# Hosea 12.7

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-11-06 | updated: 2026-11-06 -->

**Book:** [Hosea](/codex/hosea/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 5. even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name. 6. Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually.
>
> **7. He is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.**
>
> 8. And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin. 9. But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. (Hosea 12:5-9, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 5. even Yahweh, the God of Armies; Yahweh is his name of renown! 6. Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God.
>
> **7. A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud.**
>
> 8. 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.” 9. “But I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt. I will yet again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. (Hosea 12:5-9, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 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. <sup>a merchant: or, Canaan</sup> <sup>oppress: or, deceive</sup>**
>
> 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. <sup>in all: or, all my labours suffice me not: he shall have punishment of iniquity in whom is sin</sup> <sup>that: Heb. which</sup> 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. (Hosea 12:5-9, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 5. Even Jehovah, God of the Hosts, Jehovah [is] His memorial. 6. And thou, through thy God, dost turn, Kindness and judgment keep thou, And wait on thy God continually.
>
> **7. Canaan! in his hand [are] balances of deceit! To oppress he hath loved.**
>
> 8. And Ephraim saith: 'Surely I have become rich, I have found wealth for myself, All my labours, they find not against me iniquity that [is] sin.' 9. And I, Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt, Again do I turn thee back into tents, As in the days of the appointed time. (Hosea 12:5-9, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** YHWH speaking through Hosea son of Beeri (1:1). Most scholars trace the oracles to Hosea himself, while many hold that the book received its final shape later in Judah, where it was preserved after Samaria fell
- **Audience:** the northern kingdom of Israel, often called Ephraim after its leading tribe
- **Location:** the northern kingdom
- **Time period:** c. 750-722 BC, from the last years of Jeroboam II through the dynastic chaos that followed to the eve of Samaria's fall to Assyria (1:1; 2 Kings 15-17)
- **Literary context:** the indictment that follows the call to repentance (12:6), contrasting "kindness and justice" with Ephraim's trade.

## Theological reading

"He is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress." (Hosea 12:7, ASV)

**Canaan the trader.** The word translated "trafficker" is *kena'an*, the name Canaan, which also came to mean merchant because of the Canaanites' commercial reputation. Ephraim, called to be different from Canaan, has become Canaan.

**False balances.** The law required just weights and measures (Leviticus 19:35-36; Deuteronomy 25:13-16), and "a false balance is an abomination to Jehovah" (Proverbs 11:1). Amos makes the same charge against the north (Amos 8:5).

**Wealth as innocence.** Verse 8 gives Ephraim's defense: "Surely I am become rich... they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin". Prosperity is taken as proof of virtue. Verse 6 has just named what YHWH actually requires: "keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually".

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._

- None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

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## Quoted in

**Passages:**

- [Hosea 12](/codex/hosea-12/)

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## Notes

_Your annotations._

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.