Hosea 11:12

"Ephraim compasseth me about with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit, but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the Holy One."

The big problem with this verse lies in the fact of Judah's being an essential part of "the house of Israel" which is identified with "deceit" in almost the same sentence. Uncertainties in the text are evidently responsible for the difficulty. Mauchline translated the last sentence of this verse thus:

Judah is still wayward with God,

And is faithful with sacred prostitutes.[24]

The New English Bible renders the passage thus:

And Judah is still restive under God,

Still loyal to the idols he counts holy.

It is beyond the scope of our purpose to attempt any resolutions of questions deriving from damaged manuscripts, and we shall leave the matter as uncertain. The two renditions just noted appear to fit what has been repeatedly stated throughout Hosea with regard to Judah.

All of the intimations of some great holiness in the future for Israel in this chapter are to be understood of the New Israel in the kingdom of Christ. This is made starkly clear by a review of Hosea 2 where Gomer's return as a slave to her former home was not the prelude to a remarriage of the prophet with her. There is another wedding, to be sure, but it was to be with the New Israel, not with the old one. That is why Gomer was not mentioned in connection with the nuptial scenes of Hosea 2:14-3:5. She represented the old Israel, not the new.