John Trapp on Hosea 12:8

Verſe 8. And Ephraim ſaid, yet I am become rich,] Sed mihi plande domi. I have it howſoever, though I hear ill for it; though the Prophet inveigh againſt my covetouſneſſe, yet I am rich, while he and his companions are poor, and indigent:

yea I have found me out ſubſtance,] An idol, ſo the Vulgar renders it:Epheſ. 5.5. and indeed, every covetous man is an idolater, and performs both outward and inward ſervice to his Mammon of unrighteouſneſſe, to his golden-calf. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Subſtance hee here craekes of, and reſt to his ſoul (as the Seventy render it) in oppoſition happly to the aery notions (as he accounted them) of the Prophets invectives againſt his covetous practiſes, and the terrours of his own conſcience, which he endeavoured to corrupt and bribe: See to like purpoſe, Eſay 57.10. Thou haſt found the life of thy hand, that is, a livelihood by thy labour; therefore thou waſt not grieved: thy heart is hardened, and thou art inſenſible of thy ſin-guiltineſſe; thou ſetteſt the gain againſt the guilt, and then all is hall with thee. Felix ſcelus virtus vocatur; Tul. de divin. lib. 2. Proſperous wickedneſſe is accounted vertue. Leah, becauſe fruitfull, and ſucceſſefull, rejoyced in that whereof ſhe had greater reaſon to repent. So did thoſe Idolaters, Ier. 44.11. Dionyſius, after the ſpoil of an idol-Temple, finding the winds favourable in his Navigation; Lo, ſaid he, how the gods approve of ſacriledge. It is no better that Ephraim here deals with the Almighty: Surely ſaith he, if God diſliked my courſes ſo much as the Prophet would make beleeve,, I ſhould not gather wealth as I do: but the world comes tumbling in upon me, therefore my wayes are good before God. This is an ordinary paralogiſme, whereby wicked worldlings deceive their own ſouls; hardning and heartning themſelves in their ſinfull practiſes, becauſe they outwardly proſper. But a painted face is no ſigne of a good complexion. Seneea could ſay, That it is the greateſt unhappineſſe to proſper in evil.

In all my labours,] ſo he calleth his fraudulent and violent practiſes, as making the beſt of an ill matter.

They ſhall find no iniquity in me.] Though they ſearch as narrowly as Laban did into Jacobs ſtuff: What can they find, or prove by me? Am I not able, either to hide mine ill-dealings, or to defend them? Can they take the advantage of the Law againſt me? Why then ſhould I be thus condemned and cried out of, as I am? Thus the rich man is wiſe in his own conceit, Prov. 28.11. and covetouſneſſe is never without its cloak, 1 Theſſ. 2.5. which yet is too ſhort to cover it from God, who is not mocked with masks, or fed with fained words, whereof the covetous caitiff is ſull, 2 Pet. 2.3. witneſſe Ephraim here, with his pretences, of innocency, In all my labours, that is, mine ill-gotten goods, (the fruit of mine hard and honeſt labour, ſaith he) they ſhall find none iniquity, no crimen ſtellionatus, no craft or cruelty.

That were ſinne.] Piaculum eſſet, that were a foul buſineſſe: farre be it from me to ſtain my trading, or burden my conſcience with any ſuch miſdeed. I would you ſhould know, I am as ſhie of ſinne as another: neither would I be taken tripping for any good. Thus men notoriouſly guilty, may yet give good words, yea largely profeſſe what they are guilty of, to be an abominable thing. And this is a ſure ſigne of a profane and cauterized conſcience, of an heart that being firſt turned into earth and mud, doth afterwards freez and congeal into ſteel and adamant.