3:3

3a You are to live with me many days;

3b you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man,

3c and I will live with you.

The overall meaning of this verse is that Gomer is to remain in Hosea’s home and be loyal to him as his wife for a long time. During this time she must not sleep with other men, nor will Hosea sleep with her.

3:3a

You must live with me: In Hebrew, this clause is literally “you will remain for me.” It functions here as a command. This command implies three things in the context of the rest of the verse:

(a) Gomer must remain living with Hosea in his home.

(b) She must remain loyal to him.

(c) She must wait for him to resume sexual relations with her.

Most English versions make only some of this implied information explicit in this part of the verse. For example:

You will live in my house (Revised English Bible)
-or-
You must wait for me (God’s Word)
-or-
Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me (Contemporary English Version)

Use a command that will imply as many of these meanings as possible.

for many days: This expression refers to a long period of time.

3:3b

belong to another: In Hebrew, this phrase means to have sexual relations with a man.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

have sexual relations with any other man (New Century Version)
-or-
belong to another man (English Standard Version)
-or-
committing adultery (Good News Translation)
-or-
giving yourself to any man (New Jerusalem Bible)

3:3c

and I will do the same for you: In Hebrew, this statement is literally “and also I to you.” The Hebrew words “and also I” indicate a similarity between what Hosea will do and what Gomer does. However, since there is no verb in the Hebrew, it is not clear what the similar action refers to. There are two ways to interpret this statement:

(1) It means that both of them will refrain from sexual activity. In 3:3b, Hosea told Gomer to refrain from sexual activity. Here Hosea said that he too will refrain from sexual activity with her. For example:

you shall not have intercourse with a man, nor I with you (New Revised Standard Version)

(Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation (2004), Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible)

(2) It means that both of them will live in the same home. In 3:3a Hosea told Gomer to “live with” him. One implication of that command is that she must continue to live with Hosea in his home. Here Hosea promised that he will also continue to live with her. For example:

I will live with you (New International Version)

(New International Version)

Some versions (Good News Translation, God’s Word, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) use a phrase such as “wait for.” In the context of 3:3b, this probably implies that Hosea and Gomer will need to wait before having sexual relations with each other.

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions and commentaries. This interpretation better fits the two preceding commands in 3:3b. These commands refer clearly to refraining from sexual activity. The long period without sexual intimacy between Gomer and Hosea is probably symbolic of the long period in 3:4 without a close relationship between Israel and the LORD. It may also symbolize a time of purification.

General Comment on 3:3a–c

In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder and/or combine the parts of this verse in order to make the overall meaning clearer. For example:

Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me, though it will be a long time before we sleep together. (Contemporary English Version)

In some languages, it may be more natural to express the direct quote in this verse as an indirect quote. For example:

I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her. (Good News Translation)

© 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.