Hosea — Chapter 11

Ex Aegypto vocavi filium meum

'Out of Egypt have I called my son'—à Lapide's treatment is a small masterpiece of typological exegesis. In the literal-historical sense this refers to the Exodus of Israel. In the allegorical sense Matthew 2:15 applies it to Christ's return from Egypt. À Lapide, against those who claim Matthew only accommodates the text, insists on a genuine double literal sense, following the Thomistic doctrine of divine authorial intent encompassing both historical Israel and the Messiah.

Quomodo dabo te Ephraim

'How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?' À Lapide calls this the cry of divine pathos, unique in the prophets. God's heart recoils from destruction; the divine affections are described anthropopathically by condescension to human understanding. He cites John Chrysostom: God speaks thus not because He is moved by passion but to show the infinite distance between His love and any human love.