= Hosea 12 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Hosea_11|Previous]] | [[Hosea_13|Next]] ] == Hosea 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. 2 The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. 3 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: 4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us; 5 Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial. 6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment and wait on thy God continually. 7 He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. 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. 9 And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast. 10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. 11 Is there iniquity in Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the fields. 12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep. 13 And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 has surrounded Me Ephraim and the house of Israel have already surrounded Me with lies and deceit, i.e., the kings of the Ten Tribes and all the people, but Judah still... rules with God Still rules with fear of God. rules Heb. רָד. Comp. (Num. 24:19) “And there shall rule (וְיֵרְדְּ) out of Jacob.” Their kings are still with the Holy One, blessed be He. ==== Verse 2 joins the wind Heb. רֹעֵה. An expression of רֵעַ, a friend. He joins words of the wind, viz. idolatry. and oil Their oil they carry to Egypt to give a bribe to Egypt to aid them. ==== Verse 3 Now the Lord has a contention with Judah He relates to them the matters of His contention which their brethren, the house of Israel, have done to Him, so that they should not wonder when He visits retribution on Jacob according to his ways. ==== Verse 4 In the womb, he seized his brother’s heel All this I did for him, he held him by the heel, as a sign that he would be a master over him. ==== Verse 5 he wept i.e., the angel wept. [from Chullin 92a] and beseeched him When he said to him, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Gen. 32:26), and the angel was begging him, “Let me go now. Eventually, the Holy One, blessed be He, will reveal Himself to you in Bethel, and there you will find Him, and there He will speak with us, and He and I will agree with you concerning the blessings that Isaac blessed you.” Now that angel was Esau’s genius, and he was contesting the blessings. ==== Verse 6 And the Lord is the God of the hosts Just as I was then, so am I now, and had you walked with Me wholeheartedly, like Jacob your father, I would have acted toward you as I acted toward him. ==== Verse 7 And you shall return by your God On His promise and His support, which He promises you, you can rely, and return to Him. Only... keep loving-kindness and justice and you may be assured to hope for His salvation always. ==== Verse 8 A trafficker who has deceitful scales in his hand You rely on your gain, for you are traffickers and deceivers, and concerning your wealth you say... ==== Verse 9 Surely I have become rich Now why should I worship the Holy One, blessed be He? I have found power for myself Heb. אוֹן, meaning strength. Rabbi Simon, however, explained it homiletically as follows: I found אוֹן for myself: I found a deed of indebtedness for myself, that I possess kingship over Israel. (Gen. 50:18) “And his brothers too wept and fell etc. ‘Behold we are slaves to you etc.’” אוֹן means the laws of a deed. Comp. (Gittin 43b) “They may write his deed (אוֹנוֹ) for it.” Comp. (Gittin 43b) “They may write his deed אוֹנוֹ for it.” Comp. also (Gen. Rabbah 2:2) With one deed (אוֹנוֹ) and with one price. And this is its explanation: “And Ephraim said: Surely I have become rich; I have found a deed for myself.” Jeroboam son of Nebat, who was of the tribe of Ephraim, boasts and declares: Surely I have become rich, I have found a deed for myself, one deed, that all Israel are my slaves, for my father acquired them, as it is written: And his brothers too went and fell before him, and said: Behold we are your slaves. And whatever a slave acquires belongs to his master. Hence, all their property is mine. Therefore, I have no sin if I take all that is theirs, for they are my slaves. What is written after this? And I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt. The greatness that came to your father in Egypt was from Me. Said the Holy One, blessed be He. ‘Behold we are your slaves,’ you have not forgotten, but ‘I am the Lord your God,’ which was stated in the Decalogue, you have forgotten, for you have erected two calves, one in Bethel and one in Dan. And according to the simple meaning of the verse, you say, “I have found power for myself through oppression and deceitful scales.” And I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt. There I distinguished between a droplet [of seed] of a firstborn and a droplet which was not of a firstborn. I also know and exact retribution from deceitful scales made without understanding and from one who hides his weights in salt in order to deceive. all my toils shall not suffice for my etc. It would have been better for you had you said to yourself: All my money shall not suffice to atone for my iniquity which I have sinned. In this manner Jonathan renders it: The prophet said to them: All your wealth will not remain with you on the day of the retribution of your sins. shall not suffice Heb. לֹא יִמְצְאוּ, usually translated ‘shall not find.’ They shall not suffice. Comp. (Num. 11:22) “and suffice (וּמָצָא) for them.” But it cannot be explained: כָֹּל-יְגִיעַי, all those who toil to seek my iniquity shall not find any iniquity with me, for, were that the case, it should be spelled יְגֵעַי without a “yud,” and it should be vowelized with a “tseireh,” but now it is not an expression of one who toils but an expression of toil. ==== Verse 10 I will yet make you dwell in tents I will cut off from your midst deceitful traffickers, and I will cause you to dwell in tents. I will set up from among you students engaging in the Torah. as in the days of the [early] times As in the days of the early times, when Jacob, the unpretentious man, was sitting in tents. ==== Verse 11 And I spoke to the prophets to admonish you and to bring you back to do good. and to the prophets I assumed likenesses I appeared to them in many likenesses. Another explanation. I gave My words likenesses to them through allegories in order to make them comprehensible to their listeners. ==== Verse 12 If there is violence in Gilead If they suffered from destruction and violence, they caused it to themselves, for they were but vanity in Gilgal, and they sacrificed oxen to pagan deities. also their altars were as numerous as heaps which are on the furrows of the field. the furrows of the field The furrow made by the plowshare is called תֶלֶם. ==== Verse 13 And Jacob fled to the field of Aram etc. Like a person who says, “Let us return to the previous topic,” for we spoke above (verse 5): And he strove with an angel, and moreover, I did this for him; when he was forced to flee to the field of Aram, you know how I guarded him. and for a wife he guarded the flocks. ==== Verse 14 And, through a prophet, the Lord brought up etc. And, insofar as you disgrace the prophets and mock their words, is it not so that through a prophet God brought us etc.? ==== Verse 15 Ephraim provoked his Creator by despising His prophets and betraying Him. yea, bitterness (Heb. תַּמְרוּרִים,) they are to him for his blood which he shed by causing Israel to sin by clinging to idolatryand one who causes a person to sin is worse to him than one who kills him, as we learn from Ammon and Moab, who misled Israel to cling to Baal-Peor, and Scripture punished them more severely than an Egyptian and an Edomite, who drowned them in the river and went forth toward them with the sword... shall be cast upon him The Holy One, blessed be He, shall cast it upon him. and his disgrace which he disgraced Solomon, as the matter is stated: (I Kings 11:26) “He raised his hand against the king,” that he rebuked him in public because Solomon had built up the Millo, as is explained in [the chapter entitled] Chelek (San. 101b). his Lord shall requite upon him I.e., the Holy One, blessed be He, since he surpassed him in his evil deeds.