Jer 2:2, Hos 11:1 | JFB | STEP | 2. cry —proclaim. Jerusalem —the headquarters and center of their idolatry; therefore addressed first. thee —rather, "I remember in regard to thee " [HENDERSON ]; "for thee" [MAURER ]. kindness of thy youth —not so much Israel's kindness towards God, as the kindness which Israel experienced from God in their early history (compare ). For Israel from the first showed perversity rather than kindness towards God (compare , &c.). The greater were God's favors to them from the first, the fouler was their ingratitude in forsaking Him ( , &c.). espousals —the intervals between Israel's betrothal to God at the exodus from Egypt, and the formal execution of the marriage contract at Sinai. EWALD takes the "kindness" and "love" to be Israel's towards God at first ( ). But compare ("days of thy youth ") implies that the love here meant was on God's side, not Israel's. thou wentest after me in . . . wilderness —the next act of God's love, His leading them in the desert without needing any strange god, such as they since worshipped, to help Him ( ). shows it is God's "leading" of them, not their following after God in the wilderness, which is implied.

Jeremiah 2:2

2. cry—proclaim.

Jerusalem—the headquarters and center of their idolatry; therefore addressed first.

thee—rather, "I remember in regard to thee" [HENDERSON]; "for thee" [MAURER].

kindness of thy youth—not so much Israel's kindness towards God, as the kindness which Israel experienced from God in their early history (compare Eze 16:8, 22, 60; 23:3, 8, 19; Ho 2:15). For Israel from the first showed perversity rather than kindness towards God (compare Ex 14:11, 12; 15:24; 32:1-7, &c.). The greater were God's favors to them from the first, the fouler was their ingratitude in forsaking Him (Jer 2:3, 5, &c.).

espousals—the intervals between Israel's betrothal to God at the exodus from Egypt, and the formal execution of the marriage contract at Sinai. EWALD takes the "kindness" and "love" to be Israel's towards God at first (Ex 19:8; 24:3; 35:20-29; 36:5; Jos 24:16-17). But compare De 32:16, 17; Eze 16:5, 6, 15, 22 ("days of thy youth") implies that the love here meant was on God's side, not Israel's.

thou wentest after me in . . . wilderness—the next act of God's love, His leading them in the desert without needing any strange god, such as they since worshipped, to help Him (De 2:7; 32:12). Jer 2:6 shows it is God's "leading" of them, not their following after God in the wilderness, which is implied.

Hosea 11:1

1. Israel . . . called my son out of Egypt—BENGEL translates, "From the time that he (Israel) was in Egypt, I called him My son," which the parallelism proves. So Ho 12:9 and Ho 13:4 use "from . . . Egypt," for "from the time that thou didst sojourn in Egypt." Ex 4:22 also shows that Israel was called by God, "My son," from the time of his Egyptian sojourn (Isa 43:1). God is always said to have led or brought forth, not to have "called," Israel from Egypt. Mt 2:15, therefore, in quoting this prophecy (typically and primarily referring to Israel, antitypically and fully to Messiah), applies it to Jesus' sojourn in Egypt, not His return from it. Even from His infancy, partly spent in Egypt, God called Him His son. 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; 45:18; 46:3, 4; Eze 16:4-6; Jer 31:20) to sojourn in Egypt. So He, and His spiritual Israel, are already called "God's sons" while yet in the Egypt of the world.