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Hos_12:7 [He is] a merchant, the balances of deceit [are] in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
Ver. 7. He is a merchant] Heb. He is Canaan that is, a mere natural man, Eze_16:3, money merchant, who, so he may have it, careth not how he comes by it; he is more like a Canaanite than a Jacobite. Jacob said, "I have enough, my brother"; but Ephraim is sick of the plague of unsatisfiableness; and instead of keeping mercy and judgment, as in the former verse, he keepeth false balances in his hand and false weights in his bag, Deu_15:13-15 Lev_19:36 Pro_11:1; Pro_16:11; Pro_20:10 {See Trapp on "Pro_11:1"} {See Trapp on "Pro_16:11"} {See Trapp on "Pro_20:10"} He that hath his hands full of the balances of deceit, and will not loose them to take hold of God, will not part with his fat and sweet (as the vine and olive in Jotham’s parable), though it be to reign in heaven how can it be expected that he should turn to God, or that he should love to be his servant in Isa_56:6.
When he loveth to oppress] To get gain, if not by fraud and cunning contrivance, then by force, and by forged cavillation, as Luk_19:8. Sic quaecunque potest arte nocere, nocet and all this he loveth to do; he delights in it he not only is pleased with it, but pleadeth for it, and opposeth with crest and breast whatsoever standeth in the way of his own heart; exercised with covetousness (as St Peter’s phrase is, 2Pe_2:14), which he constantly followeth as the artificer doth his trade. Let such Canaanites read that flaming text, 1Th_4:6 and take heed, lest while they get all they can by wrench and wile, lest while they count all good fish that comes to net, they catch at length the devil and all; lest they receive no less sums of curses than of coin; lest screechowls of woe cry aloud, from the beams of their chambers, &c. {See Trapp on "Hos_7:1"}