Comentario citado sobre Malaquías 1:2

And evidence for all this is from the midrash of our Sages, brought in Yalkut Parshat Shoftim (907), which states: Judges and officers shall you appoint for yourself — This is comparable to a king who had many sons and loved the youngest more than all of them. The king had an orchard that he cherished more than all his possessions, and he gave the orchard that he loved to his youngest son whom he loved. Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Of all the nations, I love Israel, as it is said When Israel was a youth I loved him, and from Egypt I called My son (Hosea 11:1).” And it is written For the Lord loves justice (Psalms 37:28). He gave the laws to Israel. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: “If you observe the law, I am exalted, as it is stated And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted through justice (Isaiah 5:16).”
One must analyze this midrash carefully, for it states, “This is comparable to a king who had many sons,” thus it refers to the nations as “sons” too. This is not explicitly stated in any verse. On the contrary, the verse states, from Egypt I called My son, which implies that only Israel is called “sons.” Also, from the statement “he loved the youngest more than all of them,” it implies that He loves the nations too, just not as much as Israel. This has no proof from Scripture; on the contrary, the verse states Yet I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated (Malachi 1:2-3). Furthermore, why did [the midrash] bring the verse When Israel was a youth I loved him as proof? Why not bring the verse I have loved you, says the Lord (ibid. 1:2) as proof?

And evidence for all this is from the midrash of our Sages, brought in Yalkut Parshat Shoftim (907), which states: Judges and officers shall you appoint for yourself — This is comparable to a king who had many sons and loved the youngest more than all of them. The king had an orchard that he cherished more than all his possessions, and he gave the orchard that he loved to his youngest son whom he loved. Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Of all the nations, I love Israel, as it is said When Israel was a youth I loved him, and from Egypt I called My son (Hosea 11:1).” And it is written For the Lord loves justice (Psalms 37:28). He gave the laws to Israel. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: “If you observe the law, I am exalted, as it is stated And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted through justice (Isaiah 5:16).”
One must analyze this midrash carefully, for it states, “This is comparable to a king who had many sons,” thus it refers to the nations as “sons” too. This is not explicitly stated in any verse. On the contrary, the verse states, from Egypt I called My son, which implies that only Israel is called “sons.” Also, from the statement “he loved the youngest more than all of them,” it implies that He loves the nations too, just not as much as Israel. This has no proof from Scripture; on the contrary, the verse states Yet I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated (Malachi 1:2-3). Furthermore, why did [the midrash] bring the verse When Israel was a youth I loved him as proof? Why not bring the verse I have loved you, says the Lord (ibid. 1:2) as proof?

ואחר, the construction is similar to ואאחר, or as in Maleachi 1,2 ואוהב את יעקב “I displayed love for Yaakov.” In both instances this is an abbreviation for ואאהב. We have similar constructions in vaochal, vaomar, in both instances the first root letter is missing.

and I have become ill Heb. ואנושה, I am ailing and sick, as (Micah 1:9): “For she is mortally ill (אנושה) [from] her wounds,” and as (II Sam. 12:15): “and the child (sic) became mortally ill (ויאנש),” of Bathsheba. Now if you ask how this “aleph” serves as a radical and also as a prefix denoting the first person, this is the way of a word beginning with “aleph.” For example, (Mal. 1:2): “and I loved (וָאֹהַב) Jacob”; (Prov. 8:17), “I will love (אֵהָב) those who love me.” It is equivalent to וָאֶאֶהַב Similarly, (Zeph. 1:2): “I will totally destroy (אָסֹף אָסֵף),” like אֶאֶסֹף.