Hos 12:3 | KingComments | STEP | In attention is drawn to three events in Jacob’s life. These serve as examples for the whole of Israel, the twelve tribes. They are his birth ( ), his ‘victory’ at Pniel ( ) and the cleansing of his house in Bethel ( ). The first example concerns his birth. Taking by the heel can mean cheating. It is an allusion to the name Jacob, which means ‘heels keeper’. The explanation can also be positive, when we see that Jacob was, so to speak, already in the womb of the mother busy to possess the birthright, of which it turns out later how little value his brother Esau attaches to it. Esau sells his birthright for a dish of lentil stew ( ). However deceitful Jacob may have been, he has always been interested in God’s blessing and appreciated it. And that is what the people lack. That is why we can see in the reference to Jacob’s birth an exhortation for the people to stretch out and dedicate themselves to the blessing God wants to give. But not in the manner of Jacob. Jacob often wanted to obtain God’s blessing in the wrong way, namely through his own effort. He had to learn that this is not the way it goes with God. Moreover, his own effort makes him struggle with people. That way of doing things has to be unlearned and that happened with the second incident that is mentioned of him: his contention with God at Pniel. That is an allusion to the name Israel, which means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’.

‏ Hosea 12:3

The Womb and Maturity

In Hos 12:3-4 attention is drawn to three events in Jacob’s life. These serve as examples for the whole of Israel, the twelve tribes. They are his birth (Gen 25:24-26), his ‘victory’ at Pniel (Gen 32:22-32) and the cleansing of his house in Bethel (Gen 35:1-15).

The first example concerns his birth. Taking by the heel can mean cheating. It is an allusion to the name Jacob, which means ‘heels keeper’. The explanation can also be positive, when we see that Jacob was, so to speak, already in the womb of the mother busy to possess the birthright, of which it turns out later how little value his brother Esau attaches to it. Esau sells his birthright for a dish of lentil stew (Gen 25:29-34).

However deceitful Jacob may have been, he has always been interested in God’s blessing and appreciated it. And that is what the people lack. That is why we can see in the reference to Jacob’s birth an exhortation for the people to stretch out and dedicate themselves to the blessing God wants to give. But not in the manner of Jacob. Jacob often wanted to obtain God’s blessing in the wrong way, namely through his own effort. He had to learn that this is not the way it goes with God.

Moreover, his own effort makes him struggle with people. That way of doing things has to be unlearned and that happened with the second incident that is mentioned of him: his contention with God at Pniel. That is an allusion to the name Israel, which means ‘prince of God’ or ‘warrior of God’.