Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
At Hosea 6:4 a new discourse, complaining of them, begins; because Hosea 6:1-3 evidently belongs to Hos. 6:15 of Hosea 5:1-15, and forms the happy termination of Israel's punishment: primarily, the return from Babylon; ultimately, the return from their present long dispersion. The eighth verse perhaps refers to the murder of Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, by Pekah, the son of Remaliah, who conspired against him, being a captain of his. The discourse cannot be later than Pekah's reign, because it was under it that Gilead was carried into captivity (2 Kings 15:29).
Come, and let us return - in order that God, who has 'returned to His place' may return to us (Hosea 5:15).
He hath torn, and he will heal us - (Deuteronomy 32:39; Jeremiah 30:17). They ascribe their punishment, not to fortune, or man, but to God, and acknowledge that none (not the Assyrian, as they once vainly thought, Hosea 5:13) but God can heal their wound. They are at the same time persuaded of the mercy of God, which persuasion is the starting-point of true repentance, and without which men would not seek, but hate and flee from God. Though our wound be severe, it is not past hope of recovery; there is room for grace, and a hope of pardon. He hath smitten us, but not so badly that He cannot heal us (Psalms 130:4).