After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up: These two parallel lines express the thought that only a brief time will elapse before Yahweh revives his people. The phrases After two days and on the third day reflect the Hebrew poetic custom of using a pair of numbers, one greater than the previous number, building toward a climax. So most commentators view the numbers here as symbolic. After two days may be considered literally to refer to the same date as on the third day, since the third day is the day that occurs after two days. But the intended effect here is to give a somewhat indefinite period of time, as in Good News Translation‘s “In two or three days.” NET Bible leaves out the numbers, saying “in a very short time” and “in a little while.” New Living Translation collapses the two phrases into one: “In just a short time.” Bijbel in Gewone Taal is even more succinct with “Shortly.”

The parallel statements he will revive us and he will raise us up are combined by Good News Translation into the single statement “he will revive us.” The Hebrew verb for revive refers to causing someone to live again, but in the sense of rescuing and healing from a disease or a wound, as in 6.1. Similarly, raise us up means that God will bring healing so that the wounded may be able to stand again. These terms should not be forced by the translator to refer only to rising from death on the third day, since that is clearly not the intended meaning. The symbolism of reviving the people after being wounded refers to restoration to peace and prosperity in their land. When they lived outside God’s covenant, they were considered “dead.” Once they were readmitted into the covenant, they were again “alive” (see Deut 30.16, 19).

The Hebrew verbs for revive and raise … up occur together in 2 Kgs 13.21 and in Isa 26.14, 19. The story of a dead man “reviving” and being “raised up” after touching the bones of the prophet Elijah would have been well known among Hosea’s people in northern Israel.

That we may live before him refers to having a normal, happy, and successful life restored. That renders the Hebrew waw conjunction, which introduces a result here. Live before him is well translated by Good News Translation as “live in his presence,” which implies worshiping God, obeying him, and receiving his blessings.

A translation model for this verse is:

• He will revive us after two days,
on the third day he will raise us up,
so that we will live in his presence.

Quoted with permission from Dorn, Louis & van Steenbergen, Gerrit. A Handbook on Hosea. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .