The Meaning of Hosea 5:15 Explained

Hosea 5:15

KJV: I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

YLT: I go -- I turn back unto My place, Till that they are desolate, and have sought My face. In their distress they do seek Me speedily!'

Darby: I will go away, I will return to my place, till they acknowledge their trespass, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

ASV: I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I will go  [and] return  to my place,  till they acknowledge their offence,  and seek  my face:  in their affliction  they will seek me early. 

What does Hosea 5:15 Mean?

Verse Meaning

As a lion returning to its lair, Yahweh would go away and leave His people until they bore their punishment and sought His forgiveness. When they felt their affliction they would seek Him earnestly (cf. Hosea 5:6; Deuteronomy 4:29).
"The language would appear to reach into the Millennium, when the Israelites will indeed repent before God and seek his face (cf. Hosea 1:10-11; Hosea 2:14-23)." [1]
"Taken with Matthew 23:37-39, this passage gives in broad outline the course of Israel"s future restoration to God." [2]
The last statement of this verse provides a transition from the messages of judgment in chapters4,5 to the promises of restoration in Hosea 6:1-3.

Context Summary

Hosea 5:1-15 - God's Rebuke Of Apostasy
The prophet continues his grave indictment of his people. The court and the priesthood were chiefly responsible for the awful degeneracy that was eating out the national heart. The seductions of idolatry that abounded everywhere resembled the snares and nets set by hunters on the wooded heights of Gilead and Tabor.
Suddenly, within a month, Hosea 5:7, an alarm sounds from hill to hill. The foreign invader has entered the country and is slowly marching southward. Even Benjamin is threatened. Ephraim must suffer because of the institutions of Omri and Ahab, Hosea 5:11; and Judah, because her princes were grasping and fraudulent. Though message after message was sent to procure the help of Jareb-a symbolical name for Assyria, "the warlike," he would not be able to avert the approaching dissolution of the Jewish state. You cannot stop the dry-rot by grand alliances. Nothing can save a nation in whose heart the worst forms of corruption are being nourished, except a wholesale return of God and a seeking of His face. It is certain that if this lesson were profoundly learned and then practiced, the horrors of a world in arms would come to a speedy and a blessed end. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 5

1  The judgments of God are denounced against the priests, people, and princes,
9  both of Israel and Judah, for their manifold sins
15  An intimation is given of mercy on their repentance

What do the individual words in Hosea 5:15 mean?

I will return again to My place until Till they acknowledge their offense and they will seek My face in affliction their they will earnestly seek Me
אֵלֵ֤ךְ אָשׁ֙וּבָה֙ אֶל־ מְקוֹמִ֔י עַ֥ד אֲשֶֽׁר־ יֶאְשְׁמ֖וּ וּבִקְשׁ֣וּ פָנָ֑י בַּצַּ֥ר לָהֶ֖ם יְשַׁחֲרֻֽנְנִי

אֵלֵ֤ךְ  I  will 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
אָשׁ֙וּבָה֙  return  again 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: שׁוּב  
Sense: to return, turn back.
מְקוֹמִ֔י  My  place 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: מָקֹום  
Sense: standing place, place.
עַ֥ד  until 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
אֲשֶֽׁר־  Till 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
יֶאְשְׁמ֖וּ  they  acknowledge  their  offense 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָשַׁם  
Sense: to offend, be guilty, trespass.
וּבִקְשׁ֣וּ  and  they  will  seek 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: בָּקַשׁ  
Sense: to seek, require, desire, exact, request.
פָנָ֑י  My  face 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
בַּצַּ֥ר  in  affliction 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: צַר 
Sense: narrow, tight.
יְשַׁחֲרֻֽנְנִי  they  will  earnestly  seek  Me 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person masculine plural, first person common singular, Paragogic nun
Root: שָׁחַר  
Sense: to seek, seek early or earnestly, look early or diligently for.