Hosea 13:14

I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD addresses Israel in a moment of coming judgment (east wind, dried fountain, 13:15) and declares a rescue from Sheol and Death.

The words — 'apaddehem (אֶפְדֵּם, "I will ransom," H6299) is a rare verb in the OT, carrying the sense of buying back at cost. Devarayikha (דְּבָרֶיךָ, "your thorns/sting," H1698) shares its root with "word" but here names the weapon Death wields.

The thread — Isaiah 25:8 and Revelation 21:4 both speak of death being swallowed up forever; 1 Corinthians 15:52 places that event at the last trumpet, the moment the sting is finally broken.

Why it lands — The verse holds ransom and judgment in the same breath: God ransoms from Sheol while an east wind still plunders, and "compassion is hidden from My eyes" refuses to let the rescue become blanket comfort. It asks the reader to accept that divine rescue and divine judgment operate together, not as opposites.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

מִיַּ֤דmi./Yadfrom/ [the] hand of שְׁאוֹל֙she.'OlSheol אֶפְדֵּ֔ם'ef.De/mwill I ransom?/ them מִמָּ֖וֶתmi./Ma.vetfrom/ death אֶגְאָלֵ֑ם'eg.'a.Le/mwill I redeem?/ them אֱהִ֨י'e.Hiwhere?דְבָרֶיךָ֜de.va.rei./Kha[are] thorns/ your מָ֗וֶתMa.vetO death אֱהִ֤י'e.Hiwhere?קָֽטָבְךָ֙ka.ta.ve./Cha[is] destruction/ your שְׁא֔וֹלshe.'olO Sheol נֹ֖חַםNo.chamcompassion יִסָּתֵ֥רyi.sa.Terit will be hidden מֵעֵינָֽי׃me./'ei.Na/ifrom/ eyes/ my

King James Version

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Cross-references

Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
1 Corinthians 15:52 in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Revelation 21:4 ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
Isaiah 26:19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
Psalms 49:15 But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
1 Corinthians 15:21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
Psalms 30:3 O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.
1 Samuel 15:29 Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
Job 33:24 to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’