1“When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
and called my son out of Egypt.
2They called to them, so they went from them.
They sacrificed to the Baals,
and burned incense to engraved images.
3Yet I taught Ephraim to walk.
I took them by their arms,
but they didn’t know that I healed them.
4I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love;
and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks;
and I bent down to him and I fed him.
5“They won’t return into the land of Egypt;
but the Assyrian will be their king,
because they refused to repent.
6The sword will fall on their cities,
and will destroy the bars of their gates,
and will put an end to their plans.
7My people are determined to turn from me.
Though they call to the Most High,
he certainly won’t exalt them.
8“How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboiim?
My heart is turned within me,
my compassion is aroused.
9I will not execute the fierceness of my anger.
I will not return to destroy Ephraim,
for I am God, and not man—the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath.
10They will walk after Yahweh,
who will roar like a lion;
for he will roar, and the children will come trembling from the west.
11They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt,
and like a dove out of the land of Assyria;
and I will settle them in their houses,” says Yahweh.
12Ephraim surrounds me with falsehood,
and the house of Israel with deceit.
Judah still strays from God,
and is unfaithful to the Holy One.
New Testament writers followed identifiable practices of rabbinic interpretation without going to the fanciful extremes that were common at the time.Examples of the four kinds of rabbinic methodology are found in the second chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.
First, Matthew’s quotation of Micah 5:2 in Matthew 2:5-6 is an example of Pshat, in which meaning is plain or simple.Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is a plain and simple fulfillment of what was prophesied.
Second, Matthew’s quotation of Hosea 11:1 in Matthew 2:15 is an example of Remez, in which meaning is hinted at, or suggested. God’s calling of Messiah (Yahweh’s individual son) out of Egypt following Herod’s death is seen as fulfilling the type of Yahweh’s calling Israel (his national son) out of bondage in Egypt at the time of the exodus.
Third, Matthew’s reference to Rachel weeping for her children, in Matthew 2:17-18, is an example of Drash, in which meaning is the result of exposition or investigation. The mourning of mothers whose infants were slaughtered by Herod at the time of Christ is seen as an application of a single point of similarity to the mourning of Jewish mothers at the time their sons were taken in captivity (Jer. 31:15). As a wife of Jacob (Israel), and mother of some tribes (Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh), Rachel serves as a timeless representation of all Jewish mothers.
Fourth, Matthew’s reference to Jesus being called a Nazarene (Matt. 2:23) is said to be the fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophets. This is an example of Sod, in which meaning is mysterious or secret. While none of the prophets actually predicted that Jesus would be called a Nazarene, there are several references to his being despised and rejected, including Isaiah 53:3. At the time of Christ, to be from Nazareth was to suffer the stigma that Matthew saw as a summation of the messianic prophecies regarding his rejection.