Texts in Conversation
Hosea describes Israel as a son brought out of Egypt, as a reminder of the nation’s previous rescue. Matthew reuses this language for Jesus returning from Egypt, reshaping the story about a nation into one about a person who represents all of Israel.
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Hosea 11:1
Hebrew Bible
1 “When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son, and I summoned my son out of Egypt. 2 But the more I summoned them, the farther they departed from me. They sacrificed to the Baal idols and burned incense to images. 3 Yet it was I who led Ephraim; I took them by the arm, but they did not acknowledge that I had healed them.
Date: 6th Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Matthew 2:15
New Testament
13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Several features of the narrative of Matthew 1–4 are often taken as intentionally reminiscent of the story of Moses and the Exodus: the flight to Egypt (2:13–15), culminating with the return from Egypt, described as fulfilling the words of Hosea 11:1; the murder of the innocents (2:16–18); and the period of Jesus testing in the wilderness (4:1–11) are the key features. As Davies and France both note, however, much of the imagery often regarded as reflecting a New Moses-typology may actually reflect a New Israel-typology. It is surely of note that the passage in Hosea 11:1, cited in Matthew 2:15, refers not to Moses but to Israel as a nation. It seems safer, therefore, to speak of a new beginning for Israel, parallel to that experienced in their liberation from Egypt: a new Israel is being birthed in the coming of Jesus ..."
Macaskill, Grant
Revealed Wisdom and Inaugurated Eschatology in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
(p. 124) Brill, 2007
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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