Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.”
Parallel Translations
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Ephraim said, “Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won’t find in me any iniquity that is sin.”
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And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
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(12-9) And Ephraim said: 'Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth; in all my labours they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin.'
Cross-references (22)
Passages linked to Hosea 12:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Revelation 3:17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing;’ and don’t know that you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked;
- Psalms 62:10 Don’t trust in oppression. Don’t become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them.
- Deuteronomy 8:17 and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.”
- Job 31:24-25 “If I have made gold my hope, and have said to the fine gold, ‘You are my confidence;’ If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;
- Psalms 49:6 Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—
- Psalms 52:7 “Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”
- Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.
- Proverbs 30:20 “So is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
- Isaiah 10:13-14 For he has said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers. My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.”
- Zechariah 11:5 Their buyers slaughter them, and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them.
- 1 Timothy 6:5 constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.
- Jeremiah 2:23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways,
- Habakkuk 1:16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net, and burns incense to his dragnet, because by them his life is luxurious, and his food is good.
- Habakkuk 2:5-6 Yes, moreover, wine is treacherous. An arrogant man who doesn’t stay at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is like death, and can’t be satisfied, but gathers to himself all nations, and heaps to himself all peoples. Won’t all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?’
- Malachi 3:13 “Your words have been stout against me,” says Yahweh. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’
- Luke 10:29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
- Luke 12:19 I will tell my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” ’
- Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and Mammon.”
- Luke 16:15 He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
- Jeremiah 2:35 “Yet you said, ‘I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.’ “Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
- Malachi 2:17 You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in Yahweh’s sight, and he delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Here God complains by his Prophet, that the Israelites…
Here God complains by his Prophet, that the Israelites flattered themselves in their vices, because their affairs succeeded prosperously and according to their wishes: and it is a vice too common, that men felicitate themselves as long as fortune, as they commonly say, smiles on them, thinking that they have God then propitious to them. Since then the condition of the people was such, they despised all the Prophets and their reproofs. Of this hardihood the Lord now complains. Ephraim has said I am yet become rich There is an emphasis to be noticed in the adversative particle אך“ach”. It is sometimes in Hebrew a simple affirmative; but here the Prophet meant to express another thing, even this, that the Israelites laughed at all reproofs, because God seemed to be propitious to them, as though he manifested his favour by prosperity. “I am, however, become rich; and therefore I care nothing for what the Prophets may say, for I am contented with my lot.” This, as I have said, is a common evil; and hence this passage ought to be carefully noted, lest when the Lord spares us for a time, we may think that we are innocent before him; for there is nothing more to be feared than the dazzling of our eyes by a prosperous and desirable state of things. Though the Lord then may bear with us, and not immediately draw forth his vengeance against us, but, on the contrary, cherish us as it were kindly in his bosom; yet if he reproves us by his word, we ought to attend to his threatenings.
But they further add, All my labours shall not find iniquity, or, they shall not find iniquity in all my labours. Many read simply as the words are, “My labours shall not find iniquity:” but as the expression seems stiff, I have tried to render it smoother, as others also have done, “They shall not find iniquity in all my labours.” This boasting went farther, for the Prophet shows that the people were not only secure, because the Lord gave them some tokens of his paternal favour; but that they were also inebriated with this impious confidence, that God would not have favoured them had they not been exempt from every fault and vice: and this second clause ought to be carefully noticed. Now it is a depravity that is by no means to be endured, when men begin to despise God, because he deals kindly with them, and when they abuse his levity so as to condemn all his teaching and all his threatening; this is indeed a very great perversion: but when to all this is added such a pride, that ungodly and reprobate men persuade themselves that they are just, because God does not immediately punish them, — this is, as it were, a diabolical madness; and yet we see that it is a common thing. For godless men are not only proud of their wealth, they are not only inflated with their own power; but they also think that God is in some way under obligations to them. “Why! it must be that God regards me innocent, and pure from every vice, for he favours me: he then does not find in me what is worthy of punishment.” Thus the wicked raise up their horns against God, while he indulges them, and appears not so severe towards them as they have deserved.
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When at the present day we perceive these evils prevailing among the greater portion of mankind, there is no reason to feel astonished: but we ought at the same time to profit by the instruction of the Prophet, so that we may not be blinded by prosperity, and despise reproofs, and flatter ourselves in our sin; and also, that we may not accumulate for ourselves a store of God’s wrath, when he deals kindly with us. Let us not then abuse his forbearance; let us not think that we are innocent before him, because he does not immediately execute his judgements; but let us rather learn to make a scrutiny of ourselves, and to shake off our vices, so that we may humble ourselves under his hand, though he restrains himself from inflicting punishment. This is the application of the present doctrine.
But we must notice what the Prophet adds, They shall not find iniquity in my labours; that is, iniquity shall not be found in my labours, because this is wickedness or a crime requiring expiation. I wonder that interpreters explain this place so frigidly; for they say, that there shall not be found in my labours iniquity or sin. But the Prophet does not set down a copulative, but uses the particle אשר, asher, which is to be taken here exegetically. And the meaning is, that hypocrites, while they claim to themselves the praise of innocence, for the sake of dissembling, detest ostensibly every wickedness and crime. “Iniquity shall not be found in my labours, for this is wickedness; far be it that I should be discovered to be a wicked person in my doings; for I am without fraud in all my dealings.” But is this the case? By no means; but as they judge of God’s favour by prosperous fortune, they think that God would not be so kind to them unless he regarded them as just and pure. Hence we see how securely hypocrites mock God, when they begin to despise his teaching and warnings. We need not then wonder that at this day so much perverseness prevails everywhere in the world. But let us also use this mode of teaching which the Prophet sets before us. Let us now proceed —
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 Thus the wicked measure God’s favor by outward prosperity…
Thus the wicked measure God’s favor by outward prosperity and like hypocrites cannot abide that any should reprove their doings.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Hos 12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become…
Hos 12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: [in] all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that [were] sin.
Ver. 8. And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich] Sed mihi plaudo domi. I have it howsoever though I hear ill for it; though the prophet inveigh against my covetousness, yet I am rich while he and his companions are poor and indigent.
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Yea, I have found me out substance] An idol so the Vulgate renders it; and, indeed, every covetous man is an idolater, Eph 5:5, and performs both outward and inward service to his mammon of unrighteousness, to his golden calf. Substance he here creaks of, and rest to his soul (as the Seventy render it, ευρηκα αναψυχην εμαυτω), in opposition haply to the airy notions (as he accounted them) of the prophet’s invectives against his covetous practices, and the terrors of his own conscience, which he endeavoured to corrupt and bribe. See, to like purpose, Isa 57:10, "Thou hast found the life of thy hand," that is, a livelihood by thy labour; "therefore thou wast not grieved": thy heart is hardened, and thou art insensible of thy sin guiltiness; thou settest the gain against the guilt, and then all is hail with thee. Felix scelus virtus vocatur; Prosperous wickedness is accounted virtue. Leah, because fruitful and successful, rejoiced in that whereof she had greater reason to repent. So did those idolaters, Jer 44:11. Dionysius, after the spoil of an idol temple, finding the winds favourable in his navigation; Lo, said he, how the gods approve of sacrilege. It is no better that Ephraim here deals with the Almighty: Surely, saith he, if God disliked my courses so much as the prophet would make believe, I should not gather wealth as I do; but the world comes tumbling in upon me, therefore my ways are good before God. This is an ordinary paralogism, {a} whereby wicked worldlings deceive their own souls; hardening and heartening themselves in their sinful practices, because they outwardly prosper. But a painted face is no sign of a good complexion. Seneca could say, that it is the greatest unhappiness to prosper in evil.
In all my labours] So he calleth his fraudulent and violent practices, as making the best of an ill matter.
They shall find no iniquity in me] Though they search as narrowly as Laban did into Jacob’s stuff; what can they find, or prove by me? Am I not able either to hide mine ill dealings, or to defend them? Can they take the advantage of the law against me? Why, then, should I be thus condemned and cried out of as I am? thus "The rich man is wise in his own conceit," Pro 28:11, and covetousness is never without its cloak, 1Th 2:5, which yet is too short to cover it from God, who is not mocked with masks, or fed with feigned words, whereof the covetous caitiff is full, 2Pe 2:3. Witness Ephraim here, with his pretences of innocence: "In all my labours," that is, mine ill gotten goods (the fruit of my hard and honest labour, saith he), "they shall find none iniquity," no crimen stellionatus, no craft or cruelty.
That were sin] Piaculum esset, that were a foul business; far be it from me to stain my trading or burden my conscience with any such misdeed. I would you should know I am as shy of sin as another: neither would I be taken tripping for any good. Thus men, notoriously guilty, may yet give good words, yea, largely profess what they are guilty of to be an abominable thing; and this is a sure sign of a profane and cauterized conscience, of a heart that being first turned into earth and mud, doth afterwards freeze and congeal into steel and adamant.
{a} A piece of false or erroneous reasoning; an illogical argument; a faulty syllogism; a fallacy, esp. (as distinct from sophism) one of which the reasoner himself is unconscious. ŒD
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 said; this covetous, oppressive merchant reckoned with himself,…
Ephraim said; this covetous, oppressive merchant reckoned with himself, or discoursed with himself, upon the whole of his trading.
Yet I am become rich; whatever is said by some, or thought by others, yet I get what I aim at: either it is good and lawful, and prospered to me by the blessing of God on it because it is just and righteous, or it is not so bad as morose prophets and preachers make it, or at worst (which I will venture, saith Ephraim) it lessens my innocency, but improves my stock, and this is more to such merchants than all the poor innocence in the world.
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I have found me out substance; the same thing, with a vain boast of what is not in his wealth and substance. If in his gain he assumed his own only to himself, it were praiseworthy; that is, if he took to himself with shame the sinful manner of acquiring it; but he takes the praise to himself, and forgets God; boasts of his wit, though he cannot of his honesty.
In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin; finally, he hugs himself in the apprehension of close and crafty carriage of all his affairs, that no great fault, no crime, can be found in it to deserve a reproach or punishment, that he hath more reason to believe all is well since it doth prosper, than to suspect any great miscarriage which should deserve punishment. So this people do at once flatter themselves into security, fearless of punishment, and into hardened obstinacy in sin incapable of amendment.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Ephraim said, yet I am become rich,.... Notwithstanding…
And Ephraim said, yet I am become rich,.... Notwithstanding they took such unjust methods, as to use deceitful balances, they prospered in the world, got abundance of riches; and therefore concluded from thence that their manner of dealing was not criminal, at least not so bad as the prophets represented to them; and so promised themselves impunity, and that what they were threatened with would not come upon them; and, as long as they got riches, they cared not in what manner; and inasmuch as they prospered and succeeded in their course of trading, they were encouraged to go on, and not fear any evil coming upon them for it. According to Aben Ezra and Kimchi, the sense is, that they became rich of themselves, by their own industry and labour, and did not acknowledge that their riches, and power to get them, were of God. They gloried in them as their own attainments; and which they had little reason to do, since they were treasures of wickedness, and mammon of unrighteousness, which in a day of wrath would be of no service to them;
I have found me out substance; they found ways and means of acquiring great riches, and large estates, by their own wisdom and cunning, and all for themselves, for their own use, to be enjoyed by them for years to come; and they were reckoned by them solid and substantial things, when a mere shadow, emptiness, and vanity; and were not to be employed for their own use and advantage only, but should have been for the good of others; nor were they to be attributed to their own sagacity, prudence, and management, but to the providence of God, admitting they had been got in ever so honourable and just a manner;
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in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin: here again Ephraim, or the people of Israel, vainly ascribe all their wealth and riches to their own labour, diligence, and industry, and take no notice of God and his providence, or of his blessing upon them; and pretend to be very upright and honest in their dealings, and that what they got were very honestly got, and would bear the strictest scrutiny; and that if their course of trade was ever so narrowly looked into, there would be nothing found that was very bad or criminal, that they could be justly reproached the; only some little trifling things, that would not bear the name of "sin", or deserve any correction or punishment; so pure were they in their own eyes, so blinded and hardened in sin, and fearless of the divine displeasure; like the adulterous woman, wiped their mouths when they had eaten the sweet morsels of sin, and said they had done no wickedness, Pro 30:20; or which was involuntary, and not done knowingly, as Kimchi and Abendana: or rather, as Ben Melech renders it, "no iniquity and sin"; and so others: or, best of all, "no iniquity or sin", as Noldius (a); no iniquity, or any kind of sin at all. Thus, as Ephraim was charged before with idolatry and lies in religion, so here with fraudulent dealings, and getting riches in an illicit way in civil things; and of whose repentance and reformation there was no hope.
(a) Concord. Ebr. Part. p. 104. No. 522.
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 I am rich - Whatever is said, yet I…
I am rich - Whatever is said, yet I get what I aim at. They shall find - Yet he hugs himself in the apprehension of close carriage of his affairs, so that no great crime can be found in him: none, that is sin, that is any great enormity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. I am become rich] They boasted in…
Verse 8. I am become rich] They boasted in their riches, notwithstanding the unjust manner in which they were acquired.
In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me] This is frequently the language of merchants, tradesmen, c. None are so full of professions of equity and justice, while all the time they are endeavouring to overreach, both in buying and selling. "Sir, I cannot afford it at that price." "It is not mine for that money." "I assure you that it cost me more than you offer." "I am sorry I cannot take your money but if I did, I should lose by the article," c., &c., &c. I have heard such language over and over, when I knew every word was false. Truth is a sacred thing in the sight of God but who regards it as he should? There are, however, many noble exceptions among merchants and tradesmen. Bp. Newcome gives another turn to the subject, by translating: -
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"All his labours shall not be found profitable unto him,
For the iniquity wherewith he hath sinned."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And Ephraim said, Yet am I become rich -…
And Ephraim said, Yet am I become rich - Literally, “I am simply rich.” As if he said, “the only result of all this, with which the prophets charge me, is that ‘I am become rich:’ and since God thus prospers me, it is a sure proof that he is not displeased with me, that ‘no iniquity’ can be ‘found in me;’” the ordinary practical argument of men, as long as God withholds His punishments, that their ways cannot be so displeasing to Him. With the people of this world, with its politicians, in trade, it is the one decisive argument: “I was in the right, for I succeeded.” “It was a good speculation, for he gained thousands.” “it was good policy, for, see its fruits. An answer, at which the pagan laughed, “the people hisses me, but I, I, safe at home, applaud myself, when the coin jingles in my chest” . The pagan ridiculed it; Christians enact it. But in truth, the fact that God does not punish, is often the evidence of His extremest displeasure.
They shall find none iniquity in me, that were sin - The merchants of Ephraim continue their protest; “in all the toil of my hands, all my buying and selling, my bargains, contracts, they can bring no iniquity home to me,” and then, in a tone of simple innocence, they add, ‘that’ were ‘sin,’ as though they ‘could’ not do, what to do were sin. None suspect themselves less, than those intent on gain. The evil customs of other traders, the habits of trade, the seeming necessity for some frauds, the conventional nature of others, the minuteness of others, with their frequent repetition, blind the soul, until it sees no sin, while, with every smallest sale, “they sell their own souls into the bargain” .
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 Idol. Hebrew also, "vanity." Riches are vain, and lead…
Idol. Hebrew also, "vanity." Riches are vain, and lead to idolatry when people place their affections on them, Matthew xiii. 22., and Ephesians v. 5. --- Committed. I am conscious of no injustice. (Calmet) --- Yet he had used a deceitful balance, and his judgment is equally perverse. (Haydock) --- "What rich man shall be saved?" (Clement of Alexandria)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain And--that is, Notwithstanding.
And--that is, Notwithstanding.
Yet I am . . . rich--I regard not what the prophets say: I am content with my state, as I am rich (Rev 3:17). Therefore, in just retribution, this is the very language of the enemy in being the instrument of Israel's punishment. Zac 11:5 : "They that sell them say . . . I am rich." Far better is poverty with honesty, than riches gained by sin.
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my labours--my gains by labor.
they shall find none--that is, none shall find any.
iniquity . . . that were sin--iniquity that would bring down the penalty of sin. Ephraim argues, My success in my labors proves that I am not a guilty sinner as the prophets assert. Thus sinners pervert God's long-suffering goodness (Mat 5:45) into a justification of their impenitence (compare Ecc 8:11-13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Israel had been successful in realizing its ambition;…
8. Israel had been successful in realizing its ambition; now arrogantly it congratulates itself on the acquisition of wealth and riches.
They shall find none iniquity in me that were sin — Thus rendered 8b is a continuation of Israel’s boast, maintaining that the wealth had been gained honestly; and even if some things should have been done that might seem inconsistent these could not be called real sins. This interpretation implies a distinction between the Hebrew words translated iniquity and sin, which cannot be traced in the rest of the Old Testament. Besides, the rendering takes considerable liberty with the Hebrew and makes the transition from 8 to 9 very abrupt. A much better connection and more satisfactory sense is had if in 8b the reading of LXX. is followed, which requires only very slight changes in the Hebrew. Then the whole of Hos_12:8 will read, “Ephraim indeed said, Surely I am become rich, I have found wealth; but” — now follows Jehovah’s reply to this boast — “all his gains are not sufficient for (to expiate) the guilt which he has incurred.” This translation makes the transition to Hos_12:9 quite natural, for the latter supplies the reason for the doom of Israel implied in 8b, and at the same time makes a more distinct announcement of the judgment. And [“But”] — A more common translation of the Hebrew is “for,” which is to be preferred here if in 8b the LXX. reading is accepted.
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Thy God from the land of Egypt — These words may suggest several thoughts: (1) All they are and all they have they owe to him; therefore their ingratitude is the more culpable. (2) Since he is the source of every good gift, violence and fraud are not the proper means by which to acquire wealth. (3) Jehovah has proved himself a faithful helper and friend since the days in Egypt, but he has also shown himself ready to punish whenever punishment was needed (Amo_4:6 ff; Amo_3:2). He may punish again. The last thought is most prominent in the mind of the prophet.
Will yet — R.V., “I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents”; A.V., “tabernacles.” A.V. regards this evidently as a promise, but in this connection the words must be taken as a threat (compare Hos_2:14). Jehovah will drive them from their comfortable homes and their ill-gotten riches; they will be led back into the desert (see on Hos_2:14), there to live in tents, as during their former wearisome wanderings.
The solemn feast — Better, simply feast, or, festal season (see on Hos_9:5). The reference is to one of the three ancient feasts of the Hebrews, the Feast of Tabernacles (Exo_23:16; compare Lev_23:42-43). This was a season of gratitude and rejoicing, but of this the prophet does not think. The tent dwelling is the only point of comparison.
It is exceedingly difficult to trace the logical connection between the remaining verses of chapter 12. Most recent commentators agree with G.A. Smith, who says, concerning Hos_12:10-11, “One does not see the connection of these verses with the preceding,” and concerning Hos_12:12-14, “I cannot trace the argument here.” A few attempts have been made to discover the underlying connection, but all must admit that more or less uncertainty remains. Numerous attempts have been made to remove the difficulties by omissions, transpositions, and alterations of the text. Some of these result in a smoother text, but one cannot feel confident that they have restored the words of Hosea. Taking the text as it stands, the line of argument seems to be this: In Hos_12:9 the prophet announces doom; in 10 he points out that Jehovah has made repeated attempts through the prophets to avert it. Hos_12:11 is obscure. The prophet apparently singles out two prominent religious centers, and, speaking of their destruction, he desires to impress upon the people the truth that no one can be blamed for the disaster but they themselves; Hos_12:12-14 present a new indictment and a new announcement of judgment. By a comparison of the experiences of the nation with those of the patriarch Jacob in Aram the prophet seeks to show what great things Jehovah has done for Israel, and how the divine love has been met with ingratitude. Again and again they have roused the divine auger; therefore the sentence must stand.
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 8. And Ephraim said …] Better, Ephraim indeed said,…
8. And Ephraim said …] Better, Ephraim indeed said, Surely I have become rich, I have gotten me wealth: all my profits shall bring me no iniquity that were a sin. Ephraim congratulates himself on his riches, and with callous conscience maintains that they have been won quite honestly; or if he be not absolutely innocent, yet his few trifling lapses will not be reckoned a sin. He reminds us of the mercenary shepherds in Zec_11:5, who say ‘Blessed be Jehovah that I become rich.’ There is a better connexion however with the next verse if we adopt one or two slight emendations, and render the latter part thus, (but) all his profits will not suffice for (i.e. to expiate) the guilt which he has incurred, i.e. though he gave them all up as ‘a ransom for his soul’ (Exo_30:12), the sacrifice would be inadequate. Comp. the Septuagint, πάντες οἱ πόνοι αὐτοῦ οὐχ εὑρεθήσονται αὐτῷ δἰ ἀδικίας ἂς ἥμαρτεν. We thus get rid of the unnatural distinction supposed above between ‘iniquity’ and ‘sin.’
8–15. Not Israel, but Canaan should he be called; for his ideal is Canaan’s. The end justifies the means, and his end is—to become rich! But how bitterly will he be disappointed. He must in short begin his history over again, and repeat his wilderness-wanderings. Or to speak more plainly, idolatry must be rooted out. Jehovah must take up the challenge thrown down by Ephraim. Just before the severe final rebuke, Hosea resumes his appeal to the instructive history of Jacob; but Hos_12:12-13 may be misplaced.
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 (8) Translate, And Ephraim saith, Surely I have become…
(8) Translate, And Ephraim saith, Surely I have become wealthy; I have gotten me substance (i.e., by legitimate means, not robbery): all my earnings bring me not guilt as would be sin (i.e., requiring expiation). Such a coarse pursuit of wealth, and such glorying in the innocence of the entire process by which it has been obtained, has its parallel in the moral position of the Laodicean Church, rebuked by our Lord (Revelation 3).
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 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I…
And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance. Ephraim in this verse boasts of his riches, though procured by fraud and violence, while he maintains at the same time that he has not sinned thereby so as to expose himself to punishment or deserve severe reprehension. The particle has two principal meanings:
(a) "surely" and
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(b) "only." In the former sense the clause
(1) may allude to the injunction contained in ver. 6 to wait on God, and may signify, "No doubt I have become rich, yet not through Divine help, but by my own exertions;" in the latter sense it may signify,
(2) "I have only become rich; I have done nothing else; I have done nothing amiss" Aben Ezra regards as introducing the apodosis, and explains it nearly in the sense of (1), thus: "The sense of is, "God has not given me the wealth, but I by myself i.e. my own unaided efforts have become rich, for I am not as the Canaanite," that is, the merchant, as "There shall be no more the Canaanite";" (Zec_14:21) he then proceeds to show the connection, "And the meaning according to the context is, "Why does he say, Keep mercy and judgment, and be not an oppressor like the Canaanite nor am I? yet all is my own honest earning; none of the sons of men shall find that I have sinned. The interpretation of Kimchi is similar, but somewhat simpler, thus: "The words, "I am become rich," are the opposite of "Wait on thy God continually." But he (Ephraim) does not wait on God the blessed, and he does not acknowledge that he gave him strength to acquire wealth, but says, "My own power and the strength of my hands have made for me this wealth," and he forgetteth God the blessed, who gave him power to work, as it is written in the Law, (Deu_8:14) "And thou forget the Lord thy God." This is what he (the prophet) means by "I have become rich;" he means to say, "I have become rich from myself, i.e. by my own labor. The word wOa denotes both physical or bodily strength, and also, like lyij, riches, Latin opes, prob ably as procured thereby. The flourishing state of the kingdom during the reigns of Joash and Jeroboam II may have induced their overweening self-confidence and their amazing forgetfulness of God, and at the same time this surprising ignorance of their real condition.
(2) The Septuagint rendering is eurhka anaquch , "I have found refreshment for myself," and Jerome, "Inveni mihi idolum," as if had been read instead of wOa. In all my labors they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin; margin, all my labors suffice me not: he shall bare punishment of iniquity in whom is sin. Here two modes of construction are possible and each has had its advocates; thus, yyniy may be
(a) the subject of the verb, as in the LXX, which is, "None of his labors shall be found available for him on account of the sins he has committed." This is the rendering followed and interpreted by Cyril and Theodoret.
(b) The words in question, instead of being taken as the subject to the verb, may be employed absolutely or with the ellipsis of a preposition, as in the Authorized Version; thus: "As to my labors, or the fruits of my labors," for yny, is used in both senses. The meaning of the passage then is
(1) that, besides the sins of fraud and oppression, Ephraim did not shrink through shame to vindicate his conduct and to maintain that. in all the riches he had acquired with such labor, no one could show that those riches had been unjustly acquired by him, or that there was sin contracted in their acquisition. Thus Kimchi: "He (the prophet) mentions another vice, saying that he (Ephraim) oppresses, and asserts that, in all he has labored for and gathered together, they shall not be able to find
(a) any riches of iniquity and sin. yt ya is the same as iniquity and sin, and (Ecc_5:18) "it is good and comely" (asher here also for ray). Or the explanation of it is:
(b) They shall not find with me iniquity. nor any matter in which there is sin pertaining to me. And yj is less than y iniquity, for sin comes sometimes by reason of error. Or the explanation of "iniquity which were sin" is:
(c) Iniquity in which there was sin to me; as if he said, with regard to which I had sinned; for if riches came into my hand through iniquity and robbery, it was not with my knowledge; he means: so that I sinned in relation to it, and took it by iniquity with my knowledge; and in this way (Lev_22:16) "they lade themselves with the iniquity of trespass; y being in construct state, that is to say, iniquity with regard to which they trespassed." yli signifies "belonging to me;" while afj is read, not as a noun, but as a verb in the Septuagint, av amarten .
(2) The Chaldee, which is explained by Rashi, gives an explanation identical, though only partially so, with the marginal rendering of the Authorized Version, namely, "It were good for thee if thou consideredst with thyself: all my riches do not suffice me, in order to expiate the iniquity which I have committed." This, and the marginal reading both where they coincide and where they diverge we must unhesitatingly reject as far-fetched, artificial, and having no real basis in the text. To their other sins Israel added this protestation of innocence, which was the solemn protestation of a falsehood. The clause
(3) may admit another sense; thus: If in ray gains by labor iniquity should be found, that indeed would be sin; but such is not the case. Thus, like the Pharisees of a later age, did they justify themselves before men; but God knew their hollow-hearted hypocrisy.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.