HOS 3:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) I told her, “You must stay with me for some time. You mustn’t dabble in prostitution or mess with any other man. In the same way, I’ll be true to you.”

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ εἶπα πρὸς αὐτὴν, ἡμέρας πολλὰς καθήσῃ ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ, καὶ οὐ μὴ πορνεύσῃς, οὐδὲ μὴ γένῃ ἀνδρὶ, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπὶ σοί.
(Kai eipa pros autaʸn, haʸmeras pollas kathaʸsaʸ epʼ emoi, kai ou maʸ porneusaʸs, oude maʸ genaʸ andri, kai egō epi soi. )

BrTr And I said unto her, Thou shalt wait for me many days; and thou shalt not commit fornication, neither shalt thou be for another man; and I will be for thee.

ULT I said to her, “You must dwell with me many days. You will not play the harlot or belong to any other man. In the same way, I will be with you.”

UST Then I said to her, “You will live with me from now on. You will no longer be a prostitute who sleeps with various men. You will not belong to any other man, only to me, and I will be faithful to you and live with you for the rest of my life.”

OEB And I told her, ‘You must live with me for many days and you must not sleep around or marry another. And I will do the same for you.

WEBBE I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so towards you.”

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Then I told her, “You must live with me many days; you must not commit adultery or have sexual intercourse with another man, and I also will wait for you.”

LSV and I say to her, “You remain many days for Me, you do not go whoring, nor become anyone’s; and I also [am] for you.”

FBV I told her, “You must remain with me for many days and you shall stop your prostitution. You shall not be intimate with any man, and then I shall be yours.”

T4T Then I said to her, “You must wait for many days before we sleep together [EUP]. During that time, you must not be a prostitute, and you must not have sex with any other man; but I will live with you.”

LEB   • And I said to her, “ You must remain as mine[fn] for many days,
   • and you will not play the whore;
• you will not belong[fn] to a man,
  • and I will belong to you.”

3:? Literally “You must sit at home for me”

3:? Literally “you will not be”

BBE And I said to her, You are to be mine for a long space of time; you are not to be false to me, and no other man is to have you for his wife; and so will I be to you.

Moff and I told her, “For many a day you must remain mine, you must not play the harlot, you must have nothing to do with a man – and I will have nothing to do with you.”

JPS and I said unto her: 'Thou shalt sit solitary for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man's wife; nor will I be thine.'

ASV and I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man’s wife: so will I also be toward thee.

DRA And I said to her: Thou shalt wait for me many days: thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt be no man’s, and I also will wait for thee.

YLT and I say unto her, 'Many days thou dost remain for Me, thou dost not go a-whoring, nor become any one's; and I also [am] for thee.'

Drby And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be [another] man's, and I will also be for thee.

RV and I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be any man’s wife: so will I also be toward thee.
(and I said unto her, Thou/You shalt/shall abide for me many days; thou/you shalt/shall not play the harlot, and thou/you shalt/shall not be any man’s wife: so will I also be toward thee/you. )

SLT And saying to her, Many days thou shalt well with me; and thou shalt not commit fornication, and thou shalt not be for a man: and also I am for thee.

Wbstr And I said to her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.

KJB-1769 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee.
(And I said unto her, Thou/You shalt/shall abide for me many days; thou/you shalt/shall not play the harlot, and thou/you shalt/shall not be for another man: so will I also be for thee/you. )

KJB-1611 And I said vnto her, Thou shalt abide for me many dayes, thou shalt not play the harlot, & thou shalt not be for an other man, so will I also be for thee.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Bshps And sayde vnto her: Thou shalt bide with me a long season, thou shalt not play the harlot, thou shalt be to no other man, and I wyll be so vnto thee.
(And said unto her: Thou/You shalt/shall bide with me a long season, thou/you shalt/shall not play the harlot, thou/you shalt/shall be to no other man, and I will be so unto thee/you.)

Gnva And I said vnto her, Thou shalt abide with me many dayes: thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt be to none other man, and I will be so vnto thee.
(And I said unto her, Thou/You shalt/shall abide with me many days: thou/you shalt/shall not play the harlot, and thou/you shalt/shall be to none other man, and I will be so unto thee/you. )

Cvdl & sayde vnto her: Thou shalt byde with me a longe season, but se that thou playest not the harlot, and loke thou medle with none other man, & then wil I kepe my self for the.
(and said unto her: Thou/You shalt/shall bide/stay with me a long season, but see that thou/you playest not the harlot, and look thou/you meddle with none other man, and then will I keep myself for them.)

Wycl And Y seide to it, Bi many daies thou shalt abide me; thou schalt not do fornycacioun, and thou schalt not be with an hosebonde, but also Y schal abide thee.
(And I said to it, By many days thou/you shalt/shall abide me; thou/you shalt/shall not do fornication, and thou/you shalt/shall not be with an husband, but also I shall abide thee/you.)

Luth Und sprach zu ihr: Halte dich mein eine Zeitlang und hure nicht und laß keinen andern zu dir; denn ich will mich auch dein halten.
(And spoke to/for you(pl)/their/her: Hold/Stop you/yourself my a/one for_a_while and whore(v) not and let none change to/for you/to_you(sg); because/than I will me also your(s) hold/keep.)

ClVg Et dixi ad eam: Dies multos exspectabis me; non fornicaberis, et non eris viro; sed et ego exspectabo te.
(And I_said to her: The_day many waitbis me; not/no fornicaberis, and not/no you_will_be to_the_man; but and I I_will_wait you(sg). )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–5: Hosea redeemed Gomer as the LORD will redeem Israel

In this section, the LORD commanded Hosea to take Gomer back as his wife. This probably occurred later in their marriage after Gomer had left Hosea and became an adulteress.There are two main views about how the events of chapters 1 and 2 relate to those of chapter 3. One view is that the events described in chapter 3 follow those described in chapters 1 and 2. (This is the view taken by this Translators Notes publication.) Another view is that in chapter 3, Hosea is describing most of the same events but from a different perspective and for a different purpose. Once more Hosea communicated the LORD’s message by his action as well as his words. His action was an illustration of the LORD’s unfailing love for the nation of Israel. Israel had been unfaithful to the LORD and had been worshiping other gods. In the same way, Gomer had been unfaithful to Hosea and had left him for other lovers. And just as Hosea was commanded to take Gomer back as his wife, so the LORD planned to restore Israel to himself.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

An Illustration of God’s Love for Idolatrous Israel (NET)

Hosea Redeems His Wife (ESV)

Hosea’s Reconciliation With His Wife (NIV)

Paragraph 3:2–3

In this paragraph, Hosea bought Gomer. Although they were still married, he told her that they would not be intimate with each other, nor would she be intimate with anyone else. This situation was probably a symbol that the LORD would restore his relationship with Israel and purify her.

3:3

^3aYou are to live with me many days;

^3byou must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man,

^3cand 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

Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days;

Then I said to her, “You^(sing) must stay/live here in our^(incl) house for a long time.

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:

Gomer must remain living with Hosea in his home.
She must remain loyal to him.
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 (REB)

You must wait for me (GW)

Now you are mine! You will have to remain faithful to me (CEV)

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.

3:3a–c

(combined/reordered)

Then I said to her, “Much time will pass before we^(dual) have sexual relations together, but until then, you^(sing) must live with me here as my wife. You must not be a prostitute, and you must not have sexual relations with any other man.”

3:3b

you must not be promiscuous or belong to another,

You^(sing) must never again be a prostitute or have sexual relations with any other man,

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 (NCV)

belong to another man (ESV)

committing adultery (GNT)

giving yourself to any man (NJB)

3:3c

and I will do the same for you.”

and for a long time I will not have sexual relations with you^(sing).”

and I will do the same for you: In Hebrew, this statement is literally “and also I to you.”BART interlinear. 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:

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 (NRSV) (CEV, NLT, NJPS, NRSV, REB)
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 (NIV) (NIV)

Some versions (GNT, GW, NET, NJB) 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.The NIV2011 says: “I will behave the same way toward you.” The NCV is similar. It has: “I will act the same way toward you.” The BSB has a similar translation. These versions do not specify a particular behavior or action, but in light of the preceding commands, they may imply sexual activity. Other versions (ESV, NASB, RSV) translate the Hebrew phrase quite literally. They are more ambiguous.

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. (CEV)

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. (GNT)

Parallel HOS 3:3