Hosea 11 · Verse 12

Hosea 11:12

Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.
Hosea 11:12, King James Version

Hosea 11:12 in other translations

BSBEphraim surrounds Me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.
WEBEphraim surrounds me with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit. Judah still strays from God, and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
ASVEphraim compasseth me about with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the Holy One.
YLTCompassed Me with feigning hath Ephraim, And with deceit the house of Israel. And Judah again is ruling with God, And with the Holy Ones is faithful!
DARBYEphraim encompasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah yet walketh with God, and with the holy things of truth.
BBEThe deceit of Ephraim and the false words of Israel are about me on every side....
WebsterEphraim encompasseth me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

What does Hosea 11:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
12. Maurer joins this verse with the twelfth chapter. But as this verse praises Judah, whereas Ho 12:2 censures him, it must belong rather to the eleventh chapter and a new prophecy begins at the twelfth chapter. To avoid this, Maurer translates this verse as a censure, "Judah wanders with God," that is, though having the true God, he wanders after false gods. ruleth with God--to serve God is to reign. Ephraim wished to rule without God (compare 1Co 4:8); nay, even, in order to rule, cast off God's worship [Rivetus]. In Judah was the legitimate succession of kings and priests. with the saints--the holy priests and Levites [Rivetus]. With the fathers and prophets who handed down the pure worship of God. Israel's apostasy is the more culpable, as he had before him the good example of Judah, which he set at naught. The parallelism ("with God") favors Margin, "With THE Most Holy One."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies - I think this verse does not well unite with the above; it belongs to another subject, and should begin the following chapter, as in the Hebrew. Judah yet ruleth with God - There is an allusion here to Gen 32:24, where Jacob having "wrestled with the Angel," had his name changed to Israel, one that rules with God. That glory the Israelites had lost by their idolatry; but Judah still retained the true worship, and alone deserved the name of Israel. Bp. Newcome translates this clause thus: - "But hereafter they shall come down a people of God, even a faithful people of saints." Even allowing this to be the most correct view of the original, I do not see what we gain by this change.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hosea 11:8-12

God is slow to anger, and is loth to abandon a people to utter ruin, who have been called by his name. When God was to give a sacrifice for sin, and a Saviour for sinners, he spared not his own Son, that he might spare us. This is the language of the day of his patience; but when men sin that away, then the great day of his wrath comes. Man's compassions are nothing in comparison with the tender mercies of our God…

Read the full comment on Hosea 11:8-12 →

Hosea 11:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

סְבָבֻ֤נִיse.va.Vu.nithey have surrounded meH5437
בְכַ֙חַשׁ֙ve.Kha.chashwith lyingH3585
אֶפְרַ֔יִם'ef.Ra.yimEphraimH669
וּבְמִרְמָ֖הu.ve.mir.Mahand with deceitH4820
בֵּ֣יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
וִֽיהוּדָ֗הvi.hu.Dahand JudahH3063
עֹ֥ד'odstillH5750
רָד֙radit has roamedH7300
עִם\־'im-withH5973
אֵ֔ל'ElGodH410
וְעִם\־ve.'im-and withH5973
קְדוֹשִׁ֖יםke.do.Shim[the] holy [one<s>]H6918
נֶאֱמָֽן\׃ne.'e.ManfaithfulH539

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Hosea 11:12

  • Revelation 3:21

    To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

  • Isaiah 29:13

    Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

  • Revelation 1:6

    And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

  • Isaiah 44:20

    He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

  • 1 Corinthians 6:2

    Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

  • Hosea 12:7

    He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

  • 2 Chronicles 29:1-32

    Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, …

  • Micah 6:12

    For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

  • Revelation 5:10

    And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

  • Psalms 78:36

    Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.

  • Genesis 32:28

    And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

  • 2 Kings 18:4-7

    He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
compasseth.
7:16; 12:1,7; Ps 78:36; Isa 29:13; 44:20; 59:3,4; Mic 6:12
Judah.
4:15; 2Ki 18:4-7; 2Ch 29:1-32:33
ruleth.
Ge 32:28; 1Co 6:2; Re 1:6; 3:21; 5:10
saints. or, most holy.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Hosea 11:11

    They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses, saith the Lord.

  • Hosea 11:12

    Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.

Read all of Hosea 11

Hosea 11:12 in other languages

Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Circumdedit me in negatione Ephraim, et in dolo domus Israël; Judas autem testis descendit cum Deo, et cum sanctis fidelis.