Hosea 11:1
in Hosea 11When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
KJV
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
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This verse in Hosea 11
Commentary
13 notes on this verse"Just as the morning passes, the king of Israel passes away: for Israel is a boy, and I have loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt: they called them: so they went from their presence: they sacrificed to Baalim, and offered sacrifices to idols." LXX: "They have cast off the morning, the king of Israel has been cast off, because Israel is a little one, and I have loved him, and have called his sons out of Egypt.
This site's exposition
I called My son
The verse looks back to the exodus: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son". Exodus 4:22 to 23 already names Israel as God's son. Matthew 2:15 quotes the verse of the infant Jesus brought back from Egypt after Herod's death.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 3:8–9 · Written before 373.
proposed
Because Israel, symbolically called "son" since Egypt, had lost its sonship through having worshiped Baal and offered incense to idols, John gave them a name which suited them: race of vipers. Because these had lost that title of sonship, which had been poured over them …
A commentator
Gregory of NazianzusON THE ARRIVAL OF THE EGYPTIANS, ORATION 34:1 · Written before 390.
proposed
I will address myself as is right to those who have come from Egypt. They have come here eagerly, having overcome ill will by zeal. They come from that Egypt which is enriched by the river who is Christ, raining out of the earth and like the sea in its season—if I too may follow in my small measure those who have so eloquently spoken of these matters. They too are enriched by Christ my Lord. He too was once fugitive in Egypt; the first, when he fled from Herod's massacre of the children, and now by the love of the fathers for their children, by Christ the new food of those who hunger after good, who offers the greatest alms of corn of which history speaks and men believe. He is the bread that came down from heaven and gives life to the world, that life which is indestructible and indissoluble. It is of him that I now seem to hear the Father saying, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."
It is as a result of folly and a childish attitude that they suffer this punishment. I recalled them from Egypt and freed them from that harsh servitude, but they proved ungrateful to me and opted for the worship of the idols (referring to them …
Herod sought him after his birth. He was going to kill all the children in that place. And the prophet revealed this too, foretelling it long beforehand when he said, "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, mourning and much weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are not." The Scriptures also predicted that he would come to Egypt when they said, "Out of Egypt I called my son."
The Reformation1 voice
What baseness was this, and how shameful the wickedness, to make such a return to the author of their life and salvation? The Prophet therefore enhances the sin and baseness of the people by this circumstance, that the Lord had loved them even from childhood; when yet, he says, Israel was a child, I loved him The nativity of the people was their coming out of Egypt.
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Called my son - Adopted him to be my son, and as my son, provided for him, and brought him out of servitude. Out of Egypt - But Israel, the first adopted son was a type of Christ the first-born. And the history of Israel's coming out was a type of Christ's future coming out of Egypt.
The calling of Christ out of Egypt was a figure of the calling of all that are his, through him, out of spiritual slavery. He gave them a good education, took care of them, took pains with them, not only as a father or tutor, but, such is the condescension of divine grace, as a mother or nurse (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
When Israel was a child, then I loved him,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
When Israel was a child, then I loved him - God loved Israel, as He Himself formed it, ere it corrupted itself. He loved it for the sake of the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as he saith, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” Mal 1:2. Then, when it was weak, helpless, oppressed by the Egyptians, afflicted, destitute, God loved him, cared for him, delivered him from oppression, and called him out of Egypt. : “When did He love Israel?
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
God included Messiah, and Israel for Messiah's sake, in one common love, and therefore in one common prophecy. Messiah's people and Himself are one, as the Head and the body. Isa 49:3 calls Him "Israel." The same general reason, danger of extinction, caused the infant Jesus, and Israel in its national infancy (compare Ge 42:1-43:34;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
When Israel was a child - In the infancy of his political existence. I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt - Where he was greatly oppressed; and in this I gave the proof of my love. I preserved my people in their affliction there, and brought them safely out of it.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and from Egypt I called My son through My prophets to cleave to My Torah. But what did they do?..
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The more they called to them, the more they went away from them As much as the prophets call to teach them the good way, so did they turn their backs to run away from them.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֛י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נַ֥עַר | naar | [was] a youth | H5288 → | |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וָאֹהֲבֵ֑הוּ | vaohavehu | and I loved him | H157 → | 211 times |
| וּמִמִּצְרַ֖יִם | umimitzrayim | and from Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| קָרָ֥אתִי | karati | I summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| לִבְנִֽי׃ | livni | <to> son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
כִּ֛יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
נַ֥עַר[was] a youth
naarH5288 →
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וָאֹהֲבֵ֑הוּand I loved him
vaohavehuH157 →211 times
וּמִמִּצְרַ֖יִםand from Egypt
umimitzrayimH4714 →641 times
קָרָ֥אתִיI summoned
karatiH7121 →733 times
לִבְנִֽי׃<to> son my
livniH1121 →4930 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 2:15where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
it leads to
- Exodus 4:22
Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,
- Numbers 24:8
God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows.
- Exodus 4:22
Through
Jeremiah 2:2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness,…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 16:60
But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
- Ezekiel 16:8
Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a…
- Ezekiel 16:60
Through
Hosea 13:4Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:21–22
Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but…
- Hosea 12:9
But I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt. I will again make you dwell in tents, as in the days of the appointed feast.
- Isaiah 45:21–22
Through
Hosea 2:15There I will give back her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor into a gateway of hope. There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth, as in the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 2:2
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness,…
- Ezekiel 28:26
And there they will dwell securely, build houses, and plant vineyards. They will dwell securely when I execute judgments against all those around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that…
- Jeremiah 2:2
Where this verse is studied
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About Hosea
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 3:8–9; Gregory of Nazianzus, ON THE ARRIVAL OF THE EGYPTIANS, ORATION 34:1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Hosea 11:1-2; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Chrysostom, DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 3:7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON HOSEA 11:1–4.