a contest (personal or legal) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Judah
יְהוּדָ֑הye.hu.Dah
H3063
Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
punish
וְלִפְקֹ֤דve.lif.Kod
H6485
to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
Jacob
יַעֲקֹב֙ya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
ways
כִּדְרָכָ֔יוkid.ra.Khav
H1870
a road (as trodden) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
doings
כְּמַעֲלָלָ֖יוke.ma.'a.la.Lav
H4611
an act (good or bad) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
recompense
יָשִׁ֥יבya.Shiv
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Micah 6:2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and h…
Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take…
Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no trut…
Isaiah 3:11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
Isaiah 8:7-8 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory:…
Isaiah 10:12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit…
Jeremiah 3:8-11 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet he…
Jeremiah 25:31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will gi…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hosea 12:1-6
In these verses,
I. Ephraim is convicted of folly, in staying himself upon Egypt and Assyria, when he was in straits (Hos 12:1): Ephraim feeds on wind, that is, feeds himself with vain hopes of assistance from man, when he is at variance with God; and, when he meets with disappointments, he still pursues the same game, and greedily pants and follows after the east wind, which he cannot catch holy of, nor, if he could, would it be nourishing, nay, would be noxious. We say of the wind in the east, It is good neither for man nor beast. It was said (Hos 8:7), He sows the wind; and as he sows so he reaps (He reaps the whirlwind); and as he reaps so he feeds - He feeds on the wind, the east wind.…
controversy with Judah-- (Hos 4:1; Mic 6:2). Judah, under Ahaz, had fallen into idolatry (Kg2 16:3, &c.).
Jacob--that is, the ten tribes. If Judah, the favored portion of the nation, shall not be spared, much less degenerate Israel.
Adam Clarke on Hosea 12:2
The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah - The rest of the prophecy belongs both to Judah and Israel. He reproaches both with their ingratitude, and threatens them with God's anger. In order to make their infidelity the more hateful, and their malice the more sensible, he opposes to them the righteousness, obedience, and piety of their father Jacob. He recalls to their minds the benefits they had received since they returned from Egypt. He speaks afterwards of their kings; and how, in their ingratitude, they refused to have him for their monarch. Having mentioned this fact, he subjoins reflections, exhortations, invectives, and threatenings, and continues this subject in this and the two…
The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah,.... The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as well as the ten tribes; for though they had ruled with God, and had been faithful with the saints in the first times of the apostasy of Israel; yet afterwards they sadly degenerated, and fell into idolatry likewise, particularly in the time of Ahaz, in which Hosea prophesied; and therefore the Lord had somewhat against them; nor would he spare them, but reprove them by the prophets, and rebuke them in his providences; bring them to his bar, and lay before them their evils, and threaten them with punishment in case of impenitence, as follows:
and will punish Jacob according to his ways; all the posterit…
The Church Fathers
The judgment therefore of the Lord with Judah: and a visitation upon Jacob. He will render to him according to his ways, and according to his inventions he will recompense him. In the womb he supplanted his brother: and in his strength he had success with the angel, and he prevailed over the angel, and was strengthened: he wept and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us. And the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial, therefore turn to thy God, keep mercy and judgment, and hope in thy God always. And the judgment of the Lord with Judah, that he may revenge Jacob, and his ways according to his inventions will render unto him. In the womb he supplanted his brother, and by his strength he had success with God, and he had power with the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with him. And the Lord of hosts will be his memorial, and thou Israel shalt be turned to thy God, keep mercy and judgment, and approach thy God always. Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily multiplieth lies and desolation: and they have made a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. Now all their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their practices I will cast them forth out of my house: I will love them no more, all their princes are revolters. However, he calls visitation scourges and punishments, so that he who has restored Ephraim, what he deserved, may also restore Judah, who is also of the seed of Jacob, according to its ways and inventions, who has not only been deceived by chance error, and fell by human frailty; but he sought and found in what he should sin and fall. However, he tells how much good Judah, that is, Jacob, has received, and the son is named in the father, and the ancient history is remembered, so that the mercy of God towards Jacob and his hardness against the Lord may also be known. While he was still in Rebecca's womb, he supplanted his brother Esau (Gen. 25), not by his own strength, which he could not feel, but by the mercy of God, who knows and loves those whom he has predestined. And he did not only supplant his brother in the womb; but he also wrestled with an angel in his strength, when he fought against the angel all night by the stream (Gen. 32). And because he…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Jacob — One who follows on another’s heels; supplanter, (Gen. 25:26; 27:36; Hos. 12:2-4), the second born of the twin sons of Isaac by Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his father was…
Judgment · ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS — ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS
Punishment Of The Wicked, The · On account of their: Evil ways and doings — On account of their: Evil ways and doings
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Hosea 12:2
2. The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.
2. Contentio Jehovae cum Jehudah, et ad visitandum super Jacob: secundum vias ejus, secundum opera ejus rependet ei.
It may seem strange that the Prophet should now say, that God had a controversy with Judah; for he had before said, that Judah stood faithful with the saints. It seems indeed inconsistent, that God should litigate with the Jews, and yet declare them to be upright and separate them from the perfidious and ungodly. What then does this mean? The Prophet, as we have said, spake comparatively of the tribe of Judah, when he said t…
(Heb. Bib. Hosea 12:1). "Ephraim has surrounded me with lying, and the house of Israel with deceit: and Judah is moreover unbridled against God, and against the faithful Holy One. Hos 12:1 (Heb. Bib. 2). Ephraim grazeth wind, and hunteth after the east: all the day it multiplies lying and desolation, and they make a covenant with Asshur, and oil is carried to Egypt. Hos 12:2. And Jehovah has a controversy with Judah, and to perform a visitation upon Jacob, according to his ways: according to his works will He repay him." In the name of Jehovah, the prophet raises a charge against Israel once more. Lying and deceit are the terms which he applies, not so much to the idolatry which they preferr…
alliance with Assyria: In order to save his land, Hoshea became a vassal of King Shalmaneser of Assyria (2 Kgs 17:3). Hoshea soon rebelled against Shalmaneser by withholding tribute and turned to King So of Egypt for support (2 Kgs 17:4). • east wind: See study note on Job 38:24-27.
Rashi on Hosea 12:2
joins the wind Heb. רֹעֵה. An expression of רֵעַ, a friend. He joins words of the wind, viz. idolatry. and oil Their oil they carry to Egypt to give a bribe to Egypt to aid them.
