God’s Word Translation
Hosea 12:7
7⌞The Lord says,⌟ “The merchants use dishonest scales. They love to cheat people.
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
5The Lord is the God of Armies. The Lord is the name by which he is remembered. 6Return to your God. Be loyal and fair, and always wait with hope for your God. ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “The merchants use dishonest scales. They love to cheat people. 8The people of Ephraim say, ‘We’re rich. We’ve made a fortune. With all this wealth, no one will find us guilty of any sin.’ 9I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. I will make you live in tents again as you did during your appointed festivals.
Read all of Hosea 12Hosea 12:7 word by word
כְּנַ֗עַן בְּיָד֛וֹ מֹאזְנֵ֥י מִרְמָ֖ה לַעֲשֹׁ֥ק אָהֵֽב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Hosea 12:7
- Ezekiel 16:3Tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says to the people of Jerusalem: Your birthplace and your ancestors were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother was a Hittite.
- Zechariah 14:21Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Armies. All who come to sacrifice will take some of them and cook in them. On that day there will no longer be any Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Armies.
- John 2:16He told those who sold pigeons, “Pick up this stuff, and get it out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”
- Leviticus 19:35“Don’t be corrupt when administering justice concerning length, weight, or measuring liquid.
- Proverbs 11:1Dishonest scales are disgusting to the Lord, but accurate weights are pleasing to him.
- Proverbs 16:11Honest balances and scales belong to the Lord. He made the entire set of weights.
- Amos 8:5You say to yourselves, “When will the New Moon Festival be over so that we can sell more grain? When will the day of rest—a holy day, be over so that we can sell more wheat? We can shrink the size of the bushel baskets, increase the cost, and cheat with dishonest scales.
- Micah 6:10I have cursed all the wicked people who use their money for evil and use inaccurate weights and measures.
- 1 Timothy 6:9But people who want to get rich keep falling into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires which drown them in destruction and ruin.
- Isaiah 3:5People will oppress each other, and everyone will oppress his neighbor. The young will make fun of the old, and common people will make fun of their superiors.
- Ezekiel 22:29The common people oppress and rob others. They do wrong to humble people and to poor people. They oppress foreigners for no reason.
- Amos 2:7They stomp the heads of the poor into the dust. They push the humble out of the way. Father and son sleep with the same woman. They dishonor my holy name.
- Amos 3:9Announce in the palaces of Ashdod and in the palaces of Egypt, “Gather together on the mountains of Samaria. See the widespread confusion and oppression in Samaria.”
- Amos 4:1Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria. You women oppress the poor and abuse the needy. You say to your husbands, “Get some wine! Let’s drink!”
- Amos 5:11You trample on the poor and take their wheat from them for taxes. That is why you build houses from hand-cut stones, but you will not live in them. You plant beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.
- Micah 2:1How horrible it will be for those who invent trouble and work out plans for disaster while in bed. When the morning dawns, they carry out their plans because they are able to.
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
In the dictionaries
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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