The Meaning of Hosea 11:1 Explained

Hosea 11:1

KJV: When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

YLT: Because Israel is a youth, and I love him, Out of Egypt I have called for My Son.

Darby: When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

ASV: When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Discover Hosea 11:1

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Hosea 11:1?

MEANING: What does Hosea 11:1 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Hosea 11:1 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Hosea 11:1?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When Israel  [was] a child,  then I loved  him, and called  my son  out of Egypt. 

What does Hosea 11:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Lord reminded His people that when Israel was in its early days as a nation, like a youth, He loved the nation (cf. Exodus 4:22-23). As often, loving refers to choosing (cf. Genesis 12:2-3). God chose Israel for special blessing among the world"s nations and in this sense loved him. He called and led His "son" Israel out of bondage in Egypt (cf. Deuteronomy 14:1; Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 1:2-20; Jeremiah 3:19; Jeremiah 3:22; Jeremiah 4:22; Jeremiah 31:9; Jeremiah 31:20).
"We need not find the slightest difficulty in Israel"s being called Jehovah"s son and not His wife. In a book of so many brief and normally unconnected oracles, with their wealth of metaphors and pictorial imagery, it is worse than pedantic to see a contradiction." [1]
Matthew wrote that Jesus Christ fulfilled this verse ( Matthew 2:15). Jesus did so in that as the Son of God in another sense God the Father called and led Him out of Egypt when He was a child. Matthew did not mean that Hosea had Jesus Christ in mind or predicted His exodus from Egypt when he wrote but that Jesus" experience corresponded to what Hosea had written about Israel. He saw the experience of Jesus as analogous to that of Israel. Jesus" experience completed the full meaning of Hosea"s statement and in this sense fulfilled it. [2]
"This is a reference not only to the exodus of Israel from Egypt but also to the fact that all of God"s dealings with Israel were based upon the love that He would show in calling His Song of Solomon , the Lord Jesus Christ, back from the comparative safety of Egypt in order that He might suffer and die to accomplish His great redemptive work." [3]

Context Summary

Hosea 11:1-11 - "bands Of Love"
This is a very tender chapter, full of moving appeals. God looks back on the happy, blessed past, as a fond parent on the innocent childhood of a son who is now causing endless pain and grief. He recapitulates the call from Egypt, and relates how, in obedience to His appeal, Israel came out of the idolatries of that country. He describes Israel as a tiny child beginning to walk, and says, I taught him to go. He compares the Israel of those days to horses or oxen, relieved of the yoke, before whom food is set. Let us remember that God is also willing to teach us to go, and to carry us when we are weary.
The blessed childhood of Israel had become like an overcast morning. They were bent on backsliding. But God's love is not easily repelled. What more pathetic words were ever uttered by broken-hearted parents than Hosea 11:8-9! That is the motive of our plea still. If we were dealing with man, we might despair. But we are dealing with One who forgives us according to the riches of His grace. If a back-slider should read these touching appeals, let him be encouraged to retrace His steps one by one, sure that the Father waits to welcome him where the by-path has broken off from the main road. [source]

Chapter Summary: Hosea 11

1  The ingratitude of Israel unto God for his benefits
5  His judgment
8  God's mercy toward them
12  Israel's falsehood and Judah's fidelity

What do the individual words in Hosea 11:1 mean?

When a child Israel [was] and I loved him and out of Egypt I called My son
כִּ֛י נַ֥עַר יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וָאֹהֲבֵ֑הוּ וּמִמִּצְרַ֖יִם קָרָ֥אתִי לִבְנִֽי

נַ֥עַר  a  child 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נַעַר  
Sense: a boy, lad, servant, youth, retainer.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל  Israel  [was] 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
וָאֹהֲבֵ֑הוּ  and  I  loved  him 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, first person common singular, third person masculine singular
Root: אָהַב  
Sense: to love.
וּמִמִּצְרַ֖יִם  and  out  of  Egypt 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: מִצְרַיִם  
Sense: a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows adj Egyptians = “double straits”.
קָרָ֥אתִי  I  called 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
לִבְנִֽי  My  son 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.

What are the major concepts related to Hosea 11:1?

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Similar Scriptures for Hosea 11:1

Matthew 2:15 [11]
Exodus 4:22 [8]
Hosea 2:15 [3]
Hosea 12:9 [2]
Jeremiah 2:2 [2]
Ezekiel 16:6 [2]
Deuteronomy 7:7 [2]
Hosea 12:13 [2]
Hosea 13:4 [2]
Malachi 1:2 [2]
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