Matthew 2:19 is the nineteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew

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....

. King 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...

 has launched 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 an attempt to kill the infant Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, but the Holy family having been warned have left for 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...

. In this verse Joseph is again contacted by an angel and told that it is safe to return.

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

But when Herod was dead, behold,

an angel of the Lord appeareth

in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

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:

But when Herod was dead, behold,

an angel of the Lord appeared in

a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,

For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 2:19

Herod is believed to have died in March or April of 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...

 and most estimates place Jesus at some two years of age at this point. Matthew does not describe Herod's gory death, which is vividly related by 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...

. This verse copies much of the wording of Matthew 2:13

Matthew 2:13

Matthew 2:13 is the thirteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The magi have left after paying homage to the young Jesus. In this verse an angel warns Joseph that he must flee....

, and is the realization of the events promised there. The shift to the historic present tense marks this. This is the third time in the gospel in which an angel contacts Joseph in a dream the others appearing at Matthew 1:20

Matthew 1:20

Matthew 1:20 is the twentieth verse of the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Previously Joseph had found Mary to be pregnant and had considered leaving her. In this verse an angel comes to him in a dream and reassures him....

 and Matthew 2:13

Matthew 2:13

Matthew 2:13 is the thirteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The magi have left after paying homage to the young Jesus. In this verse an angel warns Joseph that he must flee....

.

John Calvin

John Calvin

John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...

saw this verse as evidence that if one obeyed God's commands, as Joseph did when he fled to Egypt, and remained steadfast and patient, as Joseph did by staying in Egypt, that one would eventually be rewarded.