“And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.”
And remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, Out of Egypt I called my son. The citation of Hosea 11:1 — originally a statement about the Exodus, about Israel as God's firstborn son called out of Egypt — is here applied to Jesus. Matthew is doing more than proof-texting; he is identifying Jesus as the true Israel, the one in whom all of Israel's story is recapitulated and fulfilled. As Israel went into Egypt (Genesis 46) and came out through the Exodus (Exodus 12–14), so Jesus goes into Egypt as an infant and comes out after the threat is removed. The son called out of Egypt is simultaneously the son of God and the son of Israel — the representative in whom the entire nation's story finds its intended meaning.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a note on this verse
0/2000
No notes on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!