exhorts them to follow their father Jacob's persevering prayerfulness, which brought God's favor upon him. As God is unchangeable, He will show the same favor to Jacob's posterity as He did to Jacob, if, like him, they seek God.^[3] It is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.^[4][5]

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 14 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[6]

Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: (2nd century BC and later)^[7][8]

• 4Q82 (4QXII^g): extant: verses 1-4, 6-9, 11-14 (verses 2‑5, 7‑10, 12‑15 in Masoretic Text)^[7]

Ancient manuscripts in Koine Greek containing this chapter are mainly of the Septuagint version, including Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G))}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G))}$^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G))}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G))}$^Q; 6th century).^[9]

Verse 1

Ephraim feedeth on wind,

and followeth after the east wind:

he daily increaseth lies and desolation;

and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians,

and oil is carried into Egypt.^[10]

• "Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind": The East wind in Palestine, coming from Arabia and the far East, over large tracts of sandy waste, is parching, scorching, destructive to vegetation, oppressive to man, violent and destructive on the sea Psalm 48:7, and, by land also, having the force of the whirlwind (Job 27:21; see Jeremiah 18:17). "The East wind carrieth him away and he departeth, and as a whirlwind hurleth him out of his place." In leaving God and following idols, Ephraim "fed on" what is unsatisfying, and chased after what is destructive. If a hungry man were to "feed on wind," it would be light food. If a man could overtake the East wind, it were his destruction. : Israel "fed on wind," when he sought by gifts to win one who could aid him no more than the wind; "he chased the East wind," when, in place of the gain which he sought, he received from the patron whom he had adopted, no slight loss." Israel sought for the scorching wind, when it could betake itself under the shadow of God. : "The scorching wind is the burning of calamities, and the consuming fire of affliction."^[11]
• "Oil is carried into Egypt": not common oil for trade, but rich and precious oils, presents and price to procure friendship there too, though forbidden, Isaiah 30:2,6; 31:1.^[3]

Verse 9

And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles,

as in the days of the solemn feast.^[12]

This verse consists of two parts which in the original are coordinated. It is better to translate thus:

And I am the Lord thy God, from the land of Egypt:

I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles,

as in the days of the solemn feast.^[13]

• "I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles": Theodoret comments: "That thou mayest understand this and learn wisdom by thy calamity, I will bring thee back again to that point that thou must again dwell in tents and wander as an exile in a foreign land."^[13] Kimchi may represent those who understand it as a promise, or rather a promise with an implied threatening, and thus combine both. His exposition is as follows: "Even so am I ready to bring you forth out of the captivity where ye shall Be, as I did when I brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, and sustained you in the wilderness and made you dwell in tents; so am I ready yet again, when I shall have brought you forth out of the lands of the Gentiles, to cause you to dwell in tents in the wilderness by the way, and to show you wonders until ye shall return to your land in peace."^[13]
• "as in the days of the solemn feast": alluding to the feast of tabernacles, kept in commemoration of the Israelites dwelling in tents in the wilderness, Leviticus 23:42; typical of Christ's incarnation, expressed by his tabernacling among men in human nature, John 1:14; and which feast, though abolished by Christ with the rest, yet it is said will be kept by converted Jews and Gentiles in the latter day; which can be understood no otherwise than of their embracing and professing the incarnate Saviour, partaking of the blessings of grace that come by him, and attending on those ordinances of public worship instituted by him; see Zechariah 14:16; and which booths, tents, or tabernacles, the Israelites dwelt in at that feast, were also typical of the churches of Christ under the Gospel dispensation, and which are here meant; and in which it is here promised the converted Jews shall dwell, as they had been used to do in their booths at the solemn feast of tabernacles. These Christian churches resembling them in the matter of them; believers in Christ, the materials of such churches, being compared to goodly trees, to willows of the brook, to palm trees, olive trees, and myrtle trees, with others, the branches of which were used at the above feast, to make their tabernacles with; see Leviticus 23:40; and in the use of them, which was to dwell in during the time of the said feast; as the churches of Christ are the tabernacles of the most High, the dwelling places of Father, Son, and Spirit; and the habitation of the saints, where they dwell and enjoy great plenty and prosperity, tranquillity and security; and here it particularly denotes that joy, peace, and the converted Jews shall partake of in the churches of Christ in the latter day; of which the feast of tabernacles was but a shadow, and which was attended with much rejoicing, plenty of provisions, and great safety.^[14]

Verse 12

And Jacob fled into the country of Syria,

and Israel served for a wife,

and for a wife he kept sheep.^[15]

• "Country of Syria": or "field of Syria"^[16] (Template:Hebrew, śə-ḏêh 'ă-rām) the same with Padan-Aram; for "Padan", in the Arabic language, as Bochart has shown, signifies a field; and "Aram" is Syria, and is the word here used. This is to be understood of Jacob's fleeing thither for fear of his brother Esau, the history of which is had in Genesis 28:1; though some interpret this of his fleeing from Laban out of the field of Syria into Gilead, Genesis 31:21; and so make it to be introduced as an aggravation of the sin of the inhabitants of Gilead, that that place, which had been a refuge and sanctuary to their ancestor in his distress, should be defiled with idolatry; but the words will not bear such a construction, and the following seem to militate against it.^[14]
• "Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep": it may be understood of his two wives, he served seven years for a wife, for Rachel intentionally, but eventually it was for Leah; and then he kept sheep seven years more for his other wife Rachel; the history of this is in Genesis 29:1.^[14]

Verse 13

And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,

and by a prophet was he preserved.^[17]

• "by a prophet" denotes Moses (Numbers 12:6–8; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18).^[3]
• "preserved": or "kept"; there is an allusion to the same Hebrew word in Hosea 12:12, "kept sheep"; Israel was kept by God as His flock, even as Jacob kept sheep (Psalm 80:1; Isaiah 63:11).^[3]