7 [He is] a merchant, balances of deceit are in his hand; he loveth to oppress. 8 And Ephraim saith, Nevertheless 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 But I [that am] Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt will again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. 10 And I have spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and by means of the prophets have I used similitudes. 11 If Gilead is iniquity, surely they are but 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 Jehovah brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked [him] to anger most bitterly; and his Lord shall leave his blood upon him, and recompense unto him his reproach.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hosea 12:7-14
Commentary on Hosea 12:7-14
(Read Hosea 12:7-14)
Ephraim became a merchant: the word also signifies a Canaanite. They carried on trade upon Canaanitish principles, covetously and with fraud and deceit. Thus they became rich, and falsely supposed that Providence favoured them. But shameful sins shall have shameful punishments. Let them remember, not only what a mighty prince Jacob was with God, but what a servant he was to Laban. The benefits we have had from the word of God, make our sin and folly the worse, if we put any slight upon that word. We had better follow the hardest labour in poverty, than grow rich by sin. We may form a judgment of our own conduct, by comparing it with that of ancient believers in the like circumstances. Whoever despises the message of God, will perish. May we all hear his word with humble, obedient faith.