The original text was written inHebrew.This chapter is divided into 12 verses in Christian Bibles, but 11 verses in the Hebrew Bible, with verse 12 transferred to the start ofchapter 12.[7][8]This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.
Biblical scholarJohn Day describes this section as portraying God's "inextinguishable" love, leading him to call it "one of the high points in the Old Testament".[3]
"And out ofEgypt I called My son": or "From the time that he (Israel) was in Egypt, I called him My son," (according toBengel) in parallel to the use of "from the land of Egypt" inHosea 12:9 andHosea 13:4.[6]Exodus 4:22 shows that Israel was called "My son" by God from the period of Egyptian sojourn (Isaiah 43:1) and God is always said to "have led" or "brought forth", not to have "called", Israel from Egypt.[6]Matthew 2:15 quotes this prophecy for Jesus' sojourn in Egypt, not His return from it.[6] The same general reason, that is, the danger of extinction, caused Israel in its national infancy and the infant Jesus (cf.Genesis 42:1–43:34;45:18;46:3, 4;Ezekiel 16:4–6;Jeremiah 31:20) to sojourn in Egypt.[6]
The verse has two textual variants: one is the standard reading of "Out of Egypt I called my son" and a second is found in the Greek Septuagint "Out of Egypt I called his children", which is likely based on a small variation ofbenei, "my son", in the Hebrew Masoretic Text, tobeneiu, "his children", as a possible source of the Septuagint reading.[17]
Admah andZeboim were cities in the same plain asSodom and Gomorrah, each with a king (Genesis 14:2) and, although they are not mentioned by name in the narrative inGenesis, were destroyed together with Sodom and Gomorrah, as recorded in a general term "those cities and all the plain" (Genesis 19:25) or later in detail "...that the whole land thereof is brimstone and salt and burning, ... like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His wrath" (Deuteronomy 29:22–23).[19][20] The editors of theJerusalem Bible link "Sodom and Gomorrah" with theYahwistic tradition and "Admah and Zeboim" with theElohistic tradition.[21]
"My heart churns within Me": or "my heart is within me changed", that is, 'from anger to pity'.[20]
"My sympathy is stirred": fromHebrew:נכמרו נחומי,niḵ-mə-rūni-khū-māy;[22] almost the same phrase is found inGenesis 43:30,Hebrew:נכמרו רחמיו,niḵ-mə-rūra-khă-māw,[23] 'his [Joseph's] compassion [bowels] were overcome [towards his brother].'[24] The word rendered "is stirred" or "were overcome" (nik’meru), according to Rashi, "one warmed", has a close affinity with the Assyriankamâru, "to throw down", as in Hosea 10:5 fork’mârîm, "(idolatrous) priests".[24] The word for "sympathy" is from Hebrewnikhumim, from Pielנִחֵם, a noun ofהבוד, less definite thanrakhamim, "bowels", as "the seat of the emotions".[20]
Verses 8–9 form one of the most moving passages in the Hebrew Bible, where God struggles with the anguish of his love, that he cannot totally destroy Israel as he did Admah and Zeboim.[25]
Modern scholars have examined the father–son imagery in theHosea chapter 11 in light of Ancient Near Eastern conceptions of divine kingship and vassal treaties. Gili Kugler argues that Hosea 11 reflects a hybrid metaphor, combining elements of both royal adoption and political subjugation. In her analysis, Israel functions as a “divine vassal,” adopted by God, yet bound by the same legal-moral obligations that defined a vassal’s loyalty to a suzerain. This status grants Israel privilege and protection but also leaves it vulnerable to punishment and loss when disobedient. According to Kugler, the chapter’s oscillation between tenderness (vv. 1–4, 8–9) and threat (vv. 5–7) mirrors the tension between divine compassion and covenantal conditionality characteristic of Ancient Near Eastern political relationships.[29]
^Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Old Testament. London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
^abcJoseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). ThePulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.