--- title: "Hosea 12 - Study King James Bible with pooles english annotations on the holy bible" description: "Read Hosea 12 with pooles english annotations on the holy bible commentary. 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" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12" --- [ Read](/kjv/hosea/12)[ Commentary](/study/hosea/12)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/hosea/12) Audio 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. 2 The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.* 3 ¶ He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:* 4 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; 5 Even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD *is* his memorial. 6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually. 7 ¶ *He is* a merchant, the balances of deceit *are* in his hand: he loveth to oppress.** 8 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.** 9 And I *that am* the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast. 10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.* 11 *Is there* iniquity *in* Gilead? surely they are vanity: they sacrifice bullocks in Gilgal; yea, their altars *are* as heaps in the furrows of the fields. 12 And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept *sheep*. 13 And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. 14 Ephraim provoked *him* to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.** [Hosea 11](/study/hosea/11) [Hosea 13](/study/hosea/13) ## Commentary To verse 1 **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, [Psalms 48:7](/kjv/psalms/48/7); [Jonah 4:8](/kjv/jonah/4/8); 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 [Hosea 10:13](/kjv/hosea/10/13); [Isaiah 57:9](/kjv/isaiah/57/9),[Isaiah 57:13](/kjv/isaiah/57/13). **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, [Hosea 5:1](/kjv/hosea/5/1),[Hosea 5:3](/kjv/hosea/5/3); [Hosea 7:11](/kjv/hosea/7/11); [Hosea 8:9](/kjv/hosea/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, [Isaiah 30:2](/kjv/isaiah/30/2),[Isaiah 30:6](/kjv/isaiah/30/6); [Isaiah 31:1](/kjv/isaiah/31/1). ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12","name":"Hosea 12 - Study King James Bible with pooles english annotations on the holy bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Hosea 12 with pooles english annotations on the holy bible commentary. 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","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible","name":"pooles english annotations on the holy bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea","name":"Hosea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/pooles-english-annotations-on-the-holy-bible/hosea/12","name":"12"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```