Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
Parallel Translations
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Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
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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.
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(12-2) Ephraim striveth after wind, and followeth after the east wind; all the day he multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Hosea 12:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hosea 11:12 Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from God, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
- Jeremiah 22:22 The wind will feed all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Surely then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
- Ezekiel 17:10 Yes, behold, being planted, will it prosper? Won’t it utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the beds where it grew.” ’ ”
- Hosea 5:13 “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.
- Hosea 8:7 For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. He has no standing grain. The stalk will yield no head. If it does yield, strangers will swallow it up.
- 2 Kings 15:19 Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
- 2 Kings 17:4-6 The king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria seized him, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
- Job 15:2 “Should a wise man answer with vain knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind?
- Isaiah 30:6-7 The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people. For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet here inveighs against the vain hopes of…
The Prophet here inveighs against the vain hopes of the people, for they were inflated with such arrogance, that they despised all instruction and all admonitions. It was therefore necessary, in the first place, to correct this vice, and hence he says, Ephraim feeds on wind For when one gulps the wind, he seems indeed to fill his mouth, and his throat, and his chest, and his whole stomach; but there is nothing but air, no nourishment. So he says that Israel entertained indeed much confidence in their crafty ways, but it was to feed only on the wind. They dreamt that they were happy, when they secured confederacies, when they had both the Assyrians and the Egyptians as their associates. They are only blasts, says the Prophet; nay, he says, they are noxious blasts; for by the East he understands the east wind, which blows from the rising of the sun; and this, as they say, is in Judea a dry and often a stormy wind. Other winds either bring rain or some other advantage: but this wind brings nothing but drought and storms. It hence then appears that the Prophet meant that Israel, through this their vain confidence, procured for themselves many sorrows and ever remained void and empty. Ephraim then feeds on the wind, and further, he follows after the east wind
Hosea explains afterwards his mind more clearly, He daily multiplies falsehood and desolation, he says. By falsehood he glances, I have no doubt, at the impostures by which the people deceived themselves, as hypocrites do, who, by sharpening their wits to deceive God, involve themselves in many fatal snares. So also is Israel said to have multiplied falsehood; for they made themselves so obstinate, as to become quite hardened against God’s teaching; and this obstinacy is called falsehood for this reason, for unbelieving men, as we see, fabricate for themselves many excuses; and though they be impostures, they yet think themselves safe against all the threatening of God, provided they set up, I know not what, something which they think will be sufficiently available. Hence the Prophet repeats again, that there was nothing but falsehood in all their crafty decrees.
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He then presses the point still more, and says, that it was “desolation”, that is, the cause of desolation. He then first derides the vain confidence of the people, because they thought that they could blind the eyes of God by their vain disguises; “This is falsehood,” he says “this is imposture.” Then he presses them more heavily and says “This is your perdition: you shall at last perceive, that you have gained nothing by your counsels but destruction.”
How so? Because they made a covenant. I take this latter clause as explanatory: for if the Prophet had only spoken generally, the impiety of the people would not have been sufficiently exposed; and the masks of secure men must be torn away, and their crimes, as it were, painted, that they may be ashamed; for except they are drawn forth as it were before the public, and their turpitude exposed to the view of all, they will ever hide themselves in their secret places. This then is the reason why the Prophet here specifically points out their frauds, which he had before mentioned. Behold, he says, they made a covenant with the Assyrian, and carry their oil into Egypt; that is, they hunt for the friendship of the Assyrian on one side, and on the other they conciliate with great importunity the Egyptians; nay, they spare not their own goods, for they carry presents in order to gain them. We now then understand how Israel had multiplied falsehood and desolation; for they implicated themselves in illicit compacts. But why it was unlawful for them to fly to the Assyrians and Egyptians, we have explained elsewhere, nor is it needful here to repeat at large what has been said: God wished the people to be under his protection; and when God promised to be the defender of their safety, they ought to have been satisfied with his protection alone: but when they retook themselves to Egypt and to Assyria, it was a clear evidence of unbelief; for it was the same as to deny the power of God to be sufficient for them. And we also know that the Israelites never went to Assyria or to Egypt, except when they meditated the destruction of their own brethren; for they often laboured to overturn the kingdom of Judah: they only sought associates to gratify their own cruelty. But this one reason, however, was abundantly sufficient to condemn them, that they fortified themselves by foreign aids, when God was willing to keep them as it were inclosed under his own wings. Whenever then we attempt to provide for ourselves by unlawful means, it is the same thing as if we denied God; for he calls and invites us to come under his protection: but when we run in our thoughts here and there, and seek some vain helps, we grievously dishonour God: it is, as it were, to fly into Egypt or into Assyria. And for this purpose ought the doctrine of this verse to be applied. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is, flattereth himself with vain confidence.
That is, flattereth himself with vain confidence.
Meaning, presents to get friendship.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 12:1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after…
Hos 12:1 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.
Ver. 1. Ephraim feedeth on wind] Slender feeding; unless Ephraim were of the chameleon kind: quippe nec cor auro satiatur nec corpus aura. Wind fills, but feeds not, Isa 55:10. Ephraim had sowed the wind, Hos 8:7, but to what profit? He that ministereth seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, would here, surely, neither give bread for food, nor multiply their seed sown, 2Co 9:10, but send them to the gods that they had chosen, and to their confederates whom they so relied upon, from whom they should reap the whirlwind. {See Trapp on "Hos 8:7"} Wind, we know, bloweth up storms and tempests; so doth idolatry and creature confidence, the tempest of God’s wrath that will never be blown over.
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And followeth after the east wind] Which if he catch, a great catch he is like to have of it. Eurus est ventus urens et exsiccans. The east wind is noted in Scripture for pernicious and harmful to fruits and herbs, Gen 41:6 Eze 7:10; Eze 29:17 Hos 13:15; violent it is also, and spareth not men, Jon 4:8. The Seventy render it, καυσωνα, a burning blast, as they do the former words, Ephraim is an evil spirit, by a mistake of the points. Job speaketh of some that fill their bellies with the east wind; they think to do so, but it proves otherwise; they snuff up the wind with the wild ass, but it tumors them only, and proves pestilential. It is very dangerous for men to follow after their own conceits and counsels. It may be worse to them upon their deathbeds, when they are launching into the main of immortality, than any rough east wind ( Euroaquilo), or than any Euroclydon, that wind mentioned Act 27:14, that hath its name from stirring up storms, and is by Pliny called navigantium pestis, the mariner’s misery, una eurus notusque ruunt (Virg.). An empty body meeting with tempests will have much ado to bear up. If Ephraim first feed upon wind, and then fall under the east wind, it must needs go hard with him. The godly man, who is filled with all the fulness of God, Eph 3:19, shall have him for a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, Isa 25:4. His prayer is that of Jeremiah, Jer 17:17, "Be not thou a terror unto me, O Lord: thou art my hope in the day of evil." If the wind be not got into the earth, and stir not there, storms and tempests abroad cannot make an earthquake; no more can afflictions, or death, a heart attack, where there is peace with God. Such a man’s mind, immota manet, is as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed.
He daily increaseth lies and desolation] This being the fruit and consequence of those; for flagitium et flagellum sicut acus et filum, sin and punishment are inseparable companions. "Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me," Hos 7:13. {See Trapp on "Hos 7:13"} To heap up lies is to hasten desolation. "A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish," Pro 19:9. They tell us of a threefold lie, i.e. a merry lie, an officious lie, and a pernicious lie. But the truth is, every lie is pernicious; and a man should rather die than lie. He that lieth in jest may go to hell for it in earnest. Jacob told his father an officious threefold lie, and scarce ever had a merry day after it, Gen 27:19. God followed him with one sorrow upon another, to teach him and us what an evil and a bitter thing it is to cumulate lies, as here, and how it ensnares and ensnarles us.
And they do make a covenant with the Assyrian, and oil is carried into Egypt] That is, all precious and pleasant substance was carried for a present, to make room for them. Oil is instanced, as the chief staple commodity of the land, {see Eze 27:17} and in Egypt very scarce. This sin of theirs in seeking to other nations, and relying on the arm of flesh, is often reproved and threatened throughout this prophecy, {see Hos 5:13; Hos 7:11; Hos 9:8; Hos 10:4; Hos 11:5} to teach God’s ministers to continue crying out against the prevailing sins of the people, and never give over, till they see a reformation wrought among them. "The Cretians are always liars," &c. "Rebuke them sharply," saith the apostle, Tit 1:12-13; yea, be instant and constant, in season and out of season, using the same liberty in beating down sin that men do to commit it. Chrysostom told his hearers at Antioch that till they stopped their swearing he would never stop preaching against it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Ephraim feedeth on wind: it is a proverbial speech,…
Ephraim feedeth on wind: it is a proverbial speech, denoting; the self-flattery of Ephraim, his supporting himself with hopes as unfit to sustain him, as the wind is to feed the body and nourish it; in his religious pretensions he did, hypocrite like, compass God with lies, and now in his civil concerns he compasseth himself with lies.
Followeth after the east wind: in those countries the east winds were most vehement, dangerous, and blasting, Psa 48:7; Jon 4:8; a very apt emblem to represent the self-destroying course which Ephraim took, which, though yet he will not believe, shall ere long scorch, blast, rend, and tear him as the tempestuous east winds do the weaker and unfenced plants.
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He daily increaseth lies; by making new leagues, and fortifying himself with them against the menaces of God by his prophets, he increaseth friendships; but all of them will prove lies to him at last, like the wind he feeds on. The like you have Hos 10:13; Isa 57:9,13.
And desolation: this is worse than merely to be disappointed by a lie; as before the east wind was hurtful and did him mischief, so here his purchased friendships shall hasten and increase his desolation. The league made with Sua, or So, king of Egypt, was accounted a conspiracy in Hoshea, and this brought Shalmaneser upon Israel, which war ended in Israel’s ruin and final desolation.
They do make a covenant with the Assyrians; with purpose to defeat the threats of God, and to secure themselves in their courses. Thus they sinfully confederate as before, Hos 5:1,3; 7:11; 8:9; they forsake God’s covenant, and trust not him, but make a covenant with enemies, and trust them.
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, Isa 30:2,6; 31:1.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain In these verses,
In these verses,
I. Ephraim is convicted of folly, in staying himself upon Egypt and Assyria, when he was in straits (Hos 12:1): Ephraim feeds on wind, that is, feeds himself with vain hopes of assistance from man, when he is at variance with God; and, when he meets with disappointments, he still pursues the same game, and greedily pants and follows after the east wind, which he cannot catch holy of, nor, if he could, would it be nourishing, nay, would be noxious. We say of the wind in the east, It is good neither for man nor beast. It was said (Hos 8:7), He sows the wind; and as he sows so he reaps (He reaps the whirlwind); and as he reaps so he feeds - He feeds on the wind, the east wind. Note, Those that make creatures their confidence make fools of themselves, and take a great deal of pains to put a cheat upon their own souls and to prepare vexation for themselves: He daily increaseth lies, that is, multiplies his correspondences and leagues with his neighbours, which will all prove deceitful to him; nay, they will prove desolation to him. Those very nations that he makes his refuge will prove his ruin. Those that stay themselves upon lies will be still coveting to increase them, that they may build their hopes firmly upon them; as if many lies twisted together would make one truth, or many broken reeds and rotten supports one sound one, which is a great delusion and will prove to them a great desolation; for those that observe lying vanities the more they increase them the more disappointments they prepare for themselves and the further they run from their own mercies. The men of Ephraim did so when they thought to secure the Assyrians in their interests by a solemn league, signed, sealed, and sworn to: They make a covenant with the Assyrians, but they will find there is no hold of them; that potent prince will be a slave to his word no longer than he pleases. They thought to secure the Egyptians for their confederates by a rich present of the commodities of their country, not only to purchase their favour, but to show that their friendship was worth having: Oil is carried into Egypt. But the Egyptians, when they had got the bribe, dropped the cause, and Ephraim was never the better for them. Oleum perdidit et operam - The oil and the labour are both lost. This was feeding on wind; this was increasing lies and desolation.
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II. Judah is contended with too, and Jacob, which includes both Ephraim and Judah (Hos 12:2): The Lord has also a controversy with Judah; for though he had a while ago ruled with God, and been faithful with the saints, yet now he begins to degenerate. Or though, in keeping close to the house of David and the house of Aaron, and in them to the covenants of royalty and priesthood, they were so far in the right, in the former they ruled with God and in the latter were faithful to the saints, yet upon other accounts God had a controversy with them, and would punish them. Note, Man's being in the right in some things, in the main things, will not exempt them from correction, and therefore should not exempt them from reproof, for those things wherein they are in the wrong. There were those of the seven churches of Asia whom Christ approved and commended, and yet he adds, Nevertheless I have something against thee. So here; though the seed of Jacob are a people near to God, yet God will punish them according to the evil ways they are found in and the evil doings they are found guilty of; for God sees sin even in his own people, and will reckon with them for it.
III. Both Ephraim and Judah are put in mind of their father Jacob, whose seed they were and whose name they bore (and it was their honour), of the extraordinary things which he did and which God did for him, that they might be the more ashamed of themselves for degenerating from so illustrious a progenitor and staining the lustre of so great a name, and yet that they might be engaged and encouraged to return to God, the God of their father Jacob, in hopes for his sake to find favour with him. He had called this people Jacob (Hos 12:2), threatening to punish them; but how shall I give them up? How shall that dear name be forgotten?
1. Three glorious things concerning Jacob the person Jacob the people are here put in mind of; but by brief hints only, for it is presumed that they knew the story: - (1.) His struggling with Esau in the womb: There he took his brother by the heel, Hos 12:3. We have the story Gen 25:26. It was an early act of bravery, and an effort for the best precedency, a pious ambition for that birthright in the covenant which Esau is justly branded as profane for despising. But his degenerate seed, by mingling with the nations, and making leagues with them, profaned that crown, and laid that honour in the dust, which he so gloriously put in for. Then it was that the dominion was given to him: The elder shall serve the younger. Then he was owned of God as his beloved: Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. But they had by their sin forfeited both the love of God and dominion over their neighbours. (2.) His wrestling with the angel. "Remember how your father Jacob had power with God by his own strength, the strength he had by the gift of God, who pleaded not against him by his great power, but put strength into him," Job 22:6. The angel he wrestled with is called God, and therefore is supposed to be the Son of God, the angel of the covenant. "God was both a combatant with Jacob and an assistant of him, showing, in the latter respect, greater strength than in the former, fighting as it were against him with his left hand and for him with his right, and to that putting greater force." So, Dr. Pocock. The providence of God fought against him when he met with one danger after another, in his return homewards; but the grace of God enabled him to go on cheerfully in his way, and, when his faith acted upon the divine promise that was for him prevailed above his fears that arose from the divine providences that wee against him, then by his strength he had power with God. But it refers especially to his prayer for deliverance from Esau, and for a blessing: He had power over the angel and prevailed, for he wept and made supplication. Here was a mixture of the greatest courage and the greatest tenderness, Jacob wrestling like a champion and yet weeping like a child. Note, Prayers and tears are the weapons with which the saints have obtained the most glorious victories. Thus Jacob commenced Israel - a prince with God; his posterity was called Israel, but they were unworthy the name, for they had forfeited and lost their communion with God, and their interest in him, by revolting from their duty to him. (3.) His meeting with God at Bethel: God found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us. God found him the first time in Bethel, as he went to Padanaram (Gen 28:10), and a second time after his return, Gen 35:9, etc. It is probable that this refers to both; for in both God spoke to Jacob, and renewed the covenant with him, and the prophet might very well say, There he spoke with us who are the seed of Jacob, for both times that God spoke with Jacob at Bethel he spoke with him concerning his seed. Gen 28:14, Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and Gen 35:12, This land I will give unto thy seed. Thus God then covenanted with him and his seed after him. Now justly are they upbraided with this; for in that very place which their father Jacob called Bethel - the house of God, in remembrance of the communion he there had with God, did they set up one of the calves, and worship it; thus they turned that Bethel into a Beth-aven - a house of iniquity. There God spoke with them exceedingly great and precious promises, which they had despised and lost the benefit of.
2. Two inferences are here drawn from these stories concerning Jacob, for instruction to his seed: -
(1.) Here is a use of information. From what passed between God and Jacob we may learn that Jehovah, the Lord God of hosts, is the God of Israel; he was the God of Jacob, and this is his memorial throughout all the generations of the seed of Jacob (Hos 12:5) - the more shame for those who forgot the memorial of their church, deserted the God of their fathers, and exchanged a Lord of hosts for Baalim. Note, Those only are accounted the people of God that keep up a memorial of God, such a memorial of him as he himself has instituted, by which he makes himself known and will have us to remember him. Here are two memorials of his, by which he is distinguished from all others, and is to be acknowledged and adored by us. [1.] The former denotes his existence of himself. He is Jehovah, much the same with I AM, the same that was, and is, and is to come, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. Jehovah is his memorial, his peculiar name. [2.] The latter denotes his dominion over all: He is the God of hosts, that has all the hosts of heaven and earth at his beck and command, and makes what use he pleases of them. Jacob saw Mahanaim - God's two hosts, about the time that he wrestled with the angel (Gen 32:1, Gen 32:2), and so learned to call God the God of hosts, and transmitted it to us as his memorial. God's names, titles, and attributes, are the memorials of him; there is no need for images to be such. And that which was a revelation of God to one is his memorial to many, to all generations.
(2.) Here is a use of exhortation, Hos 12:6. "Is this so, that Jacob thy father had this communion with the Lord God of hosts, and is this still his memorial?" Then, [1.] Let those that have gone astray from God be converted to him: Therefore turn thou to thy God. He that was the God of Jacob is the God of Israel, is thy God; from him thou hast unjustly and unkindly revolted; therefore turn thou to him by repentance and faith, turn to him as thine, to love him, obey him, and depend upon him. [2.] Let those that are converted to him walk with him in all holy conversation and godliness: "Keep mercy and judgment, mercy in relieving and succouring the poor and distressed, judgment in rendering to all their due; be kind to all; do wrong to none. Keep piety and judgment" (so it may be read); "live righteously and godly in this present world; be devout and be honest. Do not only practise these occasionally, but be careful, and constant, and conscientious in the practice of them." [3.] Let those that walk with God be encouraged to live a life of dependence upon him: "Wait on thy God continually, with a believing expectation to receive from him all the succours and supplies thou standest in need of." Those that live a life of conformity to God may live a life of confidence and comfort in him, if it be not their own fault. Let our eyes be ever towards the Lord, and let us preserve a holy security and serenity of mind under the protection of the divine power and the influence of the divine favour, looking, without anxiety, for a dubious event, and by faith keeping our spirits sedate and even; this is waiting on God as our God in covenant, and this we must do continually.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Ephraim feedeth on wind,.... Which will be no more…
Ephraim feedeth on wind,.... Which will be no more profitable and beneficial to him than wind is to a man that opens his mouth, and fills himself with it: the phrase is expressive of labour in vain, and of a man's getting nothing by all the pains he takes; the same with sowing the wind, and reaping the whirlwind, Hos 8:7; and so the Targum has it here,
"the house of Israel are like to one that sows the wind, and reaps the whirlwind all the day;''
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and this refers either to the worship of idols, and the calves in particular, and the vain hope of good things promised to themselves from thence; or to their vain confidence in the alliances and confederacies they entered into with neighbouring nations; from which they expected much, but found little:
and followed after the east wind; a wind strong and vehement, burning and blasting, very noxious and harmful; so that, instead of receiving any profit and advantage either by their idolatry or their covenants with other nations, they were only in these things pursuing what would be greatly to their detriment: or they would be no more able to attain by such methods what they sought for, than they would be able to overtake the east wind, which is a very swift and fleeting one; so that this clause exposes their folly, in expecting good things from their idols, or help from their neighbours;
he daily increaseth lies and desolation; while they multiplied idols, which are lies fallacious and deceitful, and idolatrous rites and acts of worship, they do but increase their desolation and ruin, which such things are the cause of, and will certainly bring them unto; or, not content with the daily increase of their idolatries among themselves, they continually persecute, spoil, and plunder those who do not give into their false worship: so the Targum,
"lies and spoil they multiply;''
idolaters are generally persecutors:
and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians: and gave tribute and presents to their kings, as Menahem did to Pul, and Hoshea to Shalmaneser, not to hurt them, and to help and assist them against their enemies, and to strengthen their kingdom; see Kg2 15:19;
and oil is carried into Egypt: one while they sent presents to the Assyrians, to obtain their favour and friendship: and at another time to the Egyptians; nay, they sent to So king of Egypt, at the same time they were tributary to Assyria, and, conspiring against him, brought on their ruin; and oil was a principal part of the present sent; for this was carried not by way of traffic, but as a present: so the Targum,
"and they carried gifts to Egypt;''
see Isa 57:9. The land of Israel, being a land of oil olive, was famous for the best oil, of which there was a scarcity in Egypt, and therefore a welcome present there, as balsam also was; see Gen 37:25.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain A high charge against Israel and Judah for various…
A high charge against Israel and Judah for various sins, yet with intimations of mercy, ver. 1-14.
Feedeth on wind - It is a proverbial speech; denoting his supporting himself with hopes, as unfit to sustain him as the wind is to feed us. Increaseth lies - By making new leagues, and fortifying himself with them, against the menaces of God by his prophets. Desolation - Which will only hasten and increase his desolation. Oil - Not common oil for trade, but rich and precious oils, to procure friendship there too.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The prophet, in very pointed terms, describes the
CHAPTER XII
The prophet, in very pointed terms, describes the
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unprofitableness and destruction attending vicious courses;
particularly such as Ephraim pursued, who forsook God, and
courted the alliance of idolatrous princes, 1.
Judah is also reproved, 2.
He is reminded of the extraordinary favour of God to his father
Jacob, in giving him the birthright; and exhorted, after his
example, to wrestle with God (the Angel of the covenant, the
same unchangeable Jehovah) for a blessing; and to love mercy
and execute justice, 3-6.
Ephraim is accused of pursuing practices that are deceitful,
although pretending to integrity, 7, 8.
God then threatens to deprive this people of their possessions,
9,
as they had rejected every means of reformation, 10,
and given themselves up to gross impieties, 11.
And, as an aggravation of their guilt, they are reminded from
what humble beginnings they had been raised, 12, 13.
The Divine judgments about to fall upon Israel are declared to
be the result of great provocation, 14.
NOTES ON CHAP. XII
Verse 1. Ephraim feedeth on wind] He forms and follows empty and unstable counsels.
Followeth after the east wind] They are not only empty, but dangerous and destructive. The east wind was, and still is, in all countries, a parching, wasting, injurious wind.
He daily increaseth lies] He promises himself safety from foreign alliances. He "made a covenant with the Assyrians," and sent a subsidy of "oil to Egypt." The latter abandoned him; the former oppressed him.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Hos 12:1-2. Ephraim feedeth on wind — Flatters himself…
Hos 12:1-2. Ephraim feedeth on wind — Flatters himself with vain, delusive hopes, of receiving effectual support from the alliances which he forms. It is a proverbial expression to signify labour in vain, or pursuing such measures as will bring damage rather than benefit. And followeth the east wind — Pernicious, destructive counsels and courses. The east wind was peculiarly parching and noxious, blasting the fruits of the earth; thence it denotes desolation and destruction. He daily increaseth — Hebrew, ירבה, multiplieth, lies and desolation — Or, falsehood and destruction; so Horsley: that is, in multiplying his falsehood, he multiplies the causes of his own destruction. And they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt — Here is an example given of their falsehood, or deceit: while they were in covenant with the Assyrians, having engaged themselves to be tributaries to them, they were secretly and perfidiously seeking to make an alliance with the Egyptians, and for that purpose sent oil as a present to the king of Egypt, endeavouring to persuade him to assist them in shaking off the yoke of the king of Assyria: see the margin. The land of Judah abounded with excellent oil, which was much wanted in Egypt. The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah — Though Hezekiah had abolished idolatry, and restored God’s worship in the temple, 2Ch 29:3; 2Ch 31:1, yet there were much hypocrisy and great corruption in the manners of his subjects; for which God’s judgments are here threatened, and the invasion of Sennacherib was actually inflicted, 2Ki 18:13, &c.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east…
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 Psa 48:7, and, by land also, having the force of the whirlwind (Job 27:21; see Jer 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.”
He increaseth lies and desolation - Unrepented sins and their punishment are, in God’s govermnent, linked together; so that to multiply sin is, in fact, to multiply desolation. Sin and punishment are bound together, as cause and effect. Man overlooks what he does not see. Yet not the less does he “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous Judgment of God” Rom 2:5. : “Lying” will signify false speaking, false dealing, false belief, false opinions, false worship, false pretences for color thereof, false hopes, or relying on things that will deceive. In all these kinds, was Ephraim at that time guilty, adding one sort of lying to another.”
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They do make a covenant with the Assyrians and oil is carried into Egypt - Oil was a chief product of Palestine, from where it is called “a land of oil olive” Deu 8:8; and “oil” with balm was among its chief exports to Tyre (Eze 27:17; see the note above at Hos 2:8). It may also include precious ointments, of which it was the basis. As an export of great value, it stands for all other presents, which Hoshea sent to So, King of Egypt. Ephraim, threatened by God, looked first to the Assyrian, then to Egypt, to strengthen itself. Having dealt falsely with God, he dealt falsely with man. First, he “made covenant with” Shalmaneser, king of “Assyria;” then, finding the tribute, the price of his help, burdensome to him, he broke that covenant, by sending to Egypt. Seeking to make friends out of God, Ephraim made the more powerful, the Assyrian, the more his enemy, by seeking the friendship of Egypt; and God executed His judgments through those, by whose help they had hoped to escape them.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On. Literally, the wind. (Haydock) --- To trust in…
On. Literally, the wind. (Haydock) --- To trust in men is no less vain. (Worthington) --- Septuagint, "Ephraim is an evil spirit," &c. --- Heat. Hebrew, "eastern or burning wind." (Haydock) --- Manahem attempted to engage Egypt on his side, but he was frustrated in his hopes, (4 Kings xv.; St. Jerome) as Osee was likewise; to which king the sense conducts us better, chap. xiii. 15. --- Oil. That of Palestine was very excellent, Ezechiel xxvii. 17.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Hosea 12-14
B. SECOND DISCOURSE
Hosea 12-14
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I. Accusation
Hosea 12
1 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
And the house of Israel with deceit;
And Judah still vacillates with God,
With the faithful holy One.1
2 Ephraim feeds upon the wind and pursues the east wind;
Every day it increases violence and lying,
And they make a covenant with Assyria,
And oil [as a gift] is carried to Egypt.
3 Jehovah has a contest with Judah
And (He has) to punish Jacob according to his ways,
According to his works he will reward him.
4 In the womb he seized his brother by the heel,
And in his (manly) vigor he strove with God.
5 He wrestled against the angel and prevailed,
He wept and made supplication unto Him:
He found him in Bethel and then He spoke with us.2
6 And Jehovah, God of Hosts,
Jehovah is his memorial (name).
7 And thou, turn thou unto thy God,
Observe mercy and justice,
And wait upon thy God continually!
8 Canaan—in his hand (are) the balances of deceit:
He loveth to oppress.
9 And Ephraim says: surely I have become rich,
I have found wealth for myself,
All my gains shall not discover transgression3 in me,
Which (would be) sin.
10 Yet I, Jehovah, am thy God,
From the land of Egypt,
Still I make thee dwell in tents,
As in the day of the Feast (of Tabernacles).
11 And I spoke to the prophets,
And multiplied visions,
And through the prophets gave similitudes.
12 Is not Gilead iniquity?
Surely they have become wickedness.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
Their sacrifices also are like heaps4
On the furrows of the field.
13 And Jacob fled to the fields of Aram,
And Israel served for a wife, and for a wife kept (sheep).
14 And Jehovah led Israel from Egypt by a prophet,
And by a prophet was it guarded.
15 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger;5
He [God] will6 leave his blood upon him,
And will return to him his disgrace.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Hos_12:1. Ephraim has surrounded me with lying. Israel’s conduct towards Jehovah was lying and deceit. He reckoned upon attachment and fidelity, and might well do so, as being their rightful Lord. But instead of this they turn away from Him and to idols, and seek help in the heathen, and not in God. They surrounded Him: it was no isolated act; it was the general Practice; He was treated so by all Israel. רָד. The meaning is uncertain. The word occurs only besides in Gen_27:40; Psa_55:3; Jer_2:31. Probably=rove about, vacillate, therefore: and Judah vacillates still with God = does not remain faithful to Him. Others see here rather a commendation of Judah, and take רוּד= רדה, to tread down, subdue: prevails still with God. Löwe accordingly explains the last hemistich differently from the usual method. He joins יֶאְֶמַן also to יְהוּדָה, and translates: faithful towards the Holy One. The connection of the clauses might justify such a view. But such a contrast between Judah and Ephraim, in which Judah is as strongly commended as Ephraim is accused of unfaithfulness, is hardly suitable here. Jehovah has a controversy with Judah (Hos_12:3), comp. Hos_4:1; not to speak of the character and course of conduct ascribed to Judah in Hos_10:11; Hos_5:5; Hos_5:10; Hos_5:12-14. Judah is indeed differently characterized from Israel, but the difference lies in the term: vacillate. It could not be said that the former was firm and faithful. The two words are therefore to be taken together=the faithful holy One. God is called holy in strong contrast to the conduct of Judah.
Hos_12:2. רוּחַ an image of nothingness, vanity, קָדִים: east wind, a hot wind coming from the Arabian desert, which dries up everything in its course. [Comp. Job_27:21. See the appendix to Delitzsch on Job.—M.] As in the case of רוּחַ, the destructive, and not merely the unprofitable, is here the tert. comp. The second member thus probably contains an inference from the first=because Ephraim loves what is vain, it pursues—certainly without meaning it—that which entails destruction. Lying and violence, probably towards their neighbors, especially if we compare Hos_12:7, where they are admonished to preserve mercy and justice. Bear oil to Egypt, namely, as a gift, in order to win the alliance of Egypt; comp. 2Ki_17:4. At one time help is sought in Egypt against Assyria, and at another in Assyria against Egypt.
Hos_12:3. Jehovah, has a contest = has sins to reprove; comp. Hos_4:1. This time the controversy is with Judah. In distinction from Judah, Jacob denotes, as in Hos_10:11, the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, Israel. The name Jacob forms a transition to the allusion to the patriarch Jacob (Hos_12:4-5).
Hos_12:4-5. In the womb, etc. Jacob was to be a type of his descendants by his struggling for the birth-right, and his wrestling with God in which he prevailed through prayer and supplication. That Jacob’s conduct is not held up here to the people as a warning example of cunning and deceit, but as one of earnest striving after the birth-right and its blessings, is apparent from the wrestling with God mentioned in the second member of the verse (comp. Gen_32:23-29). The two members of the verse form a close parallel and at the same time a climax—4a: in the womb; 4b: in manhood; 4a: but seizes the heel, a: secret, indeed, not an open struggle as was only possible in the womb, but 4b: he wrestled, in the full sense; 4a: with his brother; 4b: with God. There is something also in the two names chosen, which also indicate a climax: Jacob from seizing the heel, and the more honored name Israel from wrestling with God. The struggle with God is more particularly described in Hos_12:5. God appeared to him in the form of an angel. וַיֻּכָל is taken from Gen_32:29. He wept and prayed to him. These words indicate the nature of the conflict, the weapons with which he conquered. At Bethel he found him. At the very place where idolatry and moral corruption prevail, Jacob found God. This shows the issue of the conflict, and alludes to Gen_35:9 ff., where God bestowed upon Jacob his name Israel and renewed the promise of blessing. And then He spoke with us, namely, with Jacob; what God then promised to Jacob applies to us, his children. The mention of the conflict with God and especially its issue, in Hos_12:5, show clearly that Jacob is not here referred to as a warning example of deceit, but that something typical is discovered in his action. See the Doctrinal remarks.
Hos_12:6 then more specially marks the God who spoke, as Jehovah, God of Hosts,—scarcely without the design of placing Him, the only true God, in contrast to the gods now worshipped in Bethel. While God is specially designated Jehovah, in view of his revelation of Himself to Israel, He is called “God of Hosts” to show his supreme exaltation. And Israel could prefer idols to such a God as this! [The second member of the verse: Jehovah (is) his memorial, means that Jehovah is the name by which Israel was to remember Him. Comp. Exo_3:15; Psa_135:13.—M.]
Hos_12:7. For this reason Ephraim is exhorted to return to this God, an admonition further explained in the words which follow: observe mercy and justice, and wait upon God continually. Israel is now far from doing this.
Hos_12:8-9. This passage again begins with a description of the sinful conduct of Israel, which is made incisively by calling Israel Canaan, with an allusion also to the appellative signification of the word: merchant. They are like a dishonest merchant, who aims to become rich by deceit, from which results the oppression of the poor. This deceit is not to be taken out of its literal sense, as in Hos_12:1 (of idolatry as deceit practiced towards God), but is according to the context to be understood literally. The very opposite is practiced of that which is required in Hos_12:7, mercy and justice. אֹון here=means. יָגִיעַ = the results of labor. No injustice which would be sin = would entail punishment. In all his labor they would not be able to discover anything worthy of punishment.
Hos_12:10. God reminds the deluded and presumptuous Ephraim (in order to bring home to it the folly and injustice of its insolent speeches), how He had been its benefactor since leaving Egypt, and had led it hitherto as a Father, as once He had done in the wilderness. “Not merely during the forty years wandering through the desert had the people enjoyed the wondrous protection of their God; even now—עֹוד—they still experienced his mercy. The expression ‘dwelling in tents’ accordingly alludes not merely to the privations and toils of the temporary wanderings in the wilderness, but also specially to the abundant blessings of God in the present (comp. 2Ki_13:5).” מוֹעֵד=the Feast of Tabernacles. As in the days of the feast = as the yearly dwelling in tents in a literal sense at the Feast calls to mind that protection afforded them in the desert. Others take the dwelling in tents to be a threat. But this does not suit the beginning of the verse, which is an allusion to a deed of divine mercy (comp. Hos_13:4).
Hos_12:11 continues to call to mind what God had done to Israel. ׃ עַל “because the divine revelation, descending from heaven, reached to the prophets” (Keil). I spoke: probably a general, reference, specified in the following clauses.—׃אֲדַמֶּה to compare, to use figurative language. [Henderson: “In such language, including metaphor, allegory, comparison, prosopopœia, apostrophe, hyperbole, etc., the prophets abound. They accommodated themselves to the capacity and understanding of their hearers by couching the high and important subjects of which they treated under the imagery of sensible objects, and invested them with a degree of life and energy which could only be resisted by an obstinate determination not to listen to religious instruction.—M.]
Hos_12:12. The intermediate thought is probably: all was vain; Israel apostatized from his God. Therefore the punishment must come. “Gilead and Gilgal represented the two parts of the northern kingdom. Gilead the eastern, Gilgal the western.” אִם is difficult here. “When” is unsuitable. Hence it is probably to be taken as an interrogative particle: Is not Gilead, etc. Gilead is here called אָוֶן, directly (Hos_6:8, a city of those who work iniquity); worthlessness, iniquity. אַךְ yea, surely=altogether. שָׁוְא parallel with אָוֶן, The moral ruin has its counterpart in the physical=become a nothing, be annihilated. [It is better to take both words as relating to moral corruption: iniquity, evil. The expressions are virtually synonymous, and the combination is intensive.—M.] שְׁוָרִים, accusative, not: to the bulls. This sacrifice was no sin in itself, but it was so as being done in Gilgal in honor of the idols. See Hos_4:15; Hos_9:15.
Hos_12:13-14. The great deeds of God for Israel are once more referred to, the ancient times being again recalled. There is again an allusion to Jacob, and as Hos_12:4-5 referred to his actions, so here we have his misfortunes, his humiliation; how he had to take to flight, serve for a wife, and that by keeping sheep. We are then to supply: And yet I have guarded and blessed him. To this then would follow in Hos_12:14, a further example of God’s care. But more probably Hos_12:14 is to be taken together with Hos_12:13, and then is seen in that servitude of the progenitor the beginning of the bondage of his immediate descendants in Egypt. The sense would then be: and how has God concerned Himself for Israel (in the name Israel the person of Jacob and the nation would be united), and defended them! Comp. Deu_34:5 ff., where the bondage in Egypt is connected immediately with Jacob and even with his flight to Mesopotamia. By a prophet: The greatness of God’s deeds is still more clearly shown: God raised up and employed a prophet specially for this object. If Hos_12:13-14 are taken together, נִשְׁמָר perhaps alludes to שָׁמַר, Hos_12:14; from protecting he came to be protected. It is also possible that the second בְּנָבִיא forms a contrast to the second בְּאִשָּׁה, one being a mark of humiliation, the other of exaltation.
Hosea 12:15. Instead of acknowledging what God had done to the nation, and thanking Him therefor humbly (which according to Deu_26:5 ff., was to be done by the yearly offering of the first-fruits), Ephraim bitterly excited God’s anger. Therefore the Lord would punish them. דָּמָיו=his blood-guiltiness. יִטּשׁ, to leave alone, opposite to taking away or forgiving. His disgrace, probably that which Israel casts upon God.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
The way in which Jacob is mentioned in this chapter is peculiar. In Hos_12:4-5 mention is made of two events recorded in Genesis: that which, according to Gen_25:26, he did in seizing his brother’s heel in the womb, and that which, according to Gen_32:24, he did as a man. These two are placed in mutual relation: and the expressions which describe them are clearly parallel. Moreover they form a climax. They were analogous; but the second was an essential advance upon the first (as really as manhood is an advance upon pre-natal existence). Hence the first is only briefly indicated; forms only the starting-point. The stress is laid upon the second, upon which the discourse dwells longer (Hos_12:5). If it should excite surprise that just these two events should be made prominent and compared as they are here, it must be remembered that in Genesis the two names of the patriarch are said to have been connected with them, and in such a way as that the second is an advance upon the first. Accordingly we can briefly indicate the meaning of this reference to Jacob thus: He who was a Jacob (holder of the heel) even in his mother’s womb, became afterwards in his manhood an Israel, a wrestler with God. The former was, so to speak, the beginning of the latter; the latter the completion of the former. The Prophet sees in the record of that seizing of the heel, something significant, namely, an allusion to the precedence which Jacob, although the second-born κατὰ φύσιν, should have, by the free elective favor of God, over the first-born who by nature had the preëminence; that he received the divine promises, and even that the action was regarded as an (unconscious) striving of the embryo itself after the possession of that which the divine favor had in store for it. Then what the embryo did unconsciously by struggling, as it were, for the possession of the divine promise, the man did consciously with higher powers by wrestling with God Himself. The Prophet evidently regards the possession of the divine promises as the end and object of the conflicts. Having striven after it in his mother’s womb, he gained it from God as a man. Hos_12:5 shows how the Prophet understood this struggle with God, or what he regarded as its essence: it was humble but persistent supplication, showing how nearly the matter lay to his heart. This wrestling in prayer had the desired result: he prevailed. The Prophet finds the proof of this in Gen_35:9 ff. For there in Bethel, Jacob not only had his name Israel confirmed, but the promise was given, which declared him to be the chosen of God: “He spoke with Him.” But the Prophet says: “with us.” This shows that Jacob, in Hos_12:4-5, does not mean the individual, but that the Jacob who afterwards proved himself an Israel, becomes an ideal personality, i.e., a type of the true Israel, the true people of God. This picture of the true Jacob-Israel, struggling for the possession of God’s gracious promises, and therefore of the divine blessing, is held up to the shame of the present degenerate Israel, who tread under foot God’s election of grace, and defy his judgments. What a contrast does the victorious conflict with God present to the course of Israel seeking to Assyria and Egypt for help! Hence the warning of Hos_12:7 : to return to God and to confide steadfastly in Him. Jacob is mentioned in Hos_12:13 in another way. It is not his conduct towards God that is there alluded to, but God’s dealings with Him—in raising him from his humiliation. And yet not him really; for more clearly still than in Hos_12:4, the person of Jacob and the people of Israel low into one another, or rather the former is a type of the latter. What is said in Hos_12:13 of humiliation by flight and servitude, refers primarily to the person of Jacob, but it is to be understood as that by the person the people proceeding from him are thought of. So in Hos_12:14, the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and their preservation in the desert, are marked as the exaltation following, by divine grace, that humiliation. Thus what is here said falls under the point of view elsewhere held by our Prophet of the love which God had shown to Israel in ancient times (comp. also Hos_12:10), with which Israel’s present conduct is then sharply contrasted (comp. Hosea 12:15). But it is mentioned, as something special, that this gracious deed of God was brought about by a prophet. This manifestly serves to make it appear greater. God ordained a prophet for the special task of helping Israel. In Hos_12:11, also, Prophecy appears as an element of God’s gracious dealings with Israel. In Hos_6:5 prophets were distinguished as the preachers of repentance and judgment sent by God. In our chapter they appear more generally, as the organs of God’s revelation to Israel, as the tokens that God stood constantly towards his people in a living relation (as already in Amo_2:11). The sending of Moses falls under this point of view: in him as a Prophet God entered into a living and gracious relation with Israel and showed Himself to be their God.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Hos_12:1. How sad it is that God must so complain of his people! and yet how often is it necessary! He is faithful and true, so well disposed, and we are so insincere towards Him! pretending to serve Him, and yet only serving Him with the lips while the heart is far from Him!
Hos_12:4-5. Starke: God’s blessing is to be obtained not by desert, but by weeping and entreaty. Tears and prayers are the true method of struggling with God.
Pfaff. Bibelwerk: Great victory and blessing are to be found in prayer; for prayer can ever overcome God. Only struggle on, my soul, and persist until thou dost reach to the very heart of God, and thou wilt certainly receive an answer from Him, if not always outwardly, yet always in the Spirit.
[Fausset: Tears were the indication of one whose words of prayer were no feigned words, but whose heart was deeply moved by the sense of his great needs, and whose feelings were excited by vehement and longing desires. Therefore at Bethel “he found God,” because God first “found him,” and moved him so to weep and supplicate. And there God spake not only with him but “with us,” whosoever of us follow the unconquerable faith of his tearful prayers.
Pusey: There He spake with us, how, in our needs, we should seek and find Him. In loneliness, apart from distractions, in faith rising in proportion to our fears, in persevering prayer, in earnestness, God is sought and found.—M.]
Hos_12:6. In the name Jehovah, Israel had the security that God was their God, and they his people. “Our Father” is the same for us; for God is our Father as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that Name is the security of our blessedness.
Hos_12:7. How easy is conversion, when we are not converted to a strange God, but to our own God, who helps us towards Him! But it is just as certain that all who have departed from God need to return. Turn unto God! is the most natural, but also the most pressing cry. True conversion must be attested by its fruits. Men are converted truly to God, when they trust in Him constantly.
Lange: Faith, love, and hope must abide together.
[Matt. Henry: Let our eyes be ever towards the Lord, and let us preserve a holy security and serenity of mind under the protection of the divine favor, looking without anxiety for a dubious event, and by faith keeping our spirits sedate and even; and that is waiting on God as our God, in covenant, and this we must do continually.—M.]
Hos_12:8. The chief distinction of the Canaanitish character is the earthly mind, which leads of necessity to unrighteous deeds. Avarice is a root of all evil, and a mother of unrighteousness.
[Fausset: How much deceit is practiced by so-called Christians of the trading world, who are “Christians” only in name!—M.]
Hos_12:9. Starke: Those who infer the possession of divine favor from outward prosperity make a great mistake. Much deceit and injustice is done in trade and intercourse with men, and when God does not punish at once, every one supposes that he who practices them is not guilty.
[Fausset: None are more blind to their spiritual danger than those eager in pursuing gain. The conventional tricks of trade and the alleged difficulty of competing with others save by practicing the usual frauds, are made the excuses for usages, which, whatever else they gain, end in the eternal loss of the soul! In regard to spiritual riches the soul is never so poor as when satisfied with its own imaginary riches.—M.]
Hos_12:10. Starke: We should diligently call to mind and never forget the benefits which God bestowed upon our forefathers.
[Pusey: The penitent sees in one glance how God has been his God from his birth until that hour, and how he had all along offended God. The Feast of Tabernacles typifies this our pilgrim state, the life of simple faith in God, for which God provides; poor in this world’s goods, but rich in God. The Church militant dwells, as it were, in tabernacles; hereafter we hope to be received into everlasting habitations in the Church triumphant.—M.]
Hos_12:13. A man may be chosen by God’s grace, and an heir of God’s promises, and yet may suffer distress and humiliation. In the fullest measure was this realized in the Son of God Himself. What else then can we expect?
Footnotes:
[1]Hos_12:1.—קְדוֹשִׁים: is an intensive plural [plural of majesty], like אֱלֹדִים, and therefore coupled with a sing, adjective [comp. Psa_7:10].
[2][Hos_12:5.—עִמָּנוּ. Aquila, Theodotion, Symmachus, Syr. et al. render: with him, as if they had read עמּוֹ. But there is no variety of reading in the MSS. For the propriety of the reading in the Text., comp. the Exegetical Remarks.—M.]
[3]Hos_12:9.—עָוֹן is perhaps employed as a word-play upon the preceding אוֹן.
[4]Hos_12:12.—גַּלּים, a word-play with גִּלְגַל.
[5]Hosea 12:15.—תַּמְרוּרִים is here used as an adverb. [Comp. Green, § 274, 2 e.
[6][Hosea 12:15.—אֲדֹנָיו is the subject of יִטֹּש as well as of יָשִׁיב—M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. Feedeth on wind — Israel seeks sustenance where…
1. Feedeth on wind — Israel seeks sustenance where sustenance cannot be found (Hos_8:7).
Followeth after — See comment on “follow on” in Hos_6:3.
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East wind — The Sirocco; the most destructive wind of Palestine, blowing from the desert, accompanied by clouds of sand, and bringing suffering and anguish, and sometimes even death, to man and beast. The figure adds to the preceding the idea of destructiveness. They run not only after that which is unsubstantial and empty, but even after that which is positively harmful (Hos_5:13; Hos_8:7).
Lies — See on Hos_11:12.
Desolation — The result of the policy of lies. Another possible translation is violence — acts of violence, which would be parallel with lies (compare Hos_4:2-3). LXX. seems to have read a different word, though similar in appearance, “falsehood,” rendered in Hos_10:4, “falsely.” “Lies and falsehood” would give good parallelism (Hos_11:12). 1a is explained in 1b. The policy of “wind” and “lies” found expression in appeals to Assyria and Egypt (Hos_5:13; Hos_7:11-12).
Covenant — See on Hos_10:4.
Oil — One of the chief products of Palestine (see on Joe_1:10); it was offered to Egypt as a bribe to secure her favor (Isa_57:9; Compare 2Ki_15:19).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1. wind … the east wind] Note the climax;…
1. wind … the east wind] Note the climax; the parching east wind combines the ideas of destructiveness and emptiness. Comp. Job_15:2; Job_27:21, and note on Hos_13:15.
lies and desolation] Rather, lies and violence. But the Septuagint reads, ‘lies and falsehoods’—more plausibly, as the other combination is unparalleled.
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a covenant with the Assyrians, &c.] Comp. Hos_5:13, Hos_7:11. Oil was one of the most precious natural products (Deu_8:8; Eze_16:19; Eze_27:17), and is mentioned as a present sent to ‘the king’ in Isa_57:9. Comp. on Hos_7:11.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) East wind.—Comp. Isa_27:8 and Job_27:21. On the latter…
XII.
(1) East wind.—Comp. Isa_27:8 and Job_27:21. On the latter passage Wetzstein remarks:—“This wind is more frequent in winter and early spring, when, if it continues long, the tender vegetation is parched up, and a year of famine follows. Both man and beast feel sickly while it prevails.” Hence, that which is unpleasant and revolting in life is compared by Orientals to the east wind. The idea expressed by the east wind here is the same as in Job_15:2, combining the notions of destructiveness and emptiness. The covenant with Assyria refers to the events of the reign of Hoshea. Covenants with Assyria, and presents to Egypt were to Hosea curses in disguise. (See Note on Hos_7:11.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain In vers. 1-6 God continues his complaint against Ephraim,…
In vers. 1-6 God continues his complaint against Ephraim, charging them specially with the pursuit of vain and futile courses to their great detriment. Instead of repairing to the true and everlasting source of safety and salvation, they had recourse to foreign alliances to support and strengthen their decaying state and sinking interests. And yet the only staying power was Jehovah. The controversy now embraces Judah also; and thus Jacob both Israel and Judah is threatened with such punishment as their doings deserved. The mention of their great ancestor Jacob naturally suggests a contrast; while his conduct is proposed to them for an example. They are accordingly invited to follow in his footsteps, imitate the piety and wisdom of his course, and so entertain good hope of similar success from the unchanging and unchangeable God of their pious ancestor.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind. "Wind" is employed figuratively to denote what is empty and vain, of no real worth or practical benefit.
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1. To feed on wind is to take pleasure in or draw sustenance from what can really afford neither; while following after the east wind is
(1) to pursue vain hopes and ideals which are unattainable. According to this view, the prominent idea of the east wind is its fleetness, which passed into a proverb; thus Horace says, "Agents nimbos Oeior Euro." To outrun the swift and stormy east wind would represent an undertaking at once impracticable and hopeless. But
(2) it is rather the blasting influence of the east wind that is referred to, so that it is a figurative representation, not so much of what is vain and hopeless, as of what is pernicious and destructive. Thus their course was not only idle, but injurious; not only delusive, but destructive; not only fruitless, but fatal. Their career, which is thus represented, included their idolatry and foreign alliances Kimchi explains this clause as follows: "In his service of the calves he is like him who opens his mouth to the wind and feeds on it, though he cannot support life thereby." And followeth after the east wind; "he repeats the sense in different words, and mentions the east wind because it is the strongest and most injurious of winds to the sons of men. So with them: it is not enough that the idolatry of the calves does not profit them, but it actually injures them.
2. The Septuagint rendering is O de Efraiwxe kaudwna , equivalent to "But Ephraim is an evil spirit; he has chased the east wind." He daily (rather, all the day) increaseth lies and desolation. Some understood these words
(1) as descriptive of Ephraim"s attitude towards Jehovah; and thus what is figuratively set forth in the first clause is here represented literally. Thus Kimchi says, "He does not turn back from his wickedness, but all the days he multiplies lying which is the worship of the calves, and so increases the desolation and destruction that shall come as a punishment for their service. And with all this he does not perceive nor return from the worship of the calves to the worship of the blessed God." But
(2) we prefer understanding the second clause of Ephraim"s conduct towards his neighbor or fellow-man. Titus, Hitzig, who shows that dvo cannot refer to their conduct towards Jehovah, nor could their lies and desolation continue the whole day if referred to his service. dvwO smj, violence and robbery," or "spoil," are also jointed in a similar manner in Amo_3:10 and Jer_6:7, to characterize men"s conduct towards their neighbors. In the passage before us, if we refer the words, "lies and desolation," as we think they ought to be referred, to Ephraim"s conduct towards men, the byr and d may be distinguished thus: the former designates low lying and fraudulent dealing; while the latter expresses that brutal violence by which dishonest men unscrupulously take possession of their neighbors" property. And they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. This fondness for foreign alliances is specified as a positive proof of their apostasy from, and want of confidence in, Jehovah. This is well explained by Kimchi in the following comment: "But what doeth Ephraim? When oppression of the enemy comes upon him, they make a covenant with Assyria for their assistance, and likewise with Egypt one time with this, another time with that." The expression tyrb trk, "to cut a covenant," has its parallel in the Greek orkia temnein and Latin foedus fetire, as also in the Arabic, doubtless from the circumstance of slaying the victims in its ratification. The conduct here censured is Ephraim"s faithlessness to the then static covenant rather than their treacherous maneuvering in "playing off" Egypt against Assyria, and Assyria against Egypt alternately. The land of Israel abounded in oil-olive and honey, as we read in Deu_8:8 and elsewhere. The object of sending it to Egypt was as a present to the Egyptians to secure their interest and help against Assyria. It is thus properly explained both by Rash! and Kimchi. The former says, "And their oil they bring to Egypt to give it to them as a present that they may help them;" the latter likewise, "They bring their oil to the Egyptians for a present, for oil came to Egypt and to other lands out of the land of Israel. The land of Israel was rich in olive oil.
Vers. 1-6. Reproof, retrospect, and exhortation.
Ephraim is reproved for the pursuit of empty and vain courses, and courses detrimental to their best and real interests. Judah is included in the threatening which follows. They are exhorted to follow the example of the patriarch which is proposed for their imitation, with implied promise of similar success. The unchangeableness of God, who not only accepted Jacob, but blessed and prospered him, is held out to the descendants of Jacob as a guarantee of like blessings in case of their turning to God and bringing forth fruits meet for repentance.
I THE NATURAL AVERSENESS OF THE HEART TO GOD. This feature of the natural heart is patent in the case of Ephraim. The people of the northern kingdom spared neither pains nor expense to obtain human help rather than seek help from God.
1. We notice the expensive nature of their proceeding. They made a covenant with the Assyrians, and that was an expensive compact; for Menahem King of Israel had to pay Pul the Assyrian monarch a thousand talents of silver for the desired help, and Hoshea became tributary to Shalmaneser, and gave him costly presents; while the national exchequer was drained in another direction, valuable exports of oil being sent into Egypt.
2. The energetic pursuit of their purpose. They are represented as "following after," and "daily increasing." They imposed more toil on themselves to get away from God than they would have required to turn to God. They had "no less pains by going out of God"s way than if they had kept in it; but God"s way, as it is undoubtedly the surest, so in many respects it is even the easiest, course.
3. The empty consequences of this course. Their hopes were doomed to bitterest disappointment, and their human helps proved hurtful in the extreme. The presents which they had lavished on the Egyptians had no other effect than to compromise them with the Assyrians; while the issue was the imprisonment of this prince and the captivity of the people. So is it still; men"s carnal confidences deceive them, like wind which may fill but cannot feed them; and not only deceive, but draw down on them greater calamities than those they hoped to escape from. Thus they prove not only profitless as the wind but pernicious as the east wind. The outcome of all is not only lying vanities but desolation.
II THE APOSTASY OF GOD"S OWN PEOPLE, HOWEVER PARTIAL AND TEMPORARY, IS JUSTLY PUNISHABLE. God does not connive at sin in his saints that serve him, any more than in sinners that have never sought him; neither do men"s ordinary good deeds atone for their occasional misdeeds. Sin in the people of God is sure to bring chastisement in some form. At first sight it might seem strange, or even contradictory, that the Lord should have a controversy with Judah, of whom it had been asserted a few verses before that "Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints." But a ready and right solution of the apparent difficulty is found in those striking statements of the Apocalypse, in which God, after bestowing deserved commendation on certain Churches for this or that course of conduct, immediately adds, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee." Their goodness, of whatever kind it was, did not cause their ill deserts to be overlooked. "Some there are," says an old writer," who, if there be any evil in men, can see no good in them; this is wicked, But there are others that, if there be any good in them, can see no evil; this is too much indulgence. They err in both extremes.
III THE IMPARTIALITY OF THE DIVINE DEALINGS.
1. It is not a little strange how men sometimes try to screen themselves by the sins of others, or to palliate their wrongdoing by the yet greater wrongdoing of others. It might have been so with Ephraim; they might have pleaded the sins of Judah in extenuation of their own, or even charged the Most High with uneven dealing with them in punishing their sin, when Judah"s sins were condoned. They might have said, "We are not so very much worse than Judah; there are sins in Judah as well as in Israel; why, then, should Judah escape?" So with many still; they are ready to say, "We are not worse than others; we have our faults, so have our neighbors; if we deserve punishment, so do others as well." God shows us that his ways are equal, that he will not punish Ephraim and allow Judah to escape, but that he will render to every man as his works shall be.
2. But their plea might be easily turned against them to their great discomfiture. If Judah is admittedly superior to Israel, and retains the true worship of Jehovah though with certain drawbacks, and if Israel has renounced that worship, and is in other matters in a worse ease, might it not be asked in words similar to a New Testament Scripture, If even with Judah God has a controversy, how can Israel expect to escape? "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?
3. Though every sin deserves the severest judgment, being an infinite offence against the infinitely Holy One, yet he proportions his chastisements to the degree and aggravation of each offence, and the obstinacy of the offender.
IV THREE HISTORICAL SKETCHES OUT OF THE LIFE OF JACOB AND THEIR LESSONS, These histories record the three great struggles of the patriarch"s life.
1. His birth, when he takes his brother by the heel, gives evidence of a Divine instinct or a divinely directed inclination to struggle for the birthright and its blessings.
(1) The first lesson taught us in the Scripture record of Jacob"s birth (Gen_25:22, Gen_25:26) is the electing love of God, or that gracious favor which God is pleased to extend to men, and that without respect to their works of merit or deserts of any kind. Not only are the People of God chosen by him from eternity, as we read," He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world," and consequently before they have done either good or evil, but sometimes they are made partakers of his sanctifying grace from the womb; thus we read of Jeremiah, (Jer_1:5) "Before I sowed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee;" so also of John the Baptist, (Luk_1:44) "Lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
(2) Jacob"s struggle to anticipate Esau in being the firstborn, and so to secure the birthright and its blessing, presaged the high spiritual position to which in the purpose of God he was to attain. Even the unsuccess of the effort does not lead Jacob to relax his efforts or relinquish his object, till grace compensated his natural disadvantage and crowned his persistent struggling with success.
(3) The posterity of the patriarch are here taught not to fall back on, and boast of, the dignity and privileges of their ancestor, but to bestir themselves as he had done to secure spiritual blessings.
(4) When God bestows grace in any it furnishes abundant cause of thanksgiving, but especially is this the case when that grace is granted in early life, so as to prevent those youthful follies and lusts that war against the soul, and which, in the case of those afterwards converted, often make them to posses the iniquities of their youth and embitter all their after-years.
2. The wrestling with the angel and prevailing formed the next great epoch in Jacob"s life. This which is recorded in Genesis 32, was a season of great terror and distress, as well as of no little danger from his brother Esau. But he did not give way before the dangers that threatened him, nor succumb under the difficulties of his position; he bravely faced the discouragements that surrounded him not, however, in his own strength. By the strength which God gave he had power with God; in the vigor of his strength he wrestled with the Angel of the covenant and prevailed. He saw the providence of God in all that betided him, and wrestled for the Divine favor and succor, The wrestling symbolized the intense earnestness and energy which he put forth; the object for which he strove so earnestly and energetically was the blessing of his God; the means employed were prayers and tears and fervent supplications; the persistence with which he prayed and pied is expressed in the words, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." Thus as a prince he had power with God and with men, and prevailed.
(2) What evidence we have here of the riches of Divine grace! The omnipotent One gives us the power in virtue of which we prevail with him, even with himself! The method by which men prevail with God is the ordinances of prayer and supplication which he has himself appointed; while the spirit suitable to such employments is a broken and a contrite heart, for such the Lord will not despise. Jacob was truly magnanimous, and yet tender-hearted and contrite, and his weeping was the outpouring of his tenderness of heart and contrition of spirit.
(3) The choicest blessings of providence and grace are often bestowed upon men after seasons of affliction and distress; and bestowed after intense wrestlings, earnest prayers, and solemn supplications. Here was a lesson for the People of the prophet"s day to encourage them against the dangers and difficulties that were fast crowding upon them, and. to instruct them. by the example of their honored progenitor to put their confidence m God, and not in miserable, disappointing human confederacies. Thus by the power of Omnipotence itself they might retrieve their sinking fortunes, surmount all difficulties, and triumph over all enemies. Here, too, is a lesson worth learning by us all. Power belongeth unto God; that power we may partake of; prayer brings that power near and allies it to our side, and in virtue of that power we shall prevail over all enemies whether temporal or spiritual.
3. The third era in Jacob"s history was marked by his finding God at Bethel.
(1) Twice God had been pleased to manifest himself to Jacob at Bethel, first when he left his father"s house and set out for Padan-aram, as recorded in Genesis 28, when he saw that wondrous vision of the ladder connecting heaven and earth, the creature and the Creator, while angels as heavenly messengers ascended and descended upon it. The other occasion was when he was m great trouble and terror in consequence of the slaughter of the Shechemites To this, which is narrated in Genesis 35, the prophet specially refers in the passage before us. The occasion was a memorable one, and in one respect a melancholy one, in Jacob"s history. He had forgotten the vows, or at least failed to pay them; he bad neglected duty of a solemn and binding character. And now he is m danger and distress, yet finds God, and in him succor and support. God had been with the fugitive who returned a prince and a patriarch; he had prospered him and brought him back in safety and in peace, causing him to find grace in the sight of his brother Esau, father of the dukes of Self. Arrived at Succoth, Jacob had built him a house, made booths for his cattle, and there his grazing flocks and herds, his peaceful dwelling, his large and powerful family, all attested the faithfulness of the covenant God But for long there is no word of Bethel, and apparently no remembrance of the vow he had made to repair thither on his return, make that place a house of God, and allot the tenth of his substance to its maintenance. He left Succoth, passed the Jordan, and removed to Shalem; he lingered there, and time passed on, some seven or eight years elapsed, and still Bethel is unvisited and the vow unfulfilled. At length deep family affliction, sad family dishonor, and dark family guilt united to afflict, perhaps punish, the patriarch; and it became necessary for God himself to remind Jacob of Bethel, and the wondrous vision he had seen there, and the solemn vow he had made there, all of which seemed to have faded from his memory, and might perchance have been entirely forgotten, had not God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel." In his distress he sought the Lord, and the call of God reminded him of his duty Under such circumstances he found him at Bethel, "which may be understood both of God who prevented Jacob by a vision the first time, and with a call the second time, and of Jacob who found God there when he sought unto him.
(2) Thus, after s period of forgetfulness or neglect, soon as Jacob was stirred up to seek the Lord, he found him Here was encouragement for his erring posterity to seek that God who never said to the seed of Jacob any more than to Jacob himself, "Seek ye my face in vain.
(3) It is well worthy of note that the means whereby God is pleased to have intercourse with his people is his Word, as we may rightly infer from the expression, "there he spake with us." And it is further noticeable, that God"s revelations of himself of old remain the heritage of the Church in all after ages. The words there he spake with us show that the communication was not merely personal to Jacob, but for his posterity. God spake with them as though present, and what he said concerned them though they were yet in the loins of their progenitor. So with the Church and people of God still; what was written aforetime was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver 1. Feeding on wind.
The conduct of Ephraim is in many respects very instructive to all readers of Scripture. There is nothing in that conduct upon which Hosea lays greater stress than the extreme folly, unreasonableness, fatuity of sin. This is a forcible image which the prophet here employs to describe the vanity of a course of life distinguished by forgetfulness of God and rebellion against God, by a constantly recurring though constantly disappointing endeavor to find satisfaction in the pursuits and pleasures of sin. "Ephraim feedeth on wind, and chaseth the east wind.
I A VAIN AND FALSE STANDARD AND AIM. Compare the wind with wholesome food, and you feel at once the absurdity of regarding the one as though it were equivalent to the other. The objects upon which the ungodly and the worldly set their heart are as unsubstantial as the" viewless air." Such persons call evil good, and commit the sin of forsaking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out to themselves broken cisterns which can hold no water.
II A FOOLISH PURSUIT. As are a man"s conceptions of excellence, such we may expect will be his life. It is natural that we should seek that which we deem good. Seekers of satisfaction in the pleasures of sin, if they could but understand their real life, would see themselves to be chasing the east wind. All earthly aims, when substituted for God"s glory the one true end of our existence are unworthy of our nature, and undeserving of our devotion.
III AN UNSATISFYING REWARD. To swallow the wind is a poor substitute for eating suitable and sustaining food. And sooner or later every person who has given himself to the quest of worldly and selfish aims must discover their utter vanity, their inability to afford a true and lasting satisfaction. When the illusions of earth and time have vanished, and men stand face to face with eternal realities, how empty and unworthy will appear what has so often inflamed their desire and excited their strenuous effort! Anticipating so clear a judgment, let the hearers of God"s Word be wise in time. T.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Ver. 1. Worthless soul-food.
"Ephraim feedeth on wind." Delitzsch renders this clause, "Ephraim grazeth wind." The idea is that it sought for support and satisfaction in those things that were utterly unsubstantial and worthless
I SENSUAL INDULGENCES are worthless soul-food. Men seek happiness in the gratification of their senses, in the free indulgence of their appetites: but all this is nothing but "wind;" it leaves the soul more hungry than ever. Souls die with hunger in the pampered body of the gourmand and voluptuary. "Man cannot live by bread alone," etc.
II WORLDLY DISTINCTIONS are worthless soul-food. Thousands seek food for their souls in worldly titles, honor, and fame. But these are "wind." The souls of our grandees are perishing with hunger. Walk Rotten Row in the height of the season, and in the countenances of hundreds of those rolling in the stream of dazzling chariots you see moral hunger depicted. What are they doing? They are grazing wind.
III RELIGIOUS FORMALITIES are worthless soul-food. Millions go through religious formalities in search of spirit-food. They crowd temples, synagogues, cathedrals, churches, chapels, rigorously attend to the mere ceremonies of religion, and return from their devotions with hungry and unfed souls. At the altars they have been grazing wind. "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east…
Hos_12:1
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation.
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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, and by land also, having the force of the whirlwind. The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth, and as a whirlwind hurleth him out of his place (Job_27:21). 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, says St. Cyril, is the burning of calamities, and the consuming fire of affliction. He increaseth lies and desolation; for unrepented sins and their punishment are, in Gods government, linked together; so that to multiply sin is, in fact, to multiply desolation. Sin and punishment are bound together as cause and effect. Lying will signify false speaking, false dealing, false opinions, false worship, false pretences for colour thereof, false hopes, or relying on things that will deceive. In all these kinds was Ephraim at that time guilty, adding one sort of lying to another. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
Feeding on wind
This is a proverbial speech to note--
1. The following after vain, unprofitable things. When men please themselves in their own conceits and in their own counsels, and walk in ways that are, and certainly will be, unprofitable to them, they are said to feed on wind. When men think to please God with their own inventions, to escape danger by their own shifts, to prevail against the saints by their deep counsels and fetches, they feed upon wind; when men promise to themselves great matters by ways of their own, that are not Gods, they feed upon wind, and for all this the prophet rebukes the ten tribes.
2. The prevailing pride and elation of heart. According to the food, so will the body be; those that feed on wind must needs have hearts puffed up with conceitedness of themselves, and contempt of others that are not in the same way as themselves: they lie sucking imaginary content and sweetness in their own ways; they are full of themselves. They feed on wind, yet one prick of disappointment will quickly let out all the wind from such bladders.
3. Dependence on carnal creature comforts. Evil men that live upon the applause of men, upon honours, feed on wind, and are puffed up for awhile; but any prick of Gods appearing against them lets out the windy stuff, and quickly they are dead. Any member of the body that is puffed up with wind seems to be greater than any other part, but it is not stronger; no, it is consequently the weaker: and so it is with the hearts of men that are puffed up with windy conceits and with creature contentments, they have no strength by this inflation; though they seem stronger, yet when they are called either to do or to suffer for God, they then appear to be very weak, and therefore will change as the wind changes. Illustrate by the chameleon.
4. The turbulent, unquiet disposition of such. We know that the wind raises tempests and storms; and so men that are puffed up with, the wind of their own conceits are the men that raise such tempests and storms in the places where they live. The saints have better food to feed upon, food that makes them more solid and more staid.
Learn--
1. Creature comforts will prove but wind. Those who seek to satisfy themselves with such, and to stay themselves on their own conceits, not only deceive themselves, and will be disappointed at last in their expectations, but they will find these their ways to be very pestilential, hurtful, and dangerous; they will find that they will undo them and bring them to utter misery.
2. It is a grievous thing, when troubles come, to have nothing within us to bear us out but the wind. Suppose men meet with the rough east wind, or storms and tempests befall them, yet if they have had solid food, whereby they come to get good blood and marrow and spiritS, they may be able to bear it; but when the body is empty and meets with tempests, this is very grievous to the poor frame. So it is with many when they meet with afflictions; but the saints have such solidity within them as bears them out, but other men that are empty, that have fed upon the wind all their days, have nothing to bear them out in great afflictions, but their hearts sink down in horror and despair. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)
Worthless soul-food
Delitzsch renders, Ephraim grazeth wind. The idea is that it sought for support and satisfaction in those things which were utterly unsubstantial and worthless wind.
I. Sensual indulgences are worthless soul-food.
II. Worldly instructions are worthless soul-food.
III. Religious formalities are worthless soul-food. (Homilist.)
And will punish Jacob according to his ways.
None can sin with impunity
You are only under grace as long as you keep clear of Gods law. The moment you do wrong you put yourself under the law, and the law will punish you. Suppose that you went into a mill, and the owner of that mill was your best friend, even your father. Would that prevent your being crushed by the machinery if you got entangled in it through ignorance or heedlessness? I think not. Even so, though God be your best of friends, ay, your Father in heaven, that will not prevent your being injured, it may be ruined, not only by wilful sins, but by mere folly and ignorance. (Charles Kingsley.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain Hosea 12
1. THE PEOPLE AND THEIR FATHER JACOB
Hosea 12
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In no part even of the difficult Book of Hosea does the sacred text bristle with more problems. It may well be doubted whether the verses lie in their proper order, or, if they do, whether we have them entire as they came from the prophet, for the connection is not always perceptible. We cannot believe, however, that the chapter is a bundle of isolated oracles, for the analogy between Jacob and his living posterity runs through the whole of it, and the refrain that God must requite upon the nation their deeds is found both near the beginning and at the end of the chapter. One is tempted to take the two fragments about the Patriarch (Hos_12:4-5, and Hos_12:13 f.) by themselves, and the more so that Hos_12:8 would follow so suitably on either Hos_12:2 or Hos_12:3. But this clue is not sufficient; and till one more evident is discovered, it is perhaps best to keep to the extant arrangement. As before, the argument starts from the falseness of Israel, which is illustrated in the faithlessness of their foreign relations. "Ephraim hath compassed Me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit, and Judah Ephraim herds the wind, and hunts" the sirocco. All day long they heap up falsehood and fraud: they strike a bargain with Assyria, and carry oil to Egypt," as Isaiah also complained, {Isa_30:6} "Jehovah hath a quarrel with Israel and is about to visit upon Jacob his ways; according to his deeds will He requite them. In the womb he supplanted his brother, and in his mans strength he wrestled with God. Yea, he wrestled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept and besought of Him mercy. At Bethel he met with Him, and there he spake with Him," (or "with us"-that is, in the person of our father) "So that thou by thy God"-by His help, for no other way is possible except, like thy father, through wrestling with Him-shouldest return: keep leal love and justice, and wait on thy God without ceasing." To this passage we shall return in dealing with Hoseas doctrine of repentance. In characteristic fashion the discourse now swerves from the ideal to the real state of the people.
"Canaan!" So the prophet nicknames his mercenary generation. "With false balances in his hand, he loves to defraud. For Ephraim said, Ah, but I have grown rich, I have won myself wealth. None of my gains can touch me with guilt which is sin. But I, Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt-I could make thee dwell in tents again, as in the days of the Assembly in Horeb-I could destroy all this commercial civilization of thine, and reduce thee to thine ancient level of nomadic life-" and I spake to the prophets: "it was I who multiplied vision, and by the hand of the prophets gave parables. If Gilead be for "idolatry, then shall it become vanity "If in Gilgal"-Stone-Circle-"they sacrifice bullocks, stone heaps shall their altars become among the furrows of the field." One does not see the connection of these verses with the preceding. But now the discourse oscillates once more to the national father, and the parallel between his own and his peoples experience.
"And Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he herded sheep. And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was shepherded. And Ephraim hath given bitter provocation; but his blood-guiltiness shall be upon him, and his Lord shall return it to him."
I cannot trace the argument here.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Hos_12:1. Feed] To eat or graze. Wind] What is…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hos_12:1. Feed] To eat or graze. Wind] What is empty and vain; to hunt after nothing, labour in vain. East] A fierce and destructive wind, oppressive and violent (Job_27:21); figurative of that destruction which sinners bring upon themselves. Increaseth] i.e. continually, multiplies lies and violence by their sins (ch. Hos_4:2), by which the kingdom is desolated. To this they add gifts, to win alliance with Assyria and Egypt, but all in vain. God will visit both kingdoms.
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Hos_12:2. Jud.] Whose guilt was not open apostasy. Jacob] The ten tribes or chief part of Israel. God will punish, will visit according to their deeds. The original indicates a purpose to visit. If God spares not the favoured, how shall the deserving escape?
HOMILETICS
FEEDING UPON THE WIND.—Hos_12:1
God has still complaints to make against his people. They turn from him, seek satisfaction in idolatry and in creature confidence. This is to feed upon the wind and to chase after the east wind. A course most unprofitable and most injurious.
I. This conduct is most unprofitable. In every department of business men look for profit. “What shall I gain by this?” is an all-important question. In a course of sin, in seeking safety and felicity from the creature instead of the Creator, there is no gain whatever.
1. It is labour without satisfaction. The wind will not satisfy the hungry man. Pleasure and mirth, worldly honours and religious formalities, are empty husks. Men can only feed upon bread. Grass for cattle, straw for swine, but “food for man.” Sensitive joys gratify the passions, intensify the eagerness and increase the speed with which men seek pleasure; but it is only spending money for that which is not bread, and labour for that which satisfieth not.
2. It is labour in vain. The sinner delights in vain things, and pursues, hunts after emptiness and vanity. He spends his strength for nought, bestows the gifts of body and mind upon those who cannot help him, and seeks to support himself in things worthless and unsubstantial. His appetite is strengthened, not satisfied; his capacities enlarged, not filled; “an aching void,” a blank, is left behind which the world cannot fill. The wisest man took an inventory of pleasures and the best things in the world, and gives the sum total as “vanity of vanities.”
The world’s all title-page, without contents.
II. This conduct is most injurious. It is not only feeding upon wind, but following after what is most pernicious, “the east wind,” the most destructive of all.
1. It increases injury by increasing lies. “He daily increaseth lies.” Men lie in false speech, false dealing, and false worship. They lie to themselves and to others by declaring the sufficiency of human help, and making covenant with man in forgetfulness of God. All things which prop up the false notions and the false systems of men are lies and delusion. The house built upon this foundation will fall, and great will be the fall of it.
2. It brings ruin instead of shelter. He daily increaseth “desolation.” The Cretians were always liars, and must be rebuked sharply (Tit_1:13). Multiplying lies will multiply sorrows and punishments. (a) This ruin is certain. “He that speaketh lies shall not escape” (Pro_19:5). Not escape by devices of his own, nor “covenant with the Assyrians.” Egypt withheld its aid, and Assyria was turned against Ephraim—everything false is a broken reed, a rotten support. (b) The ruin is great. “He that speaketh lies shall perish” (Pro_19:9). God is faithful and true; repeats denunciations against lies and deceit, and warns all of their danger. “I will be a swift witness against false swearers, and them that fear not me, saith the Lord of Hosts.” What folly, therefore, to expect from the world what it cannot give, what is not in it. What infatuation to be willing to be deceived with the very shadow of profit. In labour like this there is no happiness “under the sun.” “I have no comfort,” said one, “in all this, because I meet death in every walk.” As a punishment for this perversity God says, “Behold, it is not of the Lord of Hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
1. Men are so naturally averse to God that they fly to any source for help. Israel sometimes went to Egypt and sometimes to Assyria; to one or both according to their need.
2. Human helps will be of no avail in the day of trouble. Israel’s allies could not ward off the judgments of God.
3. Men who deal falsely with God will deal falsely with their fellow-men. If the covenant of God be despised, the contracts with man will not be treated with sanctity. A man’s word will not always be his bond.
4. Men who forsake God will find their own ways expensive and ruinous. They get nothing whatever but “wind,” and they bring upon themselves the tempestuous and stormy wind (Jonah and Job_15:2). Oil and labour are lost, solemn leagues and covenants are broken, and the more they increase lies the further they run from their own mercies. “An empty body meeting with tempests will have much ado to bear up. If Ephraim first feed upon the wind, and then fall under the east wind, it must needs go hard with him.”
Hos_12:2. A controversy with Judah. J. adhered to the house of David and priesthood of Aaron—did not publicly commit idolatry, and was not so guilty as Israel; yet God blamed them and would punish them. Professors may have true forms and sound creeds, but ungodly lives. Men may glory in titles and descent, as Israel gloried in Jacob—be commended for some things, and sadly guilty in others. But God is impartial, and will not spare any sins, but measure out judgment according to the degree and obstinacy of guilt. He admonishes Judah, and indicates his purpose to visit Israel “according to his doings.” “The justice of God falls more severely on those who degenerate from a holy parent than on those who have no incitement to good from the piety of their home.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 12
Hos_12:1. Wind. Plants can feed upon ashes, the worm upon earth, but man’s spiritual appetite requires higher and more nutritious food. Wind will not nourish. To chase after worldly pleasure, and depend upon worldly aid in time of distress, will disappoint and toss the soul in disquietude and misery. The sinner’s labours are a great nothing. “My life is wind.”
Hos_12:2. Recompense. God would have us read our sins in our judgments, that we might both repent of our sins and give glory to his justice [Bp Hall].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Lord’s Accusation
The Lord’s Accusation
v. 1. Ephraim feedeth on wind, striving after vain and empty things, and followeth after the east wind, a hot wind coming up from the Arabian Desert, scorching everything with which it comes into contact; he daily increaseth lies and desolation, faithlessness and violence, whereby the nation was undermined in morals and stability; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, one of the world-powers against whom the prophets had warned, and oil is carried into Egypt, olive-oil being a gift with which they hoped to buy the alliance of the southern neighbor.
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v. 2. The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, a contest to be decided in a court of law, by a formal suit, and will punish Jacob, the ten northern tribes, according to his ways; according to his doings, as he has deserved by his transgressions, will He recompense him. The name Jacob calls to mind the original bearer of the name.
v. 3. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, showing subtlety even before he was born. Gen 25:26, and by his strength he had power with God, Gen 32:25-29;
v. 4. yea, he had power over the Angel, who is thus identified with God, and the ancient conception of Him as the Angel of the Lord, the revelation of the Son of God in the Old Testament, is correct, and prevailed, as the Angel Himself stated; he wept and made supplication unto Him, by stating that he would not let Him go without having received a blessing; he found Him, the God of the covenant, in Bethel, on his way to Mesopotamia and after his return, Gen 28:11; Gen 35:9 ff. and there He spake with us, for what was said to Jacob at that time, has validity for the believers of all times,
v. 5. even the Lord God of hosts, the most exalted Ruler of the universe. The Lord is his memorial, who had revealed Himself to the patriarchs as the God of salvation.
v. 6. Therefore, because the God of Israel, who had revealed Himself in the words of the prophets, was the God of the covenant known to the patriarchs, turn thou to thy God, for Jehovah was still ready to stand in this relation to Israel; keep mercy and judgment, observing the demands of brotherly love and justice over against their brethren, and wait on thy God continually, in fearing Him, trusting Him, and loving Him above all things; for the summary of both tables of the Law is here understood.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Hosea the prophet is speaking.
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Ephraim feeds on the wind
Here "Ephraim" represents all the people of Israel. Also "wind" represents something that is useless or temporary. The people of Israel doing things that will not help them is spoken of as if they eat the wind. (See: Synecdoche and Metaphor)
follows after the east wind
East winds were very hot and destructive to the land. Here it represents anything that is destructive. The people doing things that will destroy themselves is spoken of as if they are following the east wind. (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
carry olive oil to Egypt
The people of Israel sent olive oil as a present to the king of Egypt to try and persuade him to help them.
Yahweh also has a lawsuit against Judah
Yahweh stating that the people of Judah have sinned against him and broken his covenant is spoken of as if Yahweh were accusing them in court. See how you translated a similar phrase in Hosea 4:1. (See: Metaphor)
against Judah ... punish Jacob for what he has done ... repay him for his deeds
Here "Judah" and "Jacob" both represent the people of Judah. AT: "against the people of Judah ... punish them for what they have done ... repay them for their deeds" (See: Doublet and Metonymy)
lawsuit
This is a complaint by one person against another person in a court of law. See how you translated this in Hosea 2:2.
translationWords
Ephraim
covenant
Assyria
olive
oil
Egypt
Yahweh
Judah
punish
Jacob
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 12:1 alliance with Assyria: In order to save his…
12:1 alliance with Assyria: In order to save his land, Hoshea became a vassal of King Shalmaneser of Assyria (2 Kgs 17:3). Hoshea soon rebelled against Shalmaneser by withholding tribute and turned to King So of Egypt for support (2 Kgs 17:4). • east wind: See study note on Job 38:24-27.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.