HOS 12:3 Parallel Verse View

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Original HOS 12:4: Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX (HOS 12:4) Ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ ἐπτέρνισε τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν κόποις αὐτοῦ ἐνίσχυσε πρὸς Θεόν.
(En taʸ koilia epternise ton adelfon autou, kai en kopois autou enisⱪuse pros Theon.)

BrTr (HOS 12:4) He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his labours he had power with God.

ULT In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
⇔ and in his manhood he struggled with God.

UST When their ancestor Jacob was still in his mother’s womb, he grabbed the heel of his brother Esau because he wanted to be the firstborn.
⇔ When Jacob grew up and became strong, he wrestled with God.

BSB In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,
⇔ and in his vigor he wrestled with God.

OEB In the womb he supplanted his brother,
⇔ in manhood he wrestled with God,

WEBBE In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
⇔ and in his manhood he contended with God.

NET In the womb he attacked his brother;
⇔ in his manly vigor he struggled with God.

LSV In the womb he took his brother by the heel,
And by his strength he was a prince with God,

FBV Even in the womb he fought with his brother;[fn] when he became a man he fought with God.

12:3 Literally, “he grasped his brother's heel.”

T4T When Jacob was in his mother’s womb, he grabbed his brother Esau’s heel because he wanted to be born first.
⇔ When Jacob grew up, he wrestled with God.

LEB • In the womb he deceived his brother,
• and in his manhood he struggled with God.

BBE In the body of his mother he took his brother by the foot, and in his strength he was fighting with God;

Moff (HOS 12:3a) “Within the womb Jacob supplanted his brother;

Moff (HOS 12:3b) In manhood he strove with God,

JPS (HOS 12:4) (12-5) So he strove with an angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him; at Beth-el he would find him, and there he would speak with us;

ASV In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God:

DRA In the womb he supplanted his brother: and by his strength he had success with an angel.

YLT In the womb he took his brother by the heel, And by his strength he was a prince with God,

Drby He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he wrestled with [fn]God.

12.3 Elohim

RV In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God:

SLT In the belly he circumvented his brother, and by his strength he was a leader with God.

Wbstr He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:

KJB-1769 ¶ He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:[fn]

12.3 had…: Heb. was a prince, or, behaved himself princely

KJB-1611 ¶ Hee tooke his brother by the heele in the wombe, and by his strength he [fn]had power with God.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

12:3 Heb. was a prince, or behaued himselfe princely

Bshps He toke his brother by the heele when he was yet in his mothers wombe, and in his strength he wrestled with God:
(He took his brother by the heel when he was yet in his mothers womb, and in his strength he wrestled with God:)

Gnva Hee tooke his brother by the heele in the wombe, and by his strength he had power with God,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Cvdl He toke his brother by the hele, when he was yet in his mothers wombe: and in his strength he wrestled with God.
(He took his brother by the heel, when he was yet in his mothers womb: and in his strength he wrestled with God.)

Wycl In the wombe he supplauntide his brother, and in his strengthe he was dressid with the aungel.
(In the womb he supplanted his brother, and in his strength he was dressed with the angel.)

Luth (HOS 12:4) Ja (sagen sie), er hat im Mutterleibe seinen Bruder untertreten und von allen Kräften mit GOtt gekämpfet.
(Yes (say they/she/them), he has in_the womb his brother undercut and from all/everyone strength/power with God fought.)

ClVg In utero supplantavit fratrem suum, et in fortitudine sua directus est cum angelo.
(In the_womb tripped_up brother his_own, and in/into/on with_courage his_own directed it_is when/with messenger/angel.)

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 11:12–12:14: Israel is deceitful and refuses to return to the LORD

In this section, the LORD accuses both Israel and Judah of wrongdoing, but then focuses on the wicked behavior of Israel (11:12–12:1). Hosea continues to describe Israel, giving examples from the life of their ancestor Jacob to show that Israel followed his bad behavior (12:2–8). The LORD then reminded the people how they had responded wickedly when he led them in the past (12:9–11). Hosea concludes this section by comparing Jacob’s care of sheep in Aram with the LORD’s care of his people through a prophet or prophets.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Israel’s Sin (NIV)

Israel and Judah Are Condemned (GNT)

Paragraph 12:2–6

In this paragraph and also in 12:12, Hosea gives examples from the life of Jacob. Scholars do not agree on the purpose of the examples. There are two main views:

These examples show the similarity between Jacob and his descendants. Jacob set a bad example and his descendants followed it.
These examples show the contrast between Jacob and his descendants. Jacob set a good example but his descendants did not follow it.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Hosea 12:2 says that the LORD will punish Jacob according to his ways. Examples from Jacob’s life immediately follow in 12:3. It is reasonable to assume that these are examples of behavior or character traits that deserve punishment. Most versions and commentaries support this interpretation.A number of versions make interpretation (1) explicit, especially in 12:3. See the comments on that verse for examples. No versions make interpretation (2) explicit. Commentaries that favor interpretation (1) include Davies, Hubbard, Dearman, Garrett, Macintosh, and McComiskey. Some who favor interpretation (2) are Stuart, Keil, and Wood. For more details, see the following notes on these verses.

12:3a–4b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

^3a In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel;

^3band in his vigor he wrestled with God.

^4aYes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed;

^4b he wept and sought His favor;

Lines 3a and 3b may be a figure of speech that indicates completeness. Here it describes Jacob’s entire life. He struggled to overcome others from infancy to adulthood.McComiskey (page 201). Lines 4a and 4b give more details about Jacob’s behavior.It is possible that these lines are a chiasm. If so, then lines 3a and 4b may refer to Jacob and his brother Esau. Lines 3b and 4a refer to Jacob and God. See Holladay, W. L. in ‘Chiasmus, the key to Hosea xii 3–6’ VT 16 (1966), pp. 53–64. See also Garrett (pages 238–241). Dearman (pages 304–305) agrees that a chiasm is possible. Andersen and Freedman (pages 608–614) agree that 12:4b may refer to Jacob and Esau. This view parallels the account of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33:4–10. However, it is not recommended because of lack of representation in versions.

12:3a

In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,

When Jacob was still in his mother’s womb, he held on to his brother’s heel.
Even before Jacob was born, he struggled with his brother Esau.

In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel: In this clause, Hosea refers to Genesis 25:26, which describes the birth of Jacob and his twin brother Esau. Esau came out first, then Jacob. Jacob was holding Esau’s heel when he was born.

The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as “he grasped…heel” looks and sounds like the name “Jacob.” Genesis 25:26 indicates that he was named “Jacob” for this reason.

This Hebrew word has two main meanings. It can mean “he took by the heel.” It can also mean “he attacked/supplanted.”TWOT (#1676) gives the literal meaning as “take by the heel” and the figurative meaning as “supplant.” In Genesis 27:36, Esau makes the second meaning explicit. Esau suggests that Jacob is rightly named because twice he deceived/supplanted him. Hosea may be using the Hebrew word as a pun or wordplay on Jacob’s name in which both meanings are intended.Davies (page 272), Hubbard (page 203), and Dearman (pages 302–304). Either of the following translation options is acceptable:

Make the first meaning explicit. For example:
In the womb he took his brother by the heel (ESV)
Make the second meaning explicit. For example:
In the womb he tried to supplant his brother (NRSV)
In the womb he attacked his brother (NET)

The meaning lines in the Display will each give one of these options.

12:3b

and in his vigor he wrestled with God.

And when he was an adult, he fought against God.
And when he was a grown man, he used his strength to struggle with God.

and in his vigor he wrestled with God: In 3b and 4a, Hosea refers to Genesis 32:28. That verse says that Jacob has struggled with God and with men and has overcome.

and in his vigor: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as and in his vigor means “physical power” in this context.HALOT (electronic edition, page 22) I. The Hebrew word resembles the word awn “wickedness.” Hosea may have chosen this word to create a pun or wordplay that associates Jacob’s manhood with wickedness. See Macintosh (page 481), Davies (page 273), Andersen and Freedman (page 607), Garrett (pages 236–239), and Dearman (pages 302–304). Here this word implies both age and strength.McComiskey (page 201) gives the paraphrase ‘In the strength of his manhood.’ He comments that the pairing of this word with ‘in the womb’ makes it likely that it shares the function of designating a period of time in Jacob’s life. Most versions make Jacob’s adult age explicit in some way but leave “strength” implicit. Here are some examples:

in maturity he wrestled against God (NJB)

in his manhood he strove with God (RSV)

when Jacob grew up, he fought against God (GNT)

In some languages, it may be necessary to make the meaning “strength” explicit. For example:

When he became a man, he used his strength to strive with God

he wrestled with God: The Hebrew word for he wrestled means “to strive, contend.”HALOT (electronic edition, page 1354) śarah I “to strive, contend.” The Hebrew word is the basis of the name “Israel,” which means “he who contends with God.” Macintosh (page 482), Hubbard (page 203), Davies (page 272), and Stuart (pages 190–191). The same word is repeated in 12:4 as “struggled,” where it refers to the same event. See also Genesis 32:28. See the previous comment for examples of other ways to translate this clause.

God: In this clause the Hebrew word for God is elohim and not Yahweh. Some versions translate elohim as God instead of “LORD.” Use your general term for God here.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns

עָקַ֣ב אֶת אָחִ֑י⁠ו

grasped_~_heel DOM his/its=brother

The pronoun he refers to Jacob, the ancestor of the people of Israel. It may be helpful to clarify this for your readers. Alternate translation: [Jacob took his brother by the heel]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

בַּ⁠בֶּ֖טֶן עָקַ֣ב אֶת אָחִ֑י⁠ו

in,womb grasped_~_heel DOM his/its=brother

This refers to the account of Jacob’s birth described in Genesis 25:26, when he came out of the womb grasping the heel of his twin brother Esau. You could include this information in a footnote if that would be helpful to your readers.

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

וּ⁠בְ⁠אוֹנ֖⁠וֹ

and,in,strength_of,his

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of manhood, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [and in his adult life]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

שָׂרָ֥ה אֶת־אֱלֹהִֽים

struggled DOM ʼElohīm

This and the first line of the next verse refer to the account described in Genesis 32:22-32, when Jacob wrestled with an angel who turned out to be God. You could include this information in a footnote if that would be helpful to your readers.

Parallel HOS 12:3

Section 11:12–12:14: Israel is deceitful and refuses to return to the LORD

Paragraph 12:2–6

12:3a–4b

12:3a

12:3b