Hosea 12:8
in Hosea 12And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become! I have found wealth for myself. In all my labors, they can find in me no iniquity that is sinful.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin.
KJV
And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
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This verse in Hosea 12
Commentary
10 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 Awakening5 voices
Riches are not the honours of the soul, are not peculiar to the best men, nor sure to us; and therefore let not the rich man glory in his riches, Jam. i. Fifthly, It is folly to think that growing rich in a sinful way makes us innocent, or will make us safe, or may make us easy, in that way; for the prosperity of fools deceives and destroys them.
It would certainly be destructive to himself; that cannot be otherwise which provokes God against him, and kindles the fire of his wrath. Therefore, (1.) He shall take away his forfeited life: He shall leave his blood upon him, that is, he shall not hold him guiltless, but bring upon him that death which is the wages of sin. His blood shall be upon his own head ( 2 Sam. i.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I am rich - Whatever is said, yet I get what I aim at. They shall find - Yet he hugs himself in the apprehension of close carriage of his affairs, so that no great crime can be found in him: none, that is sin, that is any great enormity.
And Ephraim said, yet I am become rich,....
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.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I am rich." Far better is poverty with honesty, than riches gained by sin. my labours--my gains by labor. they shall find none--that is, none shall find any. iniquity . . . that were sin--iniquity that would bring down the penalty of sin. Ephraim argues, My success in my labors proves that I am not a guilty sinner as the prophets assert.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
I am become rich - They boasted in their riches, notwithstanding the unjust manner in which they were acquired.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And Ephraim said, Yet am I become rich - Literally, “I am simply rich.” As if he said, “the only result of all this, with which the prophets charge me, is that ‘I am become rich:’ and since God thus prospers me, it is a sure proof that he is not displeased with me, that ‘no iniquity’ can be ‘found in me;’” the ordinary practical argument of men, as long as God withholds His punishments, that their ways cannot be so displeasing to Him. With the people of this world, with its politicians, in trade, it is the one decisive argument: “I was in the right, for I succeeded.” “It was a good speculation, for he gained thousands.” “it was good policy, for, see its fruits. An answer, at which the pagan laughed, “the people hisses me, but I, I, safe at home, applaud myself, when the coin jingles in my chest” . The pagan ridiculed it; Christians enact it. But in truth, the fact that God does not punish, is often the evidence of His extremest displeasure. They shall find none iniquity in me, that were sin - The merchants of Ephraim continue their protest; “in all the toil of my hands, all my buying and selling, my bargains, contracts, they can bring no iniquity home to me,” and then, in a tone of simple innocence, they add, ‘that’ were ‘sin,’ as though they ‘could’ not do, what to do were sin. None suspect themselves less, than those intent on gain. The evil customs of other traders, the habits of trade, the seeming necessity for some frauds, the conventional nature of others, the minuteness of others, with their frequent repetition, blind the soul, until it sees no sin, while, with every smallest sale, “they sell their own souls into the bargain” .
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he has said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶפְרַ֔יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| אַ֣ךְ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| עָשַׁ֔רְתִּי | ʾasharti | I have become rich | H6238 → | |
| מָצָ֥אתִי | matzati | I have found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| א֖וֹן | ʾon | wealth | H202 → | |
| לִ֑י | li | for myself | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְגִיעַ֕י | yegiai | toil<s> my | H3018 → | |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמְצְאוּ־ | yimtzeu- | people will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| לִ֖י | li | to me | ||
| עָוֹ֥ן | ʾavon | iniquity | H5771 → | 233 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| חֵֽטְא׃ | chet' | [is] sin | H2399 → |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he has said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֶפְרַ֔יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
אַ֣ךְsurely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
עָשַׁ֔רְתִּיI have become rich
ʾashartiH6238 →
מָצָ֥אתִיI have found
matzatiH4672 →455 times
א֖וֹןwealth
ʾonH202 →
לִ֑יfor myself
li
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יְגִיעַ֕יtoil<s> my
yegiaiH3018 →
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִמְצְאוּ־people will find
yimtzeu-H4672 →455 times
לִ֖יto me
li
עָוֹ֥ןiniquity
ʾavonH5771 →233 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
חֵֽטְא׃[is] sin
chet'H2399 →
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
Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:7
One pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
- Romans 7:24
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
- Revelation 2:9
I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
- Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
- Proverbs 13:7
Through
Proverbs 30:12There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.
it leads to
- Luke 18:11
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- Luke 18:11
Through
Psalms 62:10Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- 1 Timothy 6:17
Through
Deuteronomy 8:17You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:4
When the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say in your heart, “Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” Rather, the LORD…
- Deuteronomy 9:4
Where this verse is studied
About Hosea
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.