Hosea 12:1

Ephraim feedeth on wind,.... Which will be no more profitable and beneficial to him than wind is to a man that opens his mouth, and fills himself with it: the phrase is expressive of labour in vain,

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.

HOSEA CHAPTER 12 Ephraim and Judah are both reproved, ,2. In consideration of God’ s former favours to Jacob they are exhorted to repent, . Ephraim’ s sins and ingratitude provoke God, . Ephraim feedeth on wind: it is a proverbial speech, denoting; the self-flattery of Ephraim, his supporting himself with hopes as unfit to sustain him, as the wind is to feed the body and nourish it; in his religious pretensions he did, hypocrite like, compass God with lies, and now in his civil concerns he compasseth himself with lies. Followeth after the east wind: in those countries the east winds were most vehement, dangerous, and blasting, ; a very apt emblem to represent the self-destroying course which Ephraim took, which, though yet he will not believe, shall ere long scorch, blast, rend, and tear him as the tempestuous east winds do the weaker and unfenced plants. He daily increaseth lies; by making new leagues, and fortifying himself with them against the menaces of God by his prophets, he increaseth friendships; but all of them will prove lies to him at last, like the wind he feeds on. The like you have ,13. And desolation: this is worse than merely to be disappointed by a lie; as before the east wind was hurtful and did him mischief, so here his purchased friendships shall hasten and increase his desolation. The league made with Sua, or So, king of Egypt, was accounted a conspiracy in Hoshea, and this brought Shalmaneser upon Israel, which war ended in Israel’ s ruin and final desolation. They do make a covenant with the Assyrians; with purpose to defeat the threats of God, and to secure themselves in their courses. Thus they sinfully confederate as before, 7:11 8:9; they forsake God’ s covenant, and trust not him, but make a covenant with enemies, and trust them. Oil is carried into Egypt; not common oil for trade, but rich and precious oils, presents and price to procure friendship there too, though forbidden, ,6 31:1.

Hosea 12:1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he daily increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt.Ver. 1. Ephraim feedeth on wind] Slender feeding; unless Ephraim were of the chameleon kind: quippe nec cor auro satiatur nec corpus aura. Wind fills, but feeds not, Isaiah 55:10. Ephraim had sowed the wind, Hosea 8:7, but to what profit? He that ministereth seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, would here, surely, neither give bread for food, nor multiply their seed sown, 2 Corinthians 9:10, but send them to the gods that they had chosen, and to their confederates whom they so relied upon, from whom they should reap the whirlwind. Wind, we know, bloweth up storms and tempests; so doth idolatry and creature confidence, the tempest of God’ s wrath that will never be blown over. And followeth after the east wind] Which if he catch, a great catch he is like to have of it. Eurus est ventus urens et exsiccans. The east wind is noted in Scripture for pernicious and harmful to fruits and herbs, Genesis 41:6 Ezekiel 7:10; Ezekiel 29:17 Hosea 13:15; violent it is also, and spareth not men, Jonah 4:8. The Seventy render it, καυσωνα, a burning blast, as they do the former words, Ephraim is an evil spirit, by a mistake of the points. Job speaketh of some that fill their bellies with the east wind; they think to do so, but it proves otherwise; they snuff up the wind with the wild ass, but it tumors them only, and proves pestilential. It is very dangerous for men to follow after their own conceits and counsels. It may be worse to them upon their deathbeds, when they are launching into the main of immortality, than any rough east wind ( Euroaquilo), or than any Euroclydon, that wind mentioned Acts 27:14, that hath its name from stirring up storms, and is by Pliny called navigantium pestis, the mariner’ s misery, una eurus notusque ruunt (Virg.). An empty body meeting with tempests will have much ado to bear up. If Ephraim first feed upon wind, and then fall under the east wind, it must needs go hard with him. The godly man, who is filled with all the fulness of God, Ephesians 3:19, shall have him for a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall, Isaiah 25:4. His prayer is that of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17:17, "Be not thou a terror unto me, O Lord: thou art my hope in the day of evil." If the wind be not got into the earth, and stir not there, storms and tempests abroad cannot make an earthquake; no more can afflictions, or death, a heart attack, where there is peace with God. Such a man’ s mind, immota manet, is as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed.

XII. (1) East wind.—Comp. Isaiah 27:8 and Job 27:21. On the latter passage Wetzstein remarks:—“This wind is more frequent in winter and early spring, when, if it continues long, the tender vegetation is parched up, and a year of famine follows. Both man and beast feel sickly while it prevails.” Hence, that which is unpleasant and revolting in life is compared by Orientals to the east wind. The idea expressed by the east wind here is the same as in Job 15:2, combining the notions of destructiveness and emptiness. The covenant with Assyria refers to the events of the reign of Hoshea. Covenants with Assyria, and presents to Egypt were to Hosea curses in disguise. (See Note on Hosea 7:11.)

CHAPTER XII The prophet, in very pointed terms, describes the unprofitableness and destruction attending vicious courses; particularly such as Ephraim pursued, who forsook God, and courted the alliance of idolatrous princes, 1. Judah is also reproved, 2. He is reminded of the extraordinary favour of God to his father Jacob, in giving him the birthright; and exhorted, after his example, to wrestle with God (the Angel of the covenant, the same unchangeable Jehovah) for a blessing; and to love mercy and execute justice, 3-6. Ephraim is accused of pursuing practices that are deceitful, although pretending to integrity, 7, 8. God then threatens to deprive this people of their possessions, 9, as they had rejected every means of reformation, 10, and given themselves up to gross impieties, 11. And, as an aggravation of their guilt, they are reminded from what humble beginnings they had been raised, 12, 13. The Divine judgments about to fall upon Israel are declared to be the result of great provocation, 14. NOTES ON CHAP. XII Verse 1. Ephraim feedeth on wind] He forms and follows empty and unstable counsels. Followeth after the east wind] They are not only empty, but dangerous and destructive. The east wind was, and still is, in all countries, a parching, wasting, injurious wind. He daily increaseth lies] He promises himself safety from foreign alliances. He "made a covenant with the Assyrians," and sent a subsidy of "oil to Egypt." The latter abandoned him; the former oppressed him.

1. wind … the east wind] Note the climax; the parching east wind combines the ideas of destructiveness and emptiness. Comp. Job 15:2; Job 27:21, and note on Hosea 13:15. lies and desolation] Rather, lies and violence. But the Septuagint reads, ‘lies and falsehoods’—more plausibly, as the other combination is unparalleled. a covenant with the Assyrians, &c.] Comp. Hosea 5:13, Hosea 7:11. Oil was one of the most precious natural products (Deuteronomy 8:8; Ezekiel 16:19; Ezekiel 27:17), and is mentioned as a present sent to ‘the king’ in Isaiah 57:9. Comp. on Hosea 7:11.

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind - The East wind in Palestine, coming from Arabia and the far East, over large tracts of sandy waste, is parching, scorching, destructive to

1. Feedeth on wind — Israel seeks sustenance where sustenance cannot be found (Hosea 8:7). Followeth after — See comment on “follow on” in Hosea 6:3.