Matthew 2:8 is the eighth 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....

. The magi

Biblical Magi

The Magi Greek: μάγοι, magoi), also referred to as the Wise Men, Kings, Astrologers, or Kings from the East, were a group of distinguished foreigners who were said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh...

 have informed 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...

 that they had seen portents showing the birth of the King of the Jews

Jewish Messiah

Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...

. After consulting with the leading Jewish religious figures Herod sends the magi to find the infant.

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

And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search

diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him,

bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

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:

He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, "Go and search

diligently for the young child. When you have found

him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him."

Many scholars, such as 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...

 and Schweizer, find this passage improbable. Bethlehem is only five miles from Jerusalem and it is thus odd that Herod needs to use foreign magi who he had just met for such an important task. Schweizer comments on how odd it is that the deeply suspicious Herod places his absolute trust in the magi. France

R. T. France

Richard Thomas France is a New Testament scholar and Anglican cleric. He was Principal of Wycliffe Hall Oxford from 1989 to 1995. He has also worked for the London School of Theology.-Biography:...

 defends the historicity of this story. He theorizes that Herod decided not to use soldiers as they would alarm the villagers and make it difficult to find the infant. Also any soldiers or others close to Herod would have known very well why they were hunting the infant King of the Jews

Jewish Messiah

Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...

and may have balked at killing the potential messiah. The magi as foreigners and gentiles might have been more likely to trust Herod and have had fewer qualms if they did suspect him.