When Matthew quotes Hosea, he knows Hosea's context. The past exodus with which Jesus identified (Hos 11:1) was the historic sign of the covenant anticipating a new exodus (Hos 11:11). By quoting the beginning of the passage, Matthew evokes the passage as a whole and shows how Jesus is the forerunner of the new exodus, the time of ultimate salvation. Matthew uses God's pattern in history to remind us that our call and destiny, not the ridicule of outsiders, must define us. We are the people of the new exodus, the people of God's kingdom.

Matthew declares (2:15) that Jesus' sojourn in Egypt fulfills Hosea's prophecy Out of Egypt I called my son (Hos 11:1). But this second line in Hosea's verse directly parallels the first, "When Israel was a child, I loved him." Thus by citing Hosea 11:1 Matthew evokes the new exodus in Jesus, who embodies Israel's purpose and mission (Longenecker 1975:144-45). But by emphasizing that Jesus' return from Egypt reveals his sonship, Matthew again emphasizes that Jesus' mission is for all peoples (compare Acts 6:13; 7:33).

Matthew's quotation from Hosea also reminds us that Jesus identifies with his people's heritage. Jesus appears as the promised one greater than Moses (Deut 18:18; compare Mt 4:2; 17:2) and the heir of God's call to Israel. As God protected Moses when Pharaoh killed the male Israelite children, so God protects Jesus.

Further, Jesus goes to Egypt like Israel under the first Joseph, and like Pharaoh, Herod slays male Israelite children (Ex 1:16-2:5; Ps-Philo 9:1). To persecuted Christians, Herod's Pharaoh-like behavior is significant. Infanticide and more frequently child abandonment constituted typically pagan offenses that the Jewish people despised (for example, Wis 12:5-6; 14:23; Ps-Philo 2:10; 4:16); only such pagan evildoers as Antiochus IV Epiphanes had repeated Pharaoh's murder of Israelite babies (1 Macc 1:60-61; 2 Macc 6:10; 8:4).

Part of the moral of the story is therefore how it reflects on rulers among God's people: if a supposed "king of the Jews" can be a new Pharaoh, one cannot necessarily count on one's own people for allies. Matthew again challenges his readers' prejudice against Gentiles, reminding them of their opposition from fellow Jews. In a world still divided by racial and national ties, Christians from all peoples must remember that no group of people is incapable of producing evil. Herod's behavior may thus summon us to examine the sins of our own people first (compare 7:1-5).