God’s Case against Jacob’s Heirs
1Ephraim chases the wind c
and pursues the east wind. d
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a covenant with Assyria, e
and olive oil is carried to Egypt. f
2 The LORD also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his conduct; g
he will repay him based on his actions.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, h
and as an adult he wrestled with God. i
4 Jacob struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor. j
He found him at Bethel, k
and there he spoke with him. ,l
5 The LORD is the God of Armies;
the LORD is his name. m
6 But you must return to your God. n
Maintain love and justice, o
and always put your hope in God. p
7 A merchant loves to extort q
with dishonest scales in his hands. r
8 But Ephraim thinks,
“How rich I have become; s
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any iniquity in me t
that I can be punished for! ”
Judgment on Apostate Israel
9 I have been the LORD your God
ever since the land of Egypt. u
I will make you live in tents again, v
as in the festival days.
10 I will speak through the prophets w
and grant many visions;
I will give parables through the prophets. x
11 Since Gilead is full of evil, y
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal; z
even their altars will be like piles of rocks a
on the furrows of a field.
Further Indictment of Jacob’s Heirs
12 Jacob fled to the territory of Aram. b
Israel worked to earn a wife; c
he tended flocks for a wife. d
13 The LORD brought Israel from Egypt by a prophet, e
and Israel was tended by a prophet.
14 Ephraim has provoked bitter anger, f
so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him g
and repay him for his contempt. h
12:3–6. The problem of deception is traced back to Israel’s ancient forefather, the patriarch Jacob. Genesis 25:21–26 describes the birth of the twins Jacob and Esau as the beginning of Jacob’s deceptive action. Esau was born first, but Jacob “grasped” the heal of Esau (12:3a), an act that might be interpreted as a sign that Jacob wanted to be the firstborn child. Thus the second child was named Jacob (“Heel Grasper”), a name that is also a pun on the Hebrew word meaning “deceiver.” Later Jacob’s deceptive ways were fully revealed when he deceived his father by claiming that he was Esau; thus, he was able to steal the blessing of his father (Gn 27:35–36).
12:7–10. Additional acts of deception are cataloged against Israelite merchants to prove the guilt of the nation (12:7). As Amos also mentions (Am 8:4–6), merchants in Israel are using two sets of weights (a light weight when they sell grain and a heavy weight when they buy grain) on their scales to deceive and defraud their customers of what they are justly owed. Thus these individuals have become quite wealthy and arrogantly flaunt their riches (12:8). The wealthy feel they are above the law of the land and will never be held accountable for their sins because they are able to bribe judges and buy their way out of any difficult situation. Thus, their hopes for the future are based on their confident trust in their money, not in God.
12:11–14. The people choose to follow the ways of deception in their worship at Gilgal (12:11), a place famous for various acts that God has rejected (Hs 4:15; 6:8; 9:15). Their sacrifices there do not impress God, for he will soon allow this altar to become a useless pile of rocks.