When Israel was a child, &c.— Israel is my son: I have loved him as a son, and delivered him from Egypt. "I have regarded him as my child; I have taken the same care of him as a father does of a son." The prophet seems to allude to the words of Moses, Exodus 4:22-23. St. Matthew has quoted this passage of Hosea, and applied it to the return of our Saviour from Egypt. He says, that then these words of the prophet were fulfilled; I have called my son out of Egypt. The departure of the Jews from that country was only a figure of that of the Saviour; and the name of the first-born, which the Scripture on that occasion gives to Israel, was literally and exactly verified only in the person of Jesus Christ. Eusebius, however, and several other ancient writers, are of opinion, that St. Matthew did not take this passage from Hosea, but from the words of Balaam, Numbers 24:8. But we shall say more concerning this matter on Matthew 2:15.
Related Commentaries of Hosea 11:1
Hosea 11:1
1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.