Hosea 6:1
in Hosea 6Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
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.
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.
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This verse in Hosea 6
Commentary
11 notes on this verse"In their affliction they will rise early to me: come and let us return to the Lord, for he has taken us, and he will heal us; he will wound us and he will cure us; he will bring us to life after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight: we shall know and we shall follow, that we may know the Lord."
This site's exposition
Come, and let us return unto the Lord
on Hosea 6:1-3
The plea answers 5:15's until they acknowledge their offence directly, the nation itself speaking now, come and let us return, confessing that the Lord who tore is the same Lord who will heal, the same hand that smote will bind up. After two days will he revive us, in the third day he will raise us up carries readings the bench holds apart without a verdict: the older commentators, Christian and some earlier Jewish readers among them, hear a foreshadowing of resurrection on the third day, while much of the modern critical bench reads the two-and-three as a short, indefinite span, a Hebrew idiom for soon rather than a specific count, the nation's restoration in view rather than any single body raised. His going forth is prepared as the morning, coming to them as the rain, is read by the older writers as a plea for the certain, seasonal reliability of God's mercy against Israel's own inconstancy, named in the next verse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
In the beginning he seized Adam's human nature; for he at once declared it accursed, ascribing it to death and corruption. Thus the wrath has struck, but grace plugged the wound with lint. For Christ has brought the healing. He invited [us] to know the true divine revelation; he confirmed [us] through the Spirit to observe the commandments. He showed us again to be zealous followers by placing us beyond corruption and freeing us from the previous infirmities, namely, sin and passions.
The Holy Spirit set this forth of old, when he said in the Psalms, "O my king and my God. For to you will I pray; O Lord, in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will stand before you, and will see you." And again through the prophet the Lord says, "At dawn they will be on watch for me, saying, 'Let us go and return to the Lord our God.' " Likewise at the setting of the sun and at the end of the day necessarily there must again be prayer. For since Christ is the true sun and the true day, as the sun and the day of the world recede, when we pray and petition that the light come upon us again, we pray for the coming of Christ to provide us with the grace of eternal light.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
His hand will be stretched out still against us if the people turn not to him that smites them, " Isa. ix. Note, The consideration of the judgments of God upon us and our land, especially when they are tearing judgments, should awaken us to return to God by repentance, and prayer, and reformation.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Come, and let us return unto the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Come and let us return unto the Lord - These words depend closely on the foregoing. They are words put into their mouth by God Himself, with which or with the like, they should exhort one another to return to God.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
They are at the same time persuaded of the mercy of God, which persuasion is the starting-point of true repentance, and without which men would not seek, but hate and flee from God. Though our wound be severe, it is not past hope of recovery; there is room for grace, and a hope of pardon.
[Mr. Spurgeon was exceedingly unwell and his voice painfully weak, hence the pause in the middle of the sermon, during which the congregation sang part of a hymn to enable the preacher to gain strength enough to resume his discourse. This was the last sermon before Mr. Spurgeon's departure from home to obtain needed rest. It has been revised by Mr. Spurgeon at Mentone. The sermons are continued regularly every week.] IF man had never sinned, what delightful communion there would have been between him and God!
[Mr. Spurgeon was exceedingly unwell and his voice painfully weak, hence the pause in the middle of the sermon, during which the congregation sang part of a hymn to enable the preacher to gain strength enough to resume his discourse. This was the last sermon before Mr. Spurgeon's departure from home to obtain needed rest. It has been revised by Mr. Spurgeon at Mentone. The sermons are continued regularly every week.] IF man had never sinned, what delightful communion there would have been between him and God! A fairy vision rises before us of loving obedience and condescending fellowship, holy delight and boundless favor, lowly adoration and fatherly smile, perfect bliss and infinite complacency. Alas! Alas! It is no more than a vision! God would have treated man with familiarity and indulgence, lavishing favor and honor upon him. The Garden of Eden, fair as were its glades and lovely as were its flowers, was but a faint image of the things prepared for man had he continued in loyalty to God— inconceivable delights would have filled up the days of our life on earth had not the serpent's trail come across our nature and slimed it over with sin. I shall not attempt any picture of man dwelling with God and God revealing Himself to man in new forms—always increasing man's knowledge and, at the same time, causing His bliss to overflow. Alas! That dream has never been realized. That dangerous fruit which hung upon the tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil has been plucked and eaten and we will not pause to rehearse the sad story of the foul iniquities and the countless ills which have come upon mankind and severed man from his God. Because of the Fall and man's depravity, Justice now comes in with his rod and sword and changes the complexion of our life.
Come, and let us return unto the Lord - When God had purposed to abandon them, and they found that he had returned to his place - to his temple, where alone he could be successfully sought; they, feeling their weakness, and the fickleness, weariness, and unfaithfulness of their idols and allies, now resolve to “return to the Lord;” and, referring to what he said, Hos 5:14: “I will tear and go away;” they say, he “hath torn, but he will heal us;” their allies had torn, but they gave them no healing. While, therefore, they acknowledge the justice of God in their punishment, they depend on his well-known mercy and compassion for restoration to life and health.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He will revive us from the two days He will strengthen us from the two retributions which have passed over us from the two sanctuaries that were destroyed.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְכוּ֙ | lekhu | come | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְנָשׁ֣וּבָה | venashuvah | so let us return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| טָרָ֖ף | taraf | he has torn to pieces | H2963 → | |
| וְיִרְפָּאֵ֑נוּ | veyirpaenu | and he will heal us | H7495 → | 67 times |
| יַ֖ךְ | yakh | he has struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| וְיַחְבְּשֵֽׁנוּ׃ | veyachbeshenu | and he will bind up us | H2280 → |
לְכוּ֙come
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
וְנָשׁ֣וּבָהso let us return
venashuvahH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
טָרָ֖ףhe has torn to pieces
tarafH2963 →
וְיִרְפָּאֵ֑נוּand he will heal us
veyirpaenuH7495 →67 times
יַ֖ךְhe has struck
yakhH5221 →499 times
וְיַחְבְּשֵֽׁנוּ׃and he will bind up us
veyachbeshenuH2280 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 32:39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:6
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 5:18
For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 45:5
I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
- Isaiah 45:22
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Isaiah 43:13
Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”
- 1 Samuel 2:6
Through
Job 5:18For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Isaiah 30:26
The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds…
- Deuteronomy 32:39
About Hosea
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1396: “Reasons for Turning to the Lord” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyprian, Treatise IV. On the Lord's Prayer 35; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 4:62; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 6:1-2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.