"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, And called my son out of Egypt.
"The passage at its outset has similarities to the form of the legal complaint made by parents against a rebellious child (Deuteronomy 21:18-21; cf. Isaiah 1:2-20 where hope is held out that the child [Israel] may yet repent and receive compassion rather than death)." [Note: Stuart, p. 175] 