Hosea 12:7

Hosea 12:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
• New International Version (NIV)The merchant uses dishonest scales and loves to defraud.
• English Standard Version (ESV)A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“A cunning Canaanite! Deceitful scales are in his hand; He loves to oppress.

Context of Hosea 12:7

5— even Jehovah, the God of hosts, — Jehovah is his memorial. 6And thou, return unto thy God: keep loving-kindness and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. [He is] a merchant, balances of deceit are in his hand; he loveth to oppress. 8And 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. 9But 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.

Hosea 12:7 word by word

כְּנַ֗עַן בְּיָד֛וֹ מֹאזְנֵ֥י מִרְמָ֖ה לַעֲשֹׁ֥ק אָהֵֽב׃Read the interlinear

Cross-references for Hosea 12:7

• Ezekiel 16:3and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite: thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.
• Zechariah 14:21And every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto Jehovah of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein. And in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of hosts.
• John 2:16and said to the sellers of doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.
• Leviticus 19:35Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measure of length, in weight, and in measure of capacity:
• Proverbs 11:1A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah; but a just weight is his delight.
• Proverbs 16:11The just balance and scales are Jehovah's; all the weights of the bag are his work.
• Amos 8:5saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat? making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances for deceit:
• Micah 6:10Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure [which is] abominable?
• 1 Timothy 6:9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many unwise and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.
• Isaiah 3:5And the people shall be oppressed one by the other, and each by his neighbour; the child will be insolent against the elder, and the base against the honourable.
• Ezekiel 22:29The people of the land use oppression and practise robbery; and they vex the poor and needy, and oppress the stranger wrongfully.
• Amos 2:7panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek; and a man and his father will go in unto the [same] maid, to profane my holy name.
• Amos 3:9Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great uproar in the midst thereof, and the oppressions that are within her:
• Amos 4:1Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink:
• Amos 5:11Forasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them.
• Micah 2:1Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

Commentaries on Hosea 12:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7He is a merchant - Or a Canaanite; referring to the Phoenicians, famous for their traffic. Ephraim is as corrupt as those heathenish traffickers were. He kept, as many in all ages have done, a weight and a weight; a heavy one to buy with and a light one to sell by.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7He is a merchant - Or, indignantly, “a merchant in whose hands are the balances of deceit!” How could they love “mercy and justice,” whose trade was “deceit,” who weighed out deceit with their goods? False in their dealings, in their weights and measures, and, by taking advantage of the necessities of others, oppressive also. Deceit is the sin of weakness oppression is the abuse of power. Wealth does not give the power to use naked violence but wealthy…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-14Verses 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8During the reign of Jeroboam II (793–753 BC), Israelite merchants became very wealthy. They often used deceitful business practices like dishonest scales (see Amos 8:5–6). The Hebrew term for merchants is kena‘an (“Canaan”). Canaanite traders were known in the ancient world for their crafty dealings. The Israelites imitated their pagan neighbors in both religion and commerce.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. merchant--a play on the double sense of the Hebrew, "Canaan," that is, a Canaanite and a "merchant" Eze 16:3: "Thy birth is ... of Canaan." They who naturally were descendants of pious Jacob had become virtually Canaanites, who were proverbial as cheating merchants (compare Is 23:11, Margin), the greatest reproach to Israel, who despised Canaan. The Phoenicians called themselves Canaanites or merchants (Is 23:8). oppress--open violence: as the…Read the comment

Topics related to Hosea 12:7

• Balances
• Commerce
• Dishonesty
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Measure
• Merchant

In the dictionaries

• Balance
• Canaan; Canaanites
• Commerce
• Hosea
• Trade
• Zechariah, Book of
• Balances

Commentaries on Hosea 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings