Matthew 2:16
Encyclopedia
Matthew 2:16 is the sixteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in the New Testament
.
Joseph and Mary had been visited by an angel and told that Herod
would attempt to kill Jesus, their son. Doing as told, they took their infant son and fled by night into Egypt
, where they stayed until Herod had died. The three Magi
were separately warned in a dream of the threat that King Herod posed and went home by a different route than they came.
Herod had planned to make the Magi tell him of the whereabouts of the Christ
child. When he hears of the Magi's change in course, he grew angry and tried to kill the infant messiah
by killing all the young children in the area, an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents
.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
The World English Bible
translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 2:16
Brown
notes that the then, when construction is used throughout Matthew to indicate a change of scene as in this case where the narrative moves from the Holy Family to King Herod.
The word empaizein is variously translated as deceived or mocked, in reality Brown notes that the word is a combination of the two ideas and has no direct English translation.
Clarke notes that the description of Herod as "exceeding wroth" has been central to Herod's perception and was the foundation for how the king was portrayed in the mystery cycles of the past and in modern popular culture.
Jones notes that the term "surroundings" is a specific term referring to the rural areas around the village of Bethlehem. It does not refer to any other nearby towns or villages. At the time Bethlehem was a small village and it and its surrounding area would have had a very small population. Albright and Mann estimate the village would have had only some 300 people at the time, Raymond E. Brown
estimates it was around a thousand. For all these figures, the number of children killed would have been less than twenty. This number clashes with the traditional view of thousands of deaths, but it helps explain why the massacre was not mentioned by any historians such as Josephus
. The killing of all the infants in a small village would have been only one of many massacres Herod is recorded to have carried out in his later years. At the same time Brown notes that the double word all shows that the author of Matthew is trying to portray a large massacre.
Gundry
notes that "two years old and under" properly refers to children who have not entered there second year, thus those twelve months old and younger. That Herod picks this number is considered an important clue to when Jesus was born. It is taken to indicate that close to a year had elapsed since the birth of Jesus. Herod is believed to have died in 4 BC
so based on Matthew Jesus' birth is guessed to have been in 5 or 6 BC.
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.
Joseph and Mary had been visited by an angel and told that Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
would attempt to kill Jesus, their son. Doing as told, they took their infant son and fled by night into Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where they stayed until Herod had died. The three Magi
Magi
Magi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BC, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which...
were separately warned in a dream of the threat that King Herod posed and went home by a different route than they came.
Herod had planned to make the Magi tell him of the whereabouts of the Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
child. When he hears of the Magi's change in course, he grew angry and tried to kill the infant messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
by killing all the young children in the area, an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents
Massacre of the Innocents
The Massacre of the Innocents is an episode of infanticide by the King of Judea, Herod the Great. According to the Gospel of Matthew Herod orders the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth...
.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
- Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men,
- was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children
- that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from
- two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently
- inquired of the wise men.
The World English Bible
World English Bible
The World English Bible is a public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form. Work on the World English Bible began in 1997 and was known as the American Standard Version 1997...
translates the passage as:
- Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men,
- was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children
- who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from
- two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had
- learned from the wise men.
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 2:16
Brown
Raymond E. Brown
The Reverend Raymond Edward Brown, S.S. , was an American Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Sulpician Fathers and a major Biblical scholar of his era...
notes that the then, when construction is used throughout Matthew to indicate a change of scene as in this case where the narrative moves from the Holy Family to King Herod.
The word empaizein is variously translated as deceived or mocked, in reality Brown notes that the word is a combination of the two ideas and has no direct English translation.
Clarke notes that the description of Herod as "exceeding wroth" has been central to Herod's perception and was the foundation for how the king was portrayed in the mystery cycles of the past and in modern popular culture.
Jones notes that the term "surroundings" is a specific term referring to the rural areas around the village of Bethlehem. It does not refer to any other nearby towns or villages. At the time Bethlehem was a small village and it and its surrounding area would have had a very small population. Albright and Mann estimate the village would have had only some 300 people at the time, Raymond E. Brown
Raymond E. Brown
The Reverend Raymond Edward Brown, S.S. , was an American Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Sulpician Fathers and a major Biblical scholar of his era...
estimates it was around a thousand. For all these figures, the number of children killed would have been less than twenty. This number clashes with the traditional view of thousands of deaths, but it helps explain why the massacre was not mentioned by any historians such as Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
. The killing of all the infants in a small village would have been only one of many massacres Herod is recorded to have carried out in his later years. At the same time Brown notes that the double word all shows that the author of Matthew is trying to portray a large massacre.
Gundry
Robert H. Gundry
Robert Horton Gundry is a Biblical scholar. He received a B.A. and a B.D. degree from the Los Angeles Baptist College and Seminary, and his Ph.D. from Manchester University in Manchester, England in 1961 and has taught for several decades at Westmont College in California...
notes that "two years old and under" properly refers to children who have not entered there second year, thus those twelve months old and younger. That Herod picks this number is considered an important clue to when Jesus was born. It is taken to indicate that close to a year had elapsed since the birth of Jesus. Herod is believed to have died in 4 BC
4 BC
Year 4 BC was a common year starting on Tuesday or Wednesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
so based on Matthew Jesus' birth is guessed to have been in 5 or 6 BC.