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The Lord Refutes Israel’s False Claim of Innocence

The businessmen love to cheat;[a]
they use dishonest scales.[b]
Ephraim boasts,[c] “I am very rich!
I have become wealthy![d]
In all that I have done to gain my wealth,[e]
no one can accuse me of any offense[f] that is actually sinful.”[g]
“I am the Lord your God[h] who brought you[i] out of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again as in the days of old.[j]
10 I spoke to the prophets;
I myself revealed many visions;[k]
I spoke in parables[l] through[m] the prophets.”
11 Is there idolatry[n] in Gilead?[o]
Certainly its inhabitants[p] will come to nothing![q]
Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?
Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!

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Footnotes

  1. Hosea 12:7 tn Heb “the merchant…loves to cheat.” The Hebrew has singular forms (noun and verb) that are used generically to refer to all Israelite merchants and traders in general. The singular noun II כְּנַעַן (kenaʿan, “a merchant; a trader”; BDB 488 s.v. II כְּנַעַן) is used in a generic sense to refer to the merchant class of Israel as a whole (e.g., Ezek 16:29; 17:4; Zeph 1:11).
  2. Hosea 12:7 tn Heb “The merchant—in his hand are scales of deceit—loves to cheat.” The present translation rearranges the Hebrew line division to produce a smoother English rendering.
  3. Hosea 12:8 tn Heb “says” (so NAB).
  4. Hosea 12:8 tn Heb “I have found wealth for myself.” The verb מָצַא (matsaʾ, “to find”) is repeated in 12:8 to create a wordplay that is difficult to reproduce in translation. The Israelites have “found” (מָצַא) wealth for themselves (i.e., become wealthy; v. 8a) through dishonest business practices (v. 7). Nevertheless, they claim that no guilt can be “found” (מָצַא) in anything they have done in gaining their wealth (v. 8b).
  5. Hosea 12:8 tc The MT reads the first person common singular suffix on the noun יְגִיעַי (yegiʿay, “my labors/gains”; masculine plural noun + first person common singular suffix). The LXX’s οἱ πόνοι αὐτοῦ (hoi ponoi autou, “his labors”) assumes a third person masculine singular suffix on the noun יְגִיעַיו (yegiʿayv, “his labors/gains”; masculine plural noun + third person masculine singular suffix). The BHS editors suggest adopting the LXX reading. The textual decision is based upon whether or not this line continues the speech of Ephraim (first person common singular suffix) or whether these are the words of the prophet (third person masculine singular suffix). See the following translator’s note for the two rival lexical meanings that in turn lead to the textual options for the line as a whole.tn Heb “In all my gains/labors.” The noun יְגִיעַ (yegiʿa) has a twofold range of meaning: (1) “toil, labor” and (2) metonymical result of toil: “product, produce, gain, acquired property” (i.e., wealth gained by labor; BDB 388 s.v.; HALOT 385-86 s.v.). Normally, only one of the categories of meaning is present in any usage; however, it is possible that intentional semantic ambiguity is present in this usage because the context invokes both ideas: action + wealth.
  6. Hosea 12:8 tn The phrase מָצָאתִי אוֹן לִי (matsaʾti ʾon li, “I have found wealth for myself” = I have become wealthy) forms a wordplay with לֹא יִמְצְאוּ לִי עָוֹן (loʾ yimtseʾu li ʿavon, “they will not find guilt in me”). The repetition of מָצָא לִי (matsaʾ li) is enhanced by the paronomasia between the similar sounding nouns עָוֹן (ʾavon, “guilt”) and אוֹן (ʾon, “wealth”). The wordplay emphasizes that Israel’s acquisition of wealth cannot be divorced from his guilt in dishonest business practices. Israel has difficulty in professing his innocence, that he is not guilty (עָוֹן) of dishonest acquisition of wealth (אוֹן).
  7. Hosea 12:8 tc The MT reads, “[in] all my gains, they will not find guilt in me that would be sin.” The LXX reflects a Hebrew Vorlage that would be translated, “in all his labors, he cannot offset his guilt that is sin.” Some translations follow the LXX: “but all his riches can never offset the guilt he has incurred” (RSV), “None of his gains shall atone for the guilt of his sins” (NEB), and “All his gain shall not suffice him for the guilt of his sin” (NAB). Most follow the MT: “In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin” (KJV); “In all my labors they will find in me no iniquity, which would be sin” (NASB); “With all my wealth they will not find in me any iniquity or sin” (NIV); “All my gains do not amount to an offense which is real guilt” (NJPS); “No one can accuse us of getting rich dishonestly” (TEV); and “I earned it all on my own, without committing a sin” (CEV). See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:262-63.tn Heb “In all my gains/labors, no one can find in me any guilt that is sin.”
  8. Hosea 12:9 sn The Lord answers Ephraim’s self-assertion (“I am rich!”) with a self-introduction formula (“I am the Lord your God!”) that introduces judgment oracles and ethical instructions.
  9. Hosea 12:9 tn Or “[Ever since you came] out of Egypt”; cf. CEV “just as I have been since the time you were in Egypt.”
  10. Hosea 12:9 tn Heb “as in the days of meeting” (כִּימֵי מוֹעֵד, kime moʿed). This phrase might refer to “time of the festival” (e.g., Hos 2:13; 9:5; cf. NASB, NRSV, NLT) or the Lord’s first “meeting” with Israel in the desert (cf. NAB, TEV, CEV). In his announcements about Israel’s future, Hosea uses “as in the days of […]” (כִּימֵי) or “as in the day of […]” (כְּיוֹם, keyom) to introduce analogies drawn from Israel’s early history (e.g., Hos 2:5, 17; 9:9; 10:9).
  11. Hosea 12:10 tn Heb “I myself multiplied vision[s]”; cf. NASB “I gave numerous visions.”
  12. Hosea 12:10 tn There is debate whether אֲדַמֶּה (ʾadammeh, Piel imperfect first person common singular) is derived from I דָמָה (damah, “similitude, parable”) or II דָמָה (“oracle of doom”). The lexicons favor the former (BDB 198 s.v. I דָּמָה 1; HALOT 225-26 s.v. I דמה). Most translators favor “parables” (cf. KJV, RSV, NASB, NIV, NJPS), but a few opt for “oracles of doom” (cf. NRSV, TEV, CEV).
  13. Hosea 12:10 tn Heb “by the hand of”; cf. KJV, ASV “by the ministry of.”
  14. Hosea 12:11 tn The noun אָוֶן (ʾaven) has a broad range of meanings that include: (1) “wickedness, sin, injustice” (2) “deception, nothingness,” and (3) “idolatry, idolatrous cult” (HALOT 22 s.v. אָוֶן; BDB 19 s.v. אָוֶן). While any of these meanings would fit the present context, the second-half of the verse refers to cultic sins, suggesting that Hosea is denouncing Gilead for its idolatry (cf. NLT “Gilead is filled with sinners who worship idols”).
  15. Hosea 12:11 tn The introductory deictic particle אִם (ʾim) functions as an interrogative and introduces an interrogative clause: “Is there…?” (see HALOT 60 s.v. אִם 5; BDB 50 s.v. אִם 2). The LXX assumed that אִם was being used in its more common function as a conditional particle: “If there….”
  16. Hosea 12:11 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the inhabitants of Gilead) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  17. Hosea 12:11 tn The noun שָׁוְא (shavʾ, “emptiness, nothing”), which describes the imminent judgment of the people of Gilead, creates a wordplay in Hebrew with the noun אָוֶן (ʾaven, “nothingness” = idolatry). Because Gilead worshiped “nothingness” (idols), it would become “nothing” (i.e., be destroyed).

A trader in whose hands are false balances,
    he loves to oppress.(A)
Ephraim has said, “Ah, I am rich;
    I have gained wealth for myself;
in all of my gain
    no offense has been found in me
    that would be sin.”[a](B)
I am the Lord your God
    from the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
    as in the days of the appointed festival.(C)

10 I spoke to the prophets;
    it was I who multiplied visions,
    and through the prophets I will bring destruction.(D)
11 In[b] Gilead there is iniquity;
    they shall surely come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
    so their altars shall be like stone heaps
    on the furrows of the field.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 12.8 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 12.11 Syr: Heb If