Hosea 12

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:3

"In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God."The reference to Jacob in this passage seems to have been with a double purpose: (1) for demonstrating that the cunning, deceit, and guile of the Israel in Hosea's day was in character with that of the old "heel catcher" from whom they had all descended, and (2) in order to emphasize that, with all of Jacob's faults, he did honor the promises of God, struggled with God to receive his blessings, tenaciously... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:4

"Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto him: he found him at Bethel, and there he spake with us.""Yea, he had power over the angel ..."; Genesis 32:34 has, "There wrestled a man with him"; and some have tried to make a contradiction out of this; but that very passage makes the supernatural identity of the wrestler absolutely certain. The fact of his being introduced first as "a man" is exactly in harmony with the way angels were usually introduced in... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:5

"Even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name."The full messages of these verses was thus summarized by Hailey:"The power of Jacob to prevail was the power of Israel of Hosea's day if they would but avail themselves of it. The power was in the name of Jehovah, the God of hosts, and was to be laid hold upon by weeping and supplication, as in the case of Jacob."[13]"Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name...CONCERNING THE NAME JEHOVAHThe sacred Hebrew... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:6

"Therefore turn to thy God: keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually."Israel no longer knew God, hence the challenge here for them to turn to God. The real hope of Israel could not lie in the vulgar pagan worship of their licentious bull-gods, even at Bethel, made sacred in Hebrew memory by the place's association with their patriarch Jacob; the real God was not what they were worshipping there. The true God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."Kindness and justice ..."... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:7

"He is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress."Certain words in this verse are capable of other renditions. Ward rendered it, "A merchant with crooked scales, he loved to cheat."[15] The word "trafficker" is actually "a Canaanite,"[16] a word that came to mean merchant or trader, and especially a deceitful and crooked one. It was originally applied to the old Phoenicians whose reputation for deceitfulness and dishonesty was known all over the world. Homer's... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:8

"And Ephraim said, Surely I have become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin."This is an astounding defense by Ephraim. Sure, he is as crooked as any of the old Canaanites ever were, but he got rich; that makes it right! His wickedness is not "sin," because it works! Here is the old doctrine that the end justifies the means. There was in the crooked weights and false balances of Ephraim a brazen and arrogant denial of covenant... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:9

"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.""God from the land of Egypt ..." has the meaning of "thy God since the days when I brought thee up out of Egypt." It is a mistake to see in this the origin of the Covenant in Egypt or even in the wilderness. God brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt because of the Covenant already in existence and dating from the times of Abraham. The Exodus was a result... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:10

"I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes."Hailey has a concise paraphrase of this as follows:"They had no excuse for their ignorance of Jehovah, for he had spoken to them through prophets, through multiplied visions, and by the use of similitudes through which they should have learned."[19]"I have spoken unto the prophets ..." In addition to the great prophet Moses, "That Prophet like unto Christ," Calvin... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:11

"Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.""Gilead ..." is mentioned in Hosea 6:8 and was one of the places in Israel associated with wickedness and false worship. Altars and shrines devoted to the bull-gods had been multiplied there, and this verse pronounces a judgment against them."Is Gilead iniquity ...?" This is a sarcastic question designed to say that, "Of course, Gilead IS iniquity!""In... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Hosea 12:12

"And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep."This was spoken by way of reminder to Ephraim who now styled himself as a rich man, that he was, in fact, descended from a man who was a servant, not much better off than a slave, in Padan-Aram, where he served his uncle Laban for fourteen years for his wife. With an experience like that in his great ancestor, Ephraim should have been willing to acknowledge the providence of God in his temporary... read more

Group of Brands