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Hosea

About this book
Chapter 11

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. 4 I drew them with leather cords, with straps of hide; I lifted the yoke from their neck and gently fed them. 5 They will return to Egypt! Assyria will rule over them because they refuse to repent! 6 A sword will flash in their cities; it will destroy the bars of their city gates, and will devour them in their fortresses. 7 My people are obsessed with turning away from me; they call to Baal, but he will never exalt them! 8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel?⁠ How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim?⁠ I have had a change of heart. All my tender compassions are aroused.⁠ 9 I cannot carry out my fierce anger! I cannot totally destroy Ephraim! Because I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you—I will not come in wrath! 10 “He will roar like a lion, and they will follow the Lord; when he roars, his children will come trembling from the west. 11 They will return in fear and trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria, and I will settle them in their homes,” declares the Lord. 12 (12:1) Ephraim has surrounded me with lies; the house of Israel has surrounded me with deceit. But Judah still roams about with God; he remains faithful to the Holy One.

Texts in conversation

Compare Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

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.

Passages

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.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hosea

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:
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

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 ..."
Grant Macaskill, Revealed Wisdom and Inaugurated Eschatology in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 124.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15

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