[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Timotheist

Contained within Matthew’s highly unlikely nativity narrative is this little gem:

14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."
(Mat 2:14-15 NAU)

The prophet cited here is undoubtedly Hosea:

Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.

The “son” is obviously Israel. Is it a dual passage including a prophecy about the coming Messiah? Not likely, for the following verse contains this about the “son” in verse 1:

2 …They kept sacrificing to the Baals And burning incense to idols.
(Hos 11:2 NAU)

Was Hosea unique in calling Israel “My son”? Absolutely not. In fact, Hosea was in turn citing Exodus:

22 "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, "Israel is My son, My firstborn.
23 "So I said to you, 'Let My son go that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn."'"
(Exo 4:22-23 NAU)

This passage in Matthew is an example among many others, where various phrases in the OT are taken to be Messianic prophecies. It seems obvious to me that the contributing authors to the Matthew narrative had developed a oral tradition over time, where history was invented in order to help “fulfill prophecies”. They were likely Gentiles uneducated in Hebrew, used a faulty Greek translation, did not listen to Jews who tried to correct their narratives, were influenced by Greek religions, and did not or were not capable of proper OT research.

And asserted Spiritual inspiration when questioned.

They saw the phrase “My Son” and went with it. Thus the escape to Egypt as part of the nativity story became their truth. As living in Egypt is not confirmed in any other part of the NT, I deem it false.

This kind of stuff reminds me of the Holocaust deniers.