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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hosea 12:7-14

Here are intermixed, in these verses, I. Reproofs for sin. When God is coming forth to contend with a people, that he may demonstrate his own righteousness, he will demonstrate their unrighteousness. Ephraim was called to turn to his God and keep judgment (Hos. 12:6); now, to show that he had need of that call, he is charged with turning from his God by idolatry, and breaking the laws of justice and judgment. 1. He is here charged with injustice against the precepts of the second table, Hos.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hosea 12:7

He is a merchant ,.... Here is a change of person from "thou" to "he", from Judah to Ephraim, who is said to be a "merchant"; and if that was all, there is nothing worthy of dispraise in it; but he was a cheating merchant, a fraudulent dealer, as appears by what follows: or he is Canaan, or a Canaanite F25 כנען χανααν , Sept. "Chanaan", V. L. Tigurine version; "Chanauaeum" refers, Munster. ; more like a descendant of Canaan, by his manners, than a descendant of Jacob. But the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 12:7

He is a merchant - Or a Canaanite; referring to the Phoenicians, famous for their traffic. Ephraim is as corrupt as those heathenish traffickers were. He kept, as many in all ages have done, a weight and a weight; a heavy one to buy with and a light one to sell by. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hosea 12:7

Verse 7 But while the Prophet exhorted the Israelites to repentance, he adds, that such was their perverseness, that it was done without any fruit.Canaan! he says; I read this by itself; for what some consider to be understood is frigid, as, “He was assimilated to, or was like Canaan, in whose hand,” etc. . But, on the contrary, the Prophet here condemns the Israelites by one word; as though he said, that they were wholly aliens, and unworthy to be called the children of Abraham. And thus what... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 12:7

He is a merchant (margin, Canaan ) , the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress . This verse is more exactly rendered, Canaan is he, in his hand are the balances of deceit: he loveth to oppress . How the sons have degenerated from the sire! No longer do we see Jacob wrestling in prayer with the angel of the covenant, and knighted in the field with the name of Israel, or "prince with God;" but a fraudulent merchant Kenaan, seeking to aggrandize himself by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 12:7-9

Fortunes badly used, badly made, and badly ended. "He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin. 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." Here we have— I. FORTUNES BADLY USED . "And Ephraim said, I am become rich, I... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 12:7-10

Extent of Israel's apostasy. I. Here we are shown now FOR ISRAEL HAD APOSTATIZED , how unlike they were to the patriarch of whom they boasted, and how far they fell short of admonitions that had been addressed to) them. 1. They were like the Canaanite whom they despised than the patriarch from whom they were descended. They had become liker fraudulent merchants than God-fearing members of the Church of God. To fraud they added oppression where they had the power. 2. The ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 12:7-11

Balances of deceit. In the manner of his acquisition of wealth, Ephraim conjoined deceit and oppression. He was dishonest in trade. He oppressed the poor. He was a better imitator of Jacob in his act of laying hold of his brother's heel than in his earnestness in wrestling with the angel. He inherited the evil, not the good, traits in the character of his progenitor He was a "Jacob," not an "Israel." Yet he plumed himself on his success. I. EPHRAIM 'S SAY IN THE MATTER . ( ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 12:7-14

Contain a fresh description of Israel's apostasy. To this the prophet is led by the preceding train of thought. When he called to mind the earnestness of the patriarch to obtain the blessing, the sincerity of his repentance, and the evidences of conversion, consisting in mercy and judgment and constant waiting on God, he looks around on Israel, and finding those virtues conspicuous by their absence; he repeats the story of their degeneracy. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hosea 12:7-14

Three painful contrasts. In this strophe the threatening of punishment is again repeated ( Hosea 12:14 ). Ephraim's blood-guiltiness is to be left upon him; i.e. his sin is not to be pardoned. The "reproach" or dishonor which he has done to God by his idolatry, and iniquity God will repay him. But the denunciation is mixed with mercy. "I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles" ( Hosea 12:9 ) seems to include, not only a threatening of banishment from "the Lord's land," but a new... read more

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