When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Parallel translations
- WEB “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
- BSB When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.
- NKJV “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.
- NASB When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.
- NLT “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God recalls his tender love for Israel as a son whom he called out of Egypt. It reveals the Lord's fatherly heart toward his people from the beginning.
Overview
This verse looks back to the Exodus, when God claimed Israel as his son and redeemed them from slavery. Matthew 2:15 applies this language to Jesus, the true and faithful Son called out of Egypt, showing that Israel's history finds its fulfillment in Christ. The Father's electing love sets the tone for the chapter's astonishing mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Fulfillment
- Matt 2:15And 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.
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 2:15And 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.
- Exod 4:22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
- Hos 13:4Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.
- Jer 2:2Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
- Hos 2:15And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
- Ezek 16:6And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
- Deut 7:7The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
- Hos 12:13And by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.
- Mal 1:2I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
- Hos 12:9And I that am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt will yet make thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the solemn feast.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 11:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.