Out of Egypt I Called My Son
Author’s notes:
In my personal study, I have come across several commentaries’ interpretations of Matthew’s use of Hosea 11:1. The Lord forcefully led me down this rabbit trail after experiencing weeks of leaving my morning devotions void of a sufficient understanding of this particular reference. The further I trotted, the more astounded I became. In no way do I claim a comprehensive knowledge of this topic, but from dedicated research steeped in prayer, I have learned a lot. I have heavily relied upon a few resources such as G.K. Beale’s Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament and Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Michael Kruger’s A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament, and numerous other commentaries and online resources. Furthermore, the hermeneutical methodology applied to the Scriptures at hand is closely based on G.K. Beale’s 9-step approach to interpreting the Old Testament in the New Testament. All Scripture quoted here is in the English Standard Version (ESV).
* * *
Introduction to Matthew 2:15
In the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Joseph is approached by an angel of the Lord in a dream. The angel commands him to flee to Egypt with his family, Mary and Jesus, until further notice to prevent Herod’s plan of destruction for his young child. He rises and takes his family to Egypt by night, and they remain there until Herod dies. Matthew then says, “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” This quotation is from Hosea 11:1, which states “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew’s inspired interpretation of the events surrounding Jesus’s early life is rich in fulfillments of Old Testament (OT) prophecies. Just as Moses was spared from the edict to kill Israelite baby boys in Exodus 1:15-2:10, Jesus is spared from the killing of the “innocents” in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:16-18). In the same fashion, Matthew understands Joseph’s “flight to Egypt” (the common heading for this section in the ESV) to be the fulfillment of Israel’s journey into and exodus out of Egypt. The primary purpose of this blog post is to show the reader how Matthew uses the exodus event in Hosea 11:1 as a type of second exodus, and to show how this understanding of the Hosea quotation reveals a deep commitment of God in His plan of redemption for His people.
Jesus is the Ultimate Fulfillment of the Old Testament
In biblical studies, a "type" usually refers to an analogy or prophecy found in Scripture thats meaning is escalated in its fulfillment later in Scripture. It involves the interpretation of earlier Scripture by later ones. Since Matthew states the prophetic element of Hosea forthright in verse 15, it is right to interpret this Hosea passage’s reference to the exodus to have a typological relationship with the life of Jesus. God’s sustaining of Israel while in Egypt until He led them out of it has analogical fulfillment in the early life of Jesus. Therefore, it is right to base further study upon the foundation of an analogical and possible typological relationship between Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15. Matthew 2:15 is the third of five OT quotations in Matthew’s narrative of Jesus’s birth and infancy to show that Jesus is the longed-for Savior of Israel, the Jewish Messiah. Matthew’s intentional references to the OT begin with his very first verse, “A book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1). Jesus’s origins are at first centered around His ancestry. His name is the Grecized form of “Joshua,” as He has come to liberate God’s people just like the successor of Moses. He has come from the line of David as the Israelite King (2 Sam. 7:11-16). He has descended from Abraham to bless the nations of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3). Right from the start of his gospel account, Matthew communicates the importance of seeing Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of the OT.
The Placement of Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2
The particular quotation in 2:15 relates Jesus’ divine travel plans with Israel’s repeated round-trip to Egypt. The angel of the Lord warns Joseph that Herod is going to search out his Son to kill Him, and that they must go to Egypt, where they would stay until Herod dies. Hosea’s quote, “Out of Egypt I called my son,” is put here after this, but why is this so? Why did Matthew not place this quotation after Jesus leaves Egypt (in vv. 19)? After all, is it not Jesus’ return from Egypt that matches Hosea’s declaration? Israel’s entering and coming out of Egypt is a pattern throughout the OT that sheds light in the apparent odd placement of the quotation. This only makes sense if the exodus is a narrative that needed and received greater fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jesus not only fulfilled the coming out of Egypt, but the whole exodus cycle as well. Furthermore, Jesus’s coming out of Egypt occurs in 2:19-23, after Matthew gives a fourth fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus’s early years: Jeremiah’s prophecy of Israelite babies being massacred (Matt. 2:16-18). Matthew lays out five pericopes of prophecies being fulfilled in Jesus during his first few years on earth. The seemingly odd placement of Hosea 11:1 may also be because of this literary structuring.
“This only makes sense if the exodus is a narrative that needed and received greater fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jesus not only fulfilled the coming out of Egypt, but the whole exodus cycle as well.”
The Context Surrounding Hosea 11:1
Hosea 10 describes how the great, glorious days of Israel are over because of their current wickedness and failure to obey God. “Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt” (Hos. 10:2). Chapter 11 repeats this idea. It begins with “when Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son,” and goes on to say, “my people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all” (Hos. 11:7). God, the loving Father, declares His compassion for Israel in spite of their rebellion. In this same love, God rescued His son Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Hosea 11:2-7 explains that Israel has wandered from Him, and a prediction is made that they will return to slavery under the king of Assyria. Yes, God declares judgment, but His divine soliloquy ends with hope, appropriately summed up in the end of verse 9: “for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.” God’s love is relentless as He proclaims that His “heart recoils” within Him and His “compassion grows warm and tender” (Hos. 11:9). There is hope for restoration, as God rhetorically asks, “How can I hand you over, O Israel?” (11:8).
The Exodus Pattern
As Matthew looks back to Hosea, Hosea looks back to Israel in the book of Exodus. Verse 1 is not the only reference to the exodus event in Hosea 11. This chapter first describes the historical exodus in verse 1, while a future exodus is laid out in verses 5-12. Hosea indicates that the pattern laid out in the book of Exodus will be repeated. Although Israel will not return to Egypt, Assyria will be his king. They will not return to Egypt, but they will still be returned to slavery under Assyria because of their unrepentant sin. However, this is still not the end for Israel. “They shall go after the Lord; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord” (Hos. 11:10-11). The first exodus from Egypt is a “type” of things to come. Hosea 11:8-12 foreshadows the new exodus because God says that in the end He will not forsake Ephraim and Judah. The final exodus would be accomplished by Jesus. Therefore, God’s people will be delivered from their sin and will return to Him.
“They shall go after the Lord; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the Lord.”
Hosea 11 begins with the exodus out of Egypt and ends with another exodus. Even though the first deliverance only led to grumbling and disobedience, God’s plans for Israel’s restoration stand true in the anticipation of a second deliverance. The final exodus will fulfill the historical exodus. Matthew used Hosea’s prophetic words of the second exodus to show how Jesus begins His fulfillment of it. Matthew, and possibly Hosea, saw the first exodus as a historical pattern that points to Israel’s future. In this way, he applied typological principles to Hosea 11:1 while keeping intact the nature of the prophecy itself along with Hosea’s own hermeneutic. Duane Garrett once said, “We need to look no further than Hosea 11 to understand that Hosea, too, believed that God followed patterns in working with His people.”
A word study on Matthew’s use of Hosea 11:1 supports this as well. The Septuagint uses the compound verb, metakaleō (“summon”) and Matthew uses the verb kaleō (“call”). The Septuagint also uses the Hebrew “my children” instead of “my son” since 11:2 uses the pronoun “they,” possibly indicating third-person plural usage. Matthew, however, restores it back to “my son” in his translation. It is argued whether Matthew created his own independent, literal translation of the Hebrew text or if he made these changes to be more in line with the Masoretic text, but either way, he is intentional in his wording. He intends to show that indeed God foresaw Israel’s exodus as a pattern which needed to be fulfilled through His Son.
History is God’s
Many scholars have argued that Hosea’s usage of “son” is messianic. However, the other five uses of “son” in Hosea refer to a literal, biological offspring (1:1 [x2], 3, 8). It is quite possible that Hosea read the exodus narrative as messianic, but it cannot be ascertained from the apparent evidence. Regardless, Matthew recognized the connections between OT times and his time and applied his presupposition that God’s principles are unchanging and reign over all history, present, and future. Hosea may not have understood this layer of meaning as the Spirit worked above and through him, but it is safe to assume he would not be surprised that God has formed such a vivid parallel in His actions in different times in history. Israel had been oppressed by Egypt, then delivered from Egypt, then exiled there again, then restored again, and that Jesus returned to Israel from Egypt is more than enough evidence of God’s faithfulness in his plan of redemption for His people. It is comforting that our God can orchestrate something so full of love, a pattern of patience, just like a basket maker, slowly weaving together loose ends and binding history together with common themes to keep reminding us of His plan for redemption. He knows we need reminded of it. How much more can our Father know us?
“It is comforting that our God can orchestrate something so full of love, a pattern of patience, just like a basket maker, slowly weaving together loose ends and binding history together with common themes to keep reminding us of His plan for redemption.”
Conclusion
Matthew’s gospel account connects Jesus with Israel here. Just as Jesus is the second Adam and the better Priest, Prophet, and King, He also fulfills Israel’s faithlessness with perfect obedience. There is nothing less than perfect love between the Father and Jesus, and so Matthew recapitulates these words from God in Hosea to show His commitment to His people in the exodus and also salvation. This shows how immense His love is and how great of a Father He is. If God is seen as the loving Father who delivers His Son, then Jesus can be seen as the faithful Son that Israel was supposed to be. Matthew’s allusion to Hosea 11 draws attention to the parallels between the early life of Jesus and the exodus narrative: miraculous birth, deliverance from the plot of an evil king, going into and being called out of Egypt, passing through the baptismal waters and reception of the Holy Spirit, being tempted for 40 days in the wilderness (40 years for Israel), being obedient to God (Jesus quotes Deut. 8:3 and 6:13 when the Devil attempts to tempt Him; Israel regularly failed the instructions in these verses when tempted), and conquering God’s enemies (healings and exorcisms, among many others). Matthew’s use of Hosea 11 is yet another example of how our Father is an architect who has magnificently designed Israel’s history to point to the pinnacle of creation, Jesus, by whom, through whom, and for whom everything was created and is held together, and in whom, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14-17).
Cover image: “Flight Into Egypt” by Rubens
