Hosea 12:7
in Hosea 12A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
KJV
He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
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This verse in Hosea 12
Commentary
7 notes on this verse"Canaan in his hand deceitful balance, he loved calumny, and Ephraim said: Nevertheless, I have become rich, I have found myself an idol, all my labors will not find me the iniquity which I have sinned." LXX: "Canaan in his hand is the weight of iniquity, he loved to oppress through power, and Ephraim said: But I have become rich, I have found rest for myself, all his labors will not find him, for the iniquities in which he sinned."
This site's exposition
keep mercy and judgment
on Hosea 12:6-8
Therefore turn thou to thy God applies Jacob's own history directly to his descendants, keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually naming the very virtues Jacob learned through decades of exile and struggle. Verse 7 turns to Ephraim as a merchant with balances of deceit, loving to oppress, the patriarch's own early cunning (his name meaning supplanter) resurfacing in the nation's commerce, and Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich answers every accusation with self-justification, wealth mistaken for innocence, in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin standing as the boast the rest of the book answers.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He is a merchant,.... Here is a change of person from "thou" to "he", from Judah to Ephraim, who is said to be a "merchant"; and if that was all, there is nothing worthy of dispraise in it; but he was a cheating merchant, a fraudulent dealer, as appears by what follows: or he is Canaan, or a Canaanite (y); more like a descendant of Canaan, by his manners, than a descendant of Jacob.
Here observe, (1.) What the sin is wherewith he is charged: He is a merchant. The margin reads it as a proper name, He is Canaan, or a Canaanite, unworthy to be denominated from Jacob and Israel, and worthy to be cast out with a curse from this good land, as the Canaanites were.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He 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 covetousness manifoldly grinds the poor.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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 Isa 23:11, Margin), the greatest reproach to Israel, who despised Canaan.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
He 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.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּנַ֗עַן | kenaan | Canaan | H3667 → | |
| בְּיָד֛וֹ | beyado | [who are] in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מֹאזְנֵ֥י | moznei | scales of | H3976 → | |
| מִרְמָ֖ה | mirmah | deceit | H4820 → | |
| לַעֲשֹׁ֥ק | laashok | to defraud | H6231 → | |
| אָהֵֽב׃ | ʾahev | he loves | H157 → | 211 times |
כְּנַ֗עַןCanaan
kenaanH3667 →
בְּיָד֛וֹ[who are] in hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
מֹאזְנֵ֥יscales of
mozneiH3976 →
מִרְמָ֖הdeceit
mirmahH4820 →
לַעֲשֹׁ֥קto defraud
laashokH6231 →
אָהֵֽב׃he loves
ʾahevH157 →211 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 11:1Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 25:13–16
You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.
- Proverbs 16:11
Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.
- Proverbs 20:23
Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.
- Leviticus 19:35–36
You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume.
- Proverbs 20:10
Differing weights and unequal measures—both are detestable to the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 25:13–16
Through
Micah 7:2The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
it leads to
- Psalms 12:1
Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
- Psalms 14:1–3
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Psalms 12:1
Through
Amos 4:1Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.”
it leads to
- Psalms 22:12
Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
- Psalms 22:12
Where this verse is studied
About Hosea
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 12:7-8; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.