I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction?  Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
The Apostle Paul quoted the famous couplet in this verse in 1 Corinthians 15:55 and applied it to the effect of Christ’s redemption on all of God’s people. Death and the grave are not the final judgment and home of the believer because God did provide a ransom and redeemed His people. God has a glorious future beyond His punishment for sin for His own, both for national Israel and for Christians. Paul’s use of this passage does not support the view that the church fulfills God’s promises concerning Israel. Here in Hosea the promise is that Israel would indeed suffer death and the grave, not that she would escape it. Paul turned the passage around and showed that Jesus Christ’s resurrection overcame the judgment and death that are inevitable for sinners. [Note: See Chisholm, Handbook on . . ., p. 366.] 