Hosea 11:1

Reversal of the Exodus: Return to Egypt and Exile in Assyria

11:1 When Israel was a young man, I loved him like a son, ¹ 

and I summoned my son ²  out of Egypt.

Jeremiah 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ³  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ⁴  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ⁵  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Ezekiel 16:8

16:8 “‘Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing ⁶  that you had reached the age for love. ⁷  I spread my cloak ⁸  over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

Ezekiel 16:22

16:22 And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.

Ezekiel 16:60

16:60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a lasting ⁹  covenant with you.

¹ tn The words “like a son” are not in the Hebrew text, but are necessary to clarify what sort of love is intended (cf. also NLT).

² tc The MT reads בְנִי (vÿni, “My son”); however, the LXX reflects בָנָיו (vanav, “his sons”). The MT should be retained as original here because of internal evidence; it is much more appropriate to the context.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

⁵ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a participle.

⁷ tn See similar use of this term in Ezek 23:17; Prov 7:16; Song of Songs 4:10; 7:13.

⁸ tn Heb “wing” or “skirt.” The gesture symbolized acquiring a woman in early Arabia (similarly, see Deut 22:30; Ruth 3:9).

⁹ tn Or “eternal.”