Passage

Hosea 6.2

Book: Hosea · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

2. After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him.

And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. 4. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that goeth early away. (Hosea 6:1-4, ASV)

WEB

“Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.

2. After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him.

Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.” 4. “Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early. (Hosea 6:1-4, WEB)

KJV

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

2. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. 4. O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. ^{goodness: or, mercy, or, kindness} (Hosea 6:1-4, KJV)

YLT

'Come, and we turn back unto Jehovah, For He hath torn, and He doth heal us, He doth smite, and He bindeth us up.

2. He doth revive us after two days, In the third day He doth raise us up, And we live before Him.

And we know, we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain, sprinkling earth.' 4. What do I do to thee, O Ephraim? What do I do to thee, O Judah? Your goodness [is] as a cloud of the morning, And as dew rising early, going. (Hosea 6:1-4, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the people, in the penitential liturgy of verses 1-3
Audience: one another; the words are a call to return
Location: the northern kingdom of Israel, repeatedly called Ephraim after its dominant tribe
Time period: c. 750-722 BC, from the last years of Jeroboam II through the dynastic chaos that followed to the eve of Samaria's fall to Assyria

Theological reading

Context governs this verse and is usually omitted. It falls inside the people's own speech, part of the repentance that God goes on to call transient in verse 4, so it is a quotation of Israel rather than a promise from God. The "two days, third day" pattern is a Hebrew idiom for a short interval, and the immediate reference is national restoration pictured as revival from death, the same image Ezekiel develops in the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37).

Whether Paul has this text in mind when he writes that Christ was raised "on the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:4) is genuinely debated. No New Testament writer quotes Hosea 6:2 explicitly, and the other candidates include Jonah 1:17 as Jesus applies it in Matthew 12:40. The connection is a serious possibility and should be presented that way rather than as a demonstrated citation.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.