Hosea 12:4

he had power over Rather, he contended with.

he wept, &c. (The subject is Jacob, not the angel.) This feature is not given in Genesis 32; it is however well adapted to the hortatory object of Hosea. The Septuagint has, -they wept", &c.

he found him in Beth-el (The subject is Jehovah.) Two visions of Jacob's are recorded in explanation of the name Bethel (Genesis 28:10-22; Genesis 35:9-15). They proceed from different documents, and either of them may have been current in the circle to which Hosea belonged; the latter is of course pure conjecture. The Septuagint strangely has, -They found me in the house of On" (i.e. Aven or Beth-aven instead of Bethel, comp. Hosea 4:15).

there he spake with us i.e. -in the loins of Jacob" (Horsley, &c.); comp. the twofold use of -Israel" in Hosea 12:12. But this spoils the consistency of the historical picture. The Peshito, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and probably the Septuagint (πρὸς αὐτοὺς), read with him, i.e. with Jacob. (This is better than assimilating the pronoun in the preceding clause, with a few Hebrew MSS.)