God's son called out of Egypt
Matthew reads Jesus' return from Egypt through the story of Israel, God's son.
Historical context
Hosea looks back to Israel's exodus and God's parental care, then laments Israel's turning to other gods.
Tradition note
Read the unity of Scripture in Christ while attending to the Old Testament's literal setting and the New Testament's use of it. Fulfillment can include a renewed historical pattern, not only an isolated prediction; this collection is a study guide rather than an exhaustive doctrinal catalogue.
Avoid overclaiming
Hosea 11:1 is a retrospective description of Israel's exodus, not an original future prediction of Jesus' journey. Matthew explicitly calls it fulfillment through a renewed son-and-exodus pattern.
Key points
- Fulfillment citation
- Matthew 2:13–15 (Fulfillment citation) — Matthew's account of the stay in Egypt anticipates the calling out of Egypt and labels Hosea's words as fulfilled.
- Matthew 2:19–21 (Fulfillment citation) — The narrated return from Egypt completes the sequence anticipated by the fulfillment citation in Matthew 2:15; this is not the separate Nazorean saying in 2:23.
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew's account of the stay in Egypt anticipates the calling out of Egypt and labels Hosea's words as fulfilled. The narrated return from Egypt completes the sequence anticipated by the fulfillment citation in Matthew 2:15; this is not the separate Nazorean saying in 2:23.
Scripture
- Hosea 11:1–4 — Hosea looks back to Israel's exodus and God's parental care, then laments Israel's turning to other gods.
- Matthew 2:13–15 — Matthew's account of the stay in Egypt anticipates the calling out of Egypt and labels Hosea's words as fulfilled.
- Matthew 2:19–21 — The narrated return from Egypt completes the sequence anticipated by the fulfillment citation in Matthew 2:15; this is not the separate Nazorean saying in 2:23.
Primary sources
Read the conclusion of Irenaeus's argument:
Irenaeus places Matthew's Egypt citation within an argument for continuity between the God of the prophets and the Gospel, not a new historical proof of the journey.
Therefore there is one and the same God, who was proclaimed by the prophets and announced by the Gospel;
Passage context and translation
After citing Matthew's Egypt and Emmanuel texts, Irenaeus argues against dividing the Creator from the God proclaimed in the Gospel. The excerpt ends at the source's semicolon.
After the excerpt
and His Son, who was of the fruit of David's body, that is, of the virgin of [the house of] David, and Emmanuel;