HOS 12:4 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) He struggled with the messenger and prevailed.
⇔ He wept and begged for his favour.
⇔ He found Yahweh at Beyt-El
⇔ and he spoke with us there.

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 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 He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his labours he had power with God.

ULT He struggled with the angel and prevailed.
⇔ He wept and begged for his favor.
⇔ He found him at Bethel;
⇔ and there he spoke with us.

UST When the angel appeared to him, he struggled with him and won.
⇔ Jacob cried out to the angel and begged him to bless him.
⇔ Jacob found Yahweh at Bethel;
⇔ it was there that Yahweh spoke with him.

BSB Yes, he struggled with the angel[fn] and prevailed;
⇔ he wept and sought His favor
⇔ he found Him at Bethel
⇔ and spoke with Him there[fn]—

12:4 Or Angel

12:4 LXX and Syriac; MT and there He spoke with us

OEB He wrestled with the angel and prevailed,
⇔ he wept and sought his blessing.
⇔ At Bethel the Lord found him,
⇔ and there he spoke with us.

WEBBE Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed;
⇔ he wept, and made supplication to him.
⇔ He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us—

WMBB (Same as above)

NET He struggled with an angel and prevailed;
⇔ he wept and begged for his favor.
⇔ He found God at Bethel,
⇔ and there he spoke with him!

LSV Indeed, he is a prince to the Messenger,
And he overcomes [by] weeping,
And he makes supplication to Him,
At Bethel He finds him,
And there He speaks with us,

FBV He fought with the angel, and he won. He wept, and begged him for a blessing. Jacob found God at Bethel, and spoke with him there—

T4T He struggled with the one who had appeared to him in the form of an angel, and Jacob defeated him,
⇔ but then he cried and asked the angel to bless him.
⇔ Later, God came to Jacob at Bethel
⇔ and talked with him there.

LEB • He struggled with the angel and prevailed; he pleaded for his mercy.
• He met him at Bethel,
• and there he spoke with him.[fn]

12:1 Hebrew “us”

BBE He had a fight with the angel and overcame him; he made request for grace to him with weeping; he came face to face with him in Beth-el and there his words came to him;

Moff strove with the Angel and prevailed;
⇔ he wept and entreated Him;
⇔ he met Him at Bethel,
⇔ and there He said to him

JPS (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 yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us,

DRA And he prevailed over the angel, and was strengthened: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us.

YLT Yea, he is a prince unto the Messenger, And he overcometh [by] weeping, And he maketh supplication to Him, At Bethel He doth find him, And there He doth speak with us,

Drby Yea, he wrestled with the Angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us,

RV yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us;

SLT And he will be a leader to the messenger, and he will prevail: he wept, and he will make supplication to him: in the house of God he will find him, and there he will speak with him.

Wbstr Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spoke with us;

KJB-1769 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us;

KJB-1611 Yea, he had power ouer the Angel and preuailed: hee wept and made supplication vnto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with vs.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps He stroue with the angel and gat the victorie, he wept and prayed to him: he founde him at Bethel, and there he spake with vs.
(He strove with the angel and gat the victory, he wept and prayed to him: he found him at Bethel, and there he spake with us.)

Gnva And had power ouer the Angel, and preuailed: he wept and praied vnto him: he founde him in Beth-el, and there he spake with vs.
(And had power over the Angel, and prevailed: he wept and prayed unto him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us. )

Cvdl He stroue with the Angel, and gat the victory: so that he prayde and desyred him. He fande him at Bethel, & there he talked wt vs.
(He strove with the Angel, and gat the victory: so that he prayed and desired him. He found him at Bethel, and there he talked with us.)

Wycl And he was strong to the aungel, and was coumfortid; he wepte, and preiede hym; in Bethel he foond hym, and there he spak with vs.
(And he was strong to the angel, and was comforted; he wept, and prayed him; in Bethel he found him, and there he spake with us.)

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

ClVg Et invaluit ad angelum, et confortatus est; flevit, et rogavit eum. In Bethel invenit eum, et ibi locutus est nobiscum.
(And invaluit to a_messenger/angel, and confortatus it_is; cried, and rogavit him. In Bethel he_found him, and there spoke it_is with_us. )

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.

12:4a

Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed;

He fought against an angel and defeated him.
Yes, he wrestled with the angel of God and won.

Yes, he struggled with the angel and prevailed: Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. (NLT)

he fought against an angel and won (GNT)

he struggled: The Hebrew word means “persist” or “persevere.” It is similar to the word that the BSB translates as “wrestled” in 12:3b.A majority of commentators think the Hebrew verb here is a form of the word śarah, which is the word in the phrase “he contended with God” in 12:3. See Patterson and Hill (page 73). Alternative suggestions are that it is a form of the word sarar “rule” or śor “be dominant.” See Davies (page 274) and Dearman (page 304).

with the angel: The Hebrew word for with is a preposition that means “with” or “against.”BDB (#413) 4. Most ancient and modern versions and some commentators support this understanding. See Garrett (pages 238–141), Stuart (page 191), McComiskey (page 201), and Wood (page 216). A second interpretation is that here ʾel may be the word “God” rather than a preposition. The meaning might be that God or the angel of God prevailed. See Andersen and Freedman (page 608), Davies (page 274), Hubbard (page 203), and Macintosh (page 483). However, this second interpretation is not recommended. It lacks support from Genesis 32:25 and most versions. The Hebrew word for angel is made explicit here, although it does not occur in Genesis 32.

prevailed: In Hebrew, this word means to “overcome” or “be victor.”BDB (#3201) 2.

12:4b

he wept and sought His favor;

Jacob wept and pleaded for him to be gracious.
Then with tears he asked the angel to bless him.

he wept and sought His favor: The pronoun referents in this clause are left implicit in Hebrew.Either Jacob wept and begged the angel for his favor or the angel wept and begged Jacob for his favor. The clause probably refers back to Genesis 32:26. In that verse, Jacob asked the angel to bless him.This is the majority view of modern commentators and versions. It is favored by Macintosh, Wood, McComiskey, Hubbard, Davies, Stuart, Garrett, Dearman, and Keil. This is also the most natural way to understand most modern versions. An alternative view is that the angel wept and asked Jacob to let him go. It is favored by Andersen and Freedman and by rabbinic commentators Rashi, ibn Ezra and Kimchi, cited in Macintosh (page 485). The alternative view is not discussed in the notes because of a lack of representation in versions.

12:4c

he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there—

At Bethel, he met with God, and God spoke with us^(incl) there.
At Bethel, Jacob met with God, and it was there that God spoke with us^(incl), his descendants.

he found Him at Bethel and spoke with Him there: In this sentence, Hosea probably refers back to the events found in Genesis 35:1–15. There are no explicit pronoun referents, so it is not clear who found whom or who talked with whom at Bethel.

he found Him at Bethel: There are two ways to interpret the referents of he and Him:

Jacob found God at Bethel. For example:
At Bethel he met God (NAB) (BSB, ESV, GW, NAB, NASB, NET, NJPS, NLT, NRSV)
God found Jacob at Bethel. For example:
God met him at Bethel (REB) (GNT, NCV, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. According to Genesis 35:2 Jacob told his household that they were going to Bethel, and that he planned to build an altar there to God. It is there that God spoke to him and promised to make him into the mighty nation of Israel.

Bethel: Elsewhere, Hosea refers to Bethel as Beth Aven “house of wickedness.” Here, however, Hosea uses the actual name of Bethel.

and spoke with Him there: There is a textual issue here concerning the pronoun that the BSB translates as Him:

The Masoretic Text has “he spoke with us.”HOTTP suggests following this option, but gives it a C (“uncertain”) rating. For example:
and there God spoke with us— (ESV) (CEV, ESV, KJV, NASB, NJB)
The Syriac Peshitta and some LXX traditions have “he spoke with him.” For example:
And there he spoke with him (NET) (BSB, GNT, GW, NCV, NET, NIV, NJPS, NLT, NRSV, REB)

The Display will follow option (1). There is no evidence of an error in the MT. Hosea may have used the inclusive pronoun “us” to indicate that God’s promises to Jacob in Genesis 35:9–12 also applied to himself and his fellow-Israelites, all of whom were descendants of Jacob.Keil (page 96), Andersen and Freedman (page 614), Patterson and Hill (page 73), Davies (page 276), and Macintosh (page 485).

However, you may also follow option (2). This option better fits the wording of the historical context in Genesis 35. In that chapter, God speaks to “him,” not to “us.”

Parallel HOS 12:4

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

Paragraph 12:2–6

12:4a

12:4b

12:4c