Hosea 12
4Q166 "The Hosea Commentary Scroll", late first century B.C.
BookBook of Hosea
CategoryNevi'im
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part28

Hosea 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] In the Hebrew Bible it is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.[3][4] This chapter contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Hosea, son of Beeri, delivered about the time when the Kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) sought the aid of the Egyptian king So, in violation of her covenant with Assyria (Hosea 12:1). References to contemporary events sit alongside allusions to the patriarchal age in Israel's history.[5] Hosea exhorts the country's leaders to follow their father Jacob's persevering prayerfulness, "which brought God's favor upon him". The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary notes that "as God is unchangeable, He will show the same favor to Jacob's posterity as He did to Jacob, if, like him, they seek God".[6]

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 14 verses in English Christian Bibles, but 15 verses in the Hebrew Bible, which includes Hosea 11:12 as verse 1.[7][8] This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions. For verse 1 in the Hebrew Bible see Hosea 11:12.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).[9] Fragments cumulatively containing all verses of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including 4Q82 (4QXIIg; 25 BCE) with extant verses 1–14 (verses 1–15 in Masoretic Text).[10][11][12][13]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century).[14][lower-alpha 1]

Contents and commentary

Verse 1

"Ephraim feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and desolation.
Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians,
And oil is carried to Egypt.[16]
  • "East wind": in Palestine is coming from Arabia and the Far East, over large sandy area, scorching, destructive to vegetation Psalm 48:7, and also having the force of the whirlwind (Job 27:21; cf. Jeremiah 18:17).[17]
  • "Oil is carried into Egypt" refers to rich and precious oils used to procure Egypt's friendship. The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary notes that "Palestine was famed for oil", cf. Ezekiel 27:17: Judah and Israel traded with you (Tyre); they exchanged wheat from Minnith and confections, honey, olive oil and balm for your wares.[18] Isaiah's prophecies condemned such associations with Egypt.[6][19]

Verse 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.[20]

This verse consists of two parts which in the original are coordinated. It is better to translate thus:

And I am the Lord thy God, from the land of Egypt:
I will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles,
as in the days of the solemn feast.[21]

Kimchi interprets the phrase "dwell in tabernacles" as a promise, perhaps rendered with an implied threat, that even so God is "ready to bring Israel forth out of the captivity where [they] will be, as God brought Israel forth out of the land of Egypt, and made them dwell in tents in the wilderness, God is ready again to bring Israel forth out of the lands of the Gentiles, to cause them to dwell in tents in the wilderness along the way, until they shall return to their land in peace".[21]

Verse 12

And Jacob fled into the country of Syria,
and Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he kept sheep.[23]
  • "Country of Syria": or "field of Syria"[24] (שדה ארם, śə-ḏêh 'ă-rām) the same with "Padan-Aram" ("Padan" means "field" in Arabic and "Aram" is Syria), the place to where Jacob fled from his brother Esau (Genesis 28:1).[22]
  • "Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep" refers to the period which Jacob spent as a shepherd working for Laban, his uncle, to marry his two wives, Leah and Rachel, Laban's daughters. He served for seven years for each wife (Genesis 29:1).[22]

Verse 13

And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet was he preserved.[25]

See also

Notes

  1. Book of Hosea is missing from the extant Codex Sinaiticus.[15]

References

  1. Halley, Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary. 24th edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1965. p. 356
  2. Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
  3. Metzger, Bruce M., et al. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  4. Keck, Leander E. 1996. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume: VII. Nashville: Abingdon.
  5. Jerusalem Bible (1966), Footnote a at Hosea 12:1
  6. 1 2 3 4 Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset, and David Brown, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible on Hosea 12, 1871.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. Book of Hosea chapter 11 and chapter 12 of The Hebrew Bible in Hebrew and English according to the JPS 1917 edition
  8. Note on Hosea 11:12 in the NET Bible
  9. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
  10. Ulrich 2010, pp. 596–597.
  11. Dead sea scrolls - Hosea
  12. Fitzmyer 2008, p. 39.
  13. 4Q82 at the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
  14. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  15. Shepherd, Michael (2018). A Commentary on the Book of the Twelve: The Minor Prophets. Kregel Exegetical Library. Kregel Academic. p. 13. ISBN 978-0825444593.
  16. Hosea 12:1: New King James Version
  17. Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Old Testament. London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  18. Ezekiel 27:17: New International Version
  19. Isaiah 30:2,6; 31:1)
  20. Hosea 12:9 KJV
  21. 1 2 Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  22. 1 2 3 4 John Gill. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Exposition of the Old and New Testament. Published in 1746-1763.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  23. Hosea 12:12: KJV
  24. "agrum Aram", Montanus; "in agrum Syriae", Vatablus, Drusius, Rivet, Schmidt.
  25. Hosea 12:13: KJV

Sources

Jewish

Christian

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