Passage

Hosea 12.7

Book: Hosea · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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.

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

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.

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

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. ^{a merchant: or, Canaan} ^{oppress: or, deceive}

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. ^{in all: or, all my labours suffice me not: he shall have punishment of iniquity in whom is sin} ^{that: Heb. which} 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

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.

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)

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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.

Quoted in

Passages:

Hosea 12

Notes

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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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.