Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 2:14
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
When he arose – Having arisen; that is, he arose immediately after awaking from his dream, and prepared at once to obey the command,
By night – Thus he showed his prompt obedience to the command, and at the same time so concealed his departure as to render himself and Mary and the child safe from pursuit.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 2:14
Departed into Egypt.
I. The natural seed of Israel, as called out of Egypt.
II. The divine seed, the man Christ Jesus.
III. The chosen seed that shall be brought out of Egypt. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
True faith, or assent to a Divine revelation, always produces obedience to the precept of it. Thus it did in the wise men, thus in Joseph. Thus every where in holy writ. By which we may learn, that they indeed believe not the Scriptures to be the word of God, who take no care to live up to the rule of life prescribed in them. Joseph not only obeyed, but readily and presently obeyed:
When he arose, he took the young Child and his mother. The poverty of our Saviours parents is not obscurely gathered from this hasty motion of Joseph. His motion was not delayed for the packing up of goods, gathering in of debts, &c; if he lost any thing by his haste, yet he carried with him the promise and special care of God for him and his. Yet he moveth prudentially, and therefore he begins his journey
by night, when least notice could be taken of his motion. We are not to put God upon working miracles for our preservation, though we have never so many sure promises, when it may be obtained in the use of means. They are Gods security given to creatures, whom he hath endued with reason, and expressed that we should use it, while we yet trust in his word. We are not told into what part of Egypt Joseph went, nor how long he stayed there: some say six or seven years; others, but three or four months. The text saith he
was there until the death of Herod. Some say that was before the paschal solemnity that year. But these things are great uncertainties. It is certain he stayed there till Herod died, but when that certainly was we know not, nor is it material for us to be curious in inquiring.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, Out of Egypt have I called my Son. That it might be fulfilled is a phrase we often meet with in the New Testament, to declare the harmony of Scripture, and the faithfulness of God in fulfilling the prophecies or promises of the Old Testament. Spanhemius tells us: “The Scripture is said to be fulfilled properly or improperly.” Properly two ways, either literally or mystically. Improperly, secondarily, when some such like thing happeneth as was before foretold or spoken of, or an example is brought parallel to some former example. Literally the Scripture is said to be fulfilled;
1. When a thing before prophesied of, or promised, cometh to pass. Thus the prophecy, Isa 7:14, was literally fulfilled Mat 1:23; so Mic 5:2 was literally fulfilled Mat 2:6, by Christs being born in Bethlehem; so Zec 9:9 was literally fulfilled Mat 21:5. Or else;
2. When the type is fulfilled in the antitype. Thus we read of many scriptures of the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ, several things about the paschal lamb, the brazen serpent, Solomon, David, Jonah, &c. Improperly the Scripture is said to be fulfilled, when any thing is reported as done, which bear a proportion to something before recorded in holy writ, as spoken or done: thus Christ applies the same thing to the hypocrites which lived in his time, Mat 15:7,8, which Isaiah spoke of those who lived in his time, Isa 29:13 so Mat 13:14; Isa 6:9; this divines call a fulfilling per accommodationem, aut transumptionem.
The question is, whether this scripture, which is Hos 11:1, was fulfilled in Christs being carried into Egypt, properly or improperly. There is a great variety of opinions; those possibly judge best who think that the Israelites going into and coming out of Egypt, was a type of Christs going into Egypt, being preserved there, and coming out again. Matthew saith the scripture was fulfilled, whether properly or improperly is not much material for us to know. I have only added thus much to shorten my discourse hereafter where we shall meet with this phrase.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. When he arose, he took the youngchild and his mother by night, and departed into Egyptdoubtlessthe same night.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother,…. That is, as soon as he awoke out of sleep, and rose from his bed, he did as he was commanded, he prepared for his journey; and very opportunely had the wise men presented their gifts; the gold they brought served to defray the expense of this journey, and which no doubt was so ordered by divine providence for this purpose. Joseph was very punctual and expeditious in obeying the command of God; he took the young child and his mother,
by night, the very selfsame night in which he had this notice; and which season was the most fitting to depart in for secrecy, and most commodious and agreeable to travel in, in those hot countries: hence it appears very manifest, that the coming of the wise men, and the departure of Joseph with Mary and Jesus into Egypt, could not be within a fortnight after the birth of Christ, nor any time before Mary’s Purification; since such a journey must have been very improper and unsuitable, at any time within that period; but rather Jesus must be about two years of age, whether something under, or over, it matters not, when Joseph with him
departed into Egypt: what part of Egypt he went into is not certain. The Jews say that Jesus went to Alexandria in Egypt, and which is probable enough; since this was a place greatly resorted to at this time by Jews, and where provision was made for their sustenance; though they greatly mistake the person with whom he went; for they say f that R. Joshua ben Perachiah, whom they pretend was his master, went to Alexandria in Egypt, and Jesus with him. However, this is an acknowledgment of the truth of this part of Christ’s history, that he was in Egypt; as also when they blasphemously and maliciously say g, did not Ben Stada, by whom they mean Jesus, bring enchantments or magic, , “out of Egypt”, in a cutting in the flesh? To which wicked accusation Arnobius seems to refer h, when he says,
“perhaps we may meet with many other of these reproachful and childish sayings; as that he was a magician, that he performed all these things by secret arts, and that he stole strange sciences, and the names of mighty angels, out of the temples of the Egyptians.”
f T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 107. 2. Cabala R. Abraham. Juchasin, fol. 16. 2. g T. Hieros. Sabbat. fol. 13. 1. Bab. Sabbat. fol. 104. 2. h Adv. Gentes, l. 1. p. 36.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “When he arose,” (ho de egertheis) “Then he arising,” arose at once, during the nighttime, promptly and obediently.
2) “He took the young child and his mother by night,” (paralaben to paidion kai ten metera autou nuktos) “He took the child (Jesus) and his mother (Mary) by night,” during that night, to avoid being seen, and later reported to Herod. It may be recalled that Israel fled Egypt by night, Exo 14:21-22.
3) “And departed into Egypt:” (kai anechoresen eis aigupton) “And departed (left Bethlehem) to go into Egypt:” This story indicates Joseph’s absolute obedience to God, his prompt and unhesitating obedience to God’s call, as he understood it. How soon Mary felt the sword piercing her soul because of her Son, Jesus, Luk 2:35. When he was born there was “no room for him in the inn,” and now Herod was hot after His life.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(14) He took the young child and his mother.The form adopted here, as in the preceding verse, is significantly reverential. In a narrative of common life the natural expression would have been his wife and the young child.
And departed into Egypt.The brevity with which this is told is, to a certain extent, an argument for the non-mythical character of the narrative of which it forms a part. The legends of the Apocryphal Gospels, embodied in many forms of poetry and art, show how easily, in later times, the fabulous element crystallised round the Gospel nucleus of fact. The idols of Egypt bowed or fell down before the divine child; a well sprung up under the palm-tree that gave the traveller shelter. They were attacked by robbers, and owed their preservation to the pity of Dismas, one of the band, who was afterwards the penitent thief of the crucifixion. How far the journey extended we cannot tell. It would have been enough for Josephs object to pass the so-called River of Egypt, which separated that country from the region under Herods sovereignty.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. By night That no informant may be able to indicate whither he has gone. Departed into Egypt Colonies of Jews had for a long time existed and flourished in Egypt. A rival temple had there been built, and there the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, called the Septuagint, was made. It was, by the ordinary caravan road, but a few days’ journey; the gifts of the Magi would furnish ample provision for the expenses, and doubtless there were relatives or friends in Egypt willing to receive them.
The flight to Egypt had three purposes: 1. The security of the child from his enemies. 2. To show the divine care and valuation of the holy child. 3.
To make his childhood’s sufferings an antitype to the history of chosen Israel. As Israel went down into Egypt and tarried there under compulsion of Pharaoh until his restoration to Canaan, so Jesus went down into Egypt and tarried under compulsion of Herod until restored to the Holy Land. Twice, then, out of Egypt did God call his son; namely, his collective son, Israel, and his individual son, Christ.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
a ‘And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod.’
Obediently Joseph did as he was told, and taking the young child and His mother by night, fled to Egypt. Egypt had always provided a place of refuge for Israel in times of danger, and indeed over a million Jews lived there at that time. It had sheltered Israel in the days of the previous Joseph as described in Genesis, it would do the same for the hope of Israel now. Note how Jesus is treading the same path as Israel trod, as He takes refuge in Egypt.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joseph again was obedient to the angel’s word:
v. 14. When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
v. 15. and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son. Matthew relates the carrying out of the command in the very words in which the angel had spoken them in order to show the obedient spirit of Joseph. That very night he quietly made his escape with those entrusted to his care. He made Egypt his home until after the death of Herod, which, by the nearest historical calculation, occurred in the same year. He died of a peculiar, loathsome disease, which caused his flesh to decay upon his bones, rendering him an abhorrent carcass before his soul finally left the body. It may be remarked, in passing, that all accounts of Christ’s stay in Egypt, as found in apocryphal sources, are entirely fanciful and gross pieces of superstition. But it is of interest to find even here a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, Hos 11:1. Though the deliverance of Israel out of the serfdom of Egypt is there referred to, the Holy Ghost here gives us another true explanation, showing that the prophecy relates to the infant Jesus, in His sheltered sojourn in, and safe return from, the country where His ancestors had been held in bondage. Note the reference to the divine inspiration of the prophecy!
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
It is worthy observation, here all along mention is made of the young child and his mother, without the least intimation of any relationship to Joseph. It appears from the history of those times, that Herod himself survived but a little space CHRIST’S departure into Egypt. What a beautiful observation the Psalmist makes of the shortness and transiency of all such characters For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. Psa 37:10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Ver. 14. When he arose he took the young child, &e. ] Whither God leads, we must cheerfully follow, though he seem to lead us, as he did Israel in the wilderness, in and out, backwards and forwards, as if he were treading in a maze; although we were to go with him into those places (Hor. I 32):
” Pigris ubi nulla campis
Arbor aestiva recreatur aura:
Quod latus mundi nebulae malusque
Iupiter urget.
And departed into Egypt ] A country, for its fruitfulness and abundance, anciently called, Publicum orbis horreum, the world’s great granary or barn: Horreum, unde hauriatur. (Plin. Mela.) And to this day, so far as the river waters, they do but throw in the seed, and have four rich harvests in less than four months, saith a recent traveller. a To here flees the Son of God, as to a sanctuary of safety. And some say, that at his coming there all the idols fell to the ground. Sure it is, that when the love of Christ once cometh into the heart, all the idol desires of the world and flesh fall to nothing,Hos 14:8Hos 14:8 .
a Blount’s Yoyage into the Levant.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 2:14 . : Joseph promptly executes the command, , before the day, indicating alarm as well as obedience. The words of the command in Mat 2:13 are repeated by the evangelist in Mat 2:14 to emphasise the obedient spirit of Joseph.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 2:14-15
14So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Mat 2:15 “Out of Egypt I called My Son” Hos 11:1 is the source of this prophetic quote. In the OT “son” referred either to Israel, the King, or the Messiah. The plural “sons” usually referred to angels.
Hos 11:1 in context referred to the Exodus. This then is a play on the word “son,” originally referring to Israel. Matthew alone records this incident. It is impossible to construct an exact chronology of the early life of Jesus from the Gospels. Egypt was home to a large Jewish community. Maybe this is symbolic of a second exodus or deliverance.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
took = took with [him].
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 2:14. , by night) The benefit of night is great in times of persecution.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 2:20, Mat 2:21, Mat 1:24, Act 26:21
Reciprocal: 1Ki 11:17 – Hadad Neh 2:12 – I arose
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2:14
Verse 14. This verse indicates that Joseph arose while it was yet night, for it was under the darkness that he started for Egypt. This is another instance showing promptness in obey ing the command of the Lord. Abraham manifested a similar attitude about the offering up at his son as re corded in Gen 22:3. ..
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.
[Departed into Egypt.] Egypt was now replenished with Jews above measure, and that, partly by reason of them that travelled thither under Jochanan, the son of Kareah, Jeremiah_43; partly with them that flocked thither, more latewardly, to the temple of Onias, of which Josephus writes, and both Talmuds: “When Simeon the Just said, ‘I shall die this year,’ they said to him, ‘Whom, therefore, shall we put in thy place?’ He answered, ‘Behold! My son Onias is before you.’ They made Onias therefore high-priest. But his brother Simeon envied him. Onias, therefore, fled, first into the Royal Mountain, and then into Egypt, and built there an altar, repeating that of the prophet, ‘In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of Egypt.’ ”
“He that hath not seen the cathedral church of Alexandria hath never seen the glory of Israel. It was after the manner of a court-walk, double cloistered. There were sometimes there so many as doubly exceeded the number of those that went out of Egypt. There were seventy golden chairs set with gems, according to the number of the seventy elders. A wooden pulpit also placed in the middle, in which the bishop of the synagogue stood. And when the law was read, after every benediction, a sign being given by a private person waving a handkerchief, they all answered ‘Amen.’ But they sat not confusedly and mixedly together; but every artificer with the professors of the same art: so that if a stranger came, he might mingle himself with the workmen of the same trade, etc. These did wicked Trajan destroy,” etc.
The Babylonian Gemara repeats almost the same things, alleging these last matters after this manner: “They sat not confusedly, but the artificers by themselves, the silversmiths by themselves, the braziers by themselves, the weavers by themselves, etc.; so that if a poor stranger came in, he might know his own fellow-workmen, and betake himself to them, and thence receive sustenance for himself and family.”
So provision was made for the poverty of Joseph and Mary, while they sojourned in Egypt (at Alexandria, probably), partly by selling the presents of the wise men for food and provision by the way; and partly by a supply of victuals from their country-folks in Egypt when they had need.
There are some footsteps in the Talmudists of this journey of our Saviour into Egypt, but so corrupted with venomous malice and blasphemy (as all their writings are), that they seem only to have confessed the truth, that they might have matter the more liberally to reproach him; for so they speak: “When Jannai the king slew the Rabbins, R. Josua Ben Perachiah, and Jesus, went away unto Alexandria in Egypt. Simeon Ben Shetah sent thither, speaking thus, ‘From me Jerusalem the holy city, to thee, O Alexandria in Egypt, my sister, health. My husband dwells with thee, while I, in the mean time, sit alone. Therefore he rose up, and went.’ ” And a little after; “He brought forth four hundred trumpets, and anathematized” [Jesus]. And a little before that; “Elisaeus turned away Gehazi with both his hands, and R. Josua Ben Perachiah thrust away Jesus with both his hands.”
“Did not Ben Satda bring enchantments out of Egypt in the cutting which was in his flesh?” Under the name of Ben Satda they wound our Jesus with their reproaches, although the Glosser upon the place, form the authority of R. Tam, denies it: for thus he; R. Tam saith, This was not Jesus of Nazareth, because they say here, Ben Satda was in the days of Paphus, the son of Judah, who was in the days of R. Akiba: but Jesus was in the days of R. Josua, the son of Perachiah, etc.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 2:14. And he arose. Implying immediate obedience; characteristic of genuine faith.
By night, i.e., the same night.
Departed, or, withdrew, the same word which was used respecting the Magi.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 2:14-15. When he arose Viz., from his bed, he took the young child, &c. He immediately obeyed the heavenly vision, and departed into Egypt With as hasty a flight as their circumstances would allow. And was there until the death of Herod Which happened a few months after. That it might be fulfilled That is, fulfilled again, which was spoken by the prophet Viz., Hosea, on another occasion, Out of Egypt have I called my son These words of Hosea, without doubt, were primarily spoken of Gods bringing Israel out of Egypt under the conduct of Moses, the prophet referring to Gods message to Pharaoh, recorded Exo 4:22-23, Israel is my son, even my firstborn; let my son go that he may serve me. Now this deliverance of the Israelites, Gods adopted son, was a type of his bringing Christ his real son from thence, and the meaning here is, that the words were now, as it were, fulfilled anew, and more eminently than before, Christ being in a far higher sense the son of God than Israel, of whom the words were originally spoken. For as a prophetical prediction is then fulfilled when what was foretold has come to pass, so a type is fulfilled when that is accomplished in the antitype, which was done in the type before. If the reader will consult the note on Hos 11:1, he will find this passage fully, and, it is hoped, satisfactorily explained and vindicated; and the consistency of the evangelists words with those of the prophet clearly shown. It may not, however, be improper to add here to what is there advanced, that the lot of the Messiah in Egypt was now afflictive, like that of his ancestors formerly in the same country. And the same love of God which induced him to deliver Israel out of Egyptian bondage, was the cause also why he would not leave Christ in Egypt, but bring him back to his own people, whom he was about to enlighten with his heavenly doctrine, and redeem by his sufferings and death. Nor would it be absurd to carry the allegory still further, and to compare Herod to Pharaoh. For, as by the just judgment of God, both the firstborn of Pharaoh, the enemy of the Jews, was slain, and a little after Pharaoh himself perished; so Herod, not long after he had formed the wicked but vain design of putting Christ to death, in a fit of diabolical rage killed his firstborn son, and afterward himself perished, suffering the greatest tortures. Wetstein.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Although S. Augustine, and Jansen after him, think that Christ went into Egypt from Juda, and not from Galilee, because S. Matthew here says ver. 22, that when Joseph was returning from Egypt, he was minded to go into Juda. And so they say that he had fled into Egypt from Juda, but S. Matthew does not say this expressly, but, “When he heard that Archelaus reigned in Juda in the stead of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go thither.” This, indeed, intimates that he was thinking of going into Juda, probably to Jerusalem and the Temple, there to give God thanks for his safe return, as pious persons are wont to do.
The reason why Christ fled into Egypt, rather than into Assyria, or any other country is:-1. Because it was near to Juda, and on account of the streams of the Nile, by which it was surrounded, and the sea, by which it was washed, secure from the attacks of enemies. Hence, when the Jews fled from the Chaldans and the Assyrians, they went into Egypt.
2. Because Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the children of Israel, from whom Christ was sprung, dwelt in Egypt for two hundred years, and were called forth from thence by God, by the hand of Moses. And this was a type of the calling back of Christ out of Egypt, as S. Matthew adds, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of The Lord by The prophet (Hosea xi.), saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. Especially because the Hebrews were delivered out of Egypt by the blood of the Paschal Lamb, which was a type of Christ. “That not without that region the sacrament of the one only Victim might be prepared, in which first the safe-giving sign of the slaying of the Lamb, and the Passover of the Lord, had been prefigured,” says S. Leo. (Serm. 3 de Epiph.)
3. Because Egypt was full of idols and superstitions. They worshipped dogs, crocodiles, cats, calves, rams, goats, and what not? Christ entered into Egypt that He might cleanse it from this filthiness, and consecrate it to the true God. Listen to S. Leo Serm. 2 de Epiph.): “Then also the Saviour was brought to Egypt, in order that a nation given up to ancient errors might now be signed for salvation nigh to come, for hidden grace, and that she which had not yet cast out superstition from her mind might receive truth as her guest.” Whence also Isaiah prophesies mystically of the same thing (xix. 1), saying: “Behold the Lord shall ascend upon a light cloud, and shall enter into Egypt, and all the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence.” And so S. Jerome and others relate that the idols of Egypt did, in truth, fall down when Christ came into it. (See my comment on this chapter of Isaiah.)
Sozomen (lib. 5, c. 20) relates that there was an ancient tradition that when Christ entered Hermopolis, a city of Egypt, a lofty tree bowed herself down, and worshipped Him as God. Many suchlike things are told, but because they are taken from an apocryphal book, called the “Infancy of the Saviour,” and from the Koran, it would seem that they ought to be rejected, as fabulous, or of doubtful credit.
For Herod will seek the child to destroy him. The angel knew this by the revelation of God. He would also conjecture the same thing from the disposition of Herod, and his ambition of reigning. Herod’s suspicious, cruel, savage disposition is thus described by Josephus (lib. I, de Bell. Jud. c. 19): His fear made him timid, and incited him to every kind of suspicion. And from dread lest any who were obnoxious to him should escape him, he put to the torture many who were innocent.
Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, (mark his prompt obedience) and retired into Egypt-that Christ might sanctify and bless it by His coming. Hence faith and sanctity so flourished in Egypt that it produced the Pauls, the Antonys, the Macarii, and those crowds of monks and anchorites who emulated the life of angels upon earth, as is seen in Eusebius, S. Jerome, Palladius, S. Athanasius, and the lives of the Fathers. Whence S. Chrysostom, in loc., says, that Christ converted Egypt into a paradise. “Heaven does not shine so brightly with the various choirs of the stars as Egypt is illuminated by its innumerable habitations of monks and virgins.” And Trismegistus, quoted by S. Austin (lib. 8, de Civ. Dei, c. 14), says, “Egypt is an image of Heaven, and the temple of the whole world.”
Adrichomius adds out of Brocardus and Saligniac, in his description of the Holy Land (page 47, n. 116), on the word Engaddi, that when Jesus fled out of Juda into Egypt, He took balsam with Him. For Cleopatra, the friend of Antony, envying Herod the possession of such a treasure, obtained from Antony the privilege of transporting balsam-plants out of Juda into Egypt. (See Josephus, lib. 5, Bell. Jud. c. I 3.) This was a just judgment of an avenging God, that Herod before was the possessor of the balsam, but that when he persecuted the child Jesus, Jesus fleeing into Egypt should, as it were, draw the garden of balsam after Him. For Jesus is the true and pure balsam of the soul, according as it is said, “Thy name is oil poured forth.” (Song i. Vulg.) Adrichomius adds, this garden in Egypt is irrigated by a small fountain, which has, however, a very copious supply of water; and the tradition is, that in it the Child Jesus was often placed by the Blessed Virgin, and that the holy Joseph often drew water from it, for himself and his holy spouse, when they were in Egypt; and that it is therefore held in great veneration by the inhabitants of the country.
Anselm asserts that Christ, when in Egypt, dwelt in a city called Heliopolis, or the city of the sun. In short, this flight of Christ was a mark, not of fear, but of prudence and fortitude. Hear Chrysologus (Serm. 50): “So Christ was born that He might make man anew; and that He might recall the fugitives, He fled. And if He himself wandered, so that He might call back the sheep which was wandering upon the mountains, how shall He not flee to bring again His flying people?” And shortly afterwards, “The refuge of all things fled, the help of all things lies hid, the strength of all things fears, the defence of all things defends not himself.” And again-“When the valiant warrior flies in battle, it is of design, not fear. When God fled from man, it was a mystery, not from dread.”
Tropologically, Christ fled into Egypt that He might teach us to despise exile, and that we, as pilgrims and exiles on the earth, might pant after and strive for heaven as our true country. Whence Peter Chrysologus says (Serm. 115), “Christ fled that He might make it more tolerable for us, when we have to flee in persecution.” S. Gregory Nazian. (Orat. 28) says-“Every land, and no land is my country.” No land was Gregory’s country, because heaven was his country. Again, every land was his country, because he looked upon the whole world as his country. Thus Socrates, when he was asked what countryman he was, replied, “A citizen of the world.” S. Basil said the same, as Nazian. testifies (Orat. 20)-“In every land the brave man is as much at home as fishes in the sea.”
And he was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called my son. He cites Hos 11:2. See my comment on that prophet, where I have fully expounded the passage.
Tropologically, S. Chrysostom, in loc., says, that God weaves, as it were, a fair and variegated crown out of the prosperous and adverse circumstances of the life of Christ and Christians. When Joseph saw his wife great with child, he was sorely troubled: but forthwith an angel came to him, and put an end to his suspicion, and drove away his fear. Then came the joyful adoration of the Magi, but this was followed by the persecution of Herod, and the flight into Egypt.
It cannot be doubtful that when the Egyptians saw the sanctity of the Blessed Virgin and Joseph, and had had frequent opportunities of converse and intercourse with them, they came to know, worship, and love the true God. The Roman Martyrology assigns the 7th of January to the return of Christ from Egypt. Some say that he was three years in Egypt, some seven, others eight. But nothing is certain.
Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry: and sending killed all the menchildren that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof. When Herod saw that the wise men did not return, he supposed that they were under a delusion, and had not found Christ, and were therefore ashamed to return. But when he heard of the things which had happened at the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, on the 2nd of February, how holy Simeon and Anna had openly professed Him to be the Messiah-that is, “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of the people of Israel”-he then saw that he had been mocked by the Magi, and belched forth his burning wrath upon all the children. For, as S. Chrysostom says, “Unquenchable is the anger which jealousy of the rival of a crown enkindles. Like a wounded wild beast, it tears in pieces whatever meets the eye, as if the cause of his wounds.”
Herod’s inordinate ambition for retaining and augmenting the kingdom of Juda drove him to this horrible infanticide. He knew from the Scribes that the time of Messiah was near at hand, because the sceptre of Judah was transferred to himself, an alien. And he himself was ambitious of the title, and told the Jews that he was their promised Messiah. And he built them that magnificent Temple, rivalling Solomon’s, of which the Jews said to Christ, Six and forty years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days? But vainly did he covet the name of Messiah; for Messias was to spring out of Judah, and was the promised son and heir of David. But Herod was sprung from the Idumans, who were the Jews’ constant enemies. Herod then, becoming aware that the true Messiah was born, and had been indicated to the Magi by a star, destined Him to death. And when he learnt from the Scribes that He was born in Bethlehem, but knew not in what family, or house, he slew all the infants of Bethlehem. But see here the just judgment of God, by which it came to pass that Herod, by that very act, confirmed the kingdom to Christ, and took it away from himself. For, as a punishment of his wickedness, Herod slew his own sons, who would have succeeded him in his kingdom, and in the same year, shortly after this massacre of the infants and his son Antipater, he himself was eaten of worms, and died just before the Passover. Again, Christ escaped the massacre of the infants by flying into Egypt; and from thence, by degrees, His name, and kingdom, and glory increased. Yea, the infants slain by Herod out of hatred of the Messiah, by their very death attested that Christ was born.
Tropologically, Herod is the devil, who strives to cut off infants-that is, those who are weak in faith and virtue, also the first inspirations from God, and good thoughts, before they have become strong and increased. “Whence if he slay the little ones,” says S. Leo (Serm. 2 de Epiph.), “he appears to himself to kill Jesus, which indeed he strives to do without ceasing, whilst he endeavours to deprive those newly born again of the Holy Spirit, and to kill, as it were, the infancy of tender faith.”
From two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. The Greek is, -i.e., from two years. The Syriac and Arabic give this turn to it, from the son of two years. The Egyptian, from two years and under. Thus, also, the Persian version. For, diligently inquired, the Greek has , accurately searched out.
You will ask why he slew all the children under two years old, especially since many are of opinion that Herod slew them immediately after the departure of the Magi-as soon, that is, as he had heard of Christ’s Presentation in the Temple. And this was before the Passover, when Christ was three months old? Jansen, Maldonatus, Baronius, and others reply, that he did it out of his intense fear of losing his kingdom through Messiah, and so extended the three months from Christ’s birth to two years. If you object that Matthew says this slaughter was made from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the Magi, they answer that the expression, according to the time, &c., must be referred, not to the words, from two years old, but to, from under, so as to signify that Herod made, not a beginning, but only a termination of slaughtering the children, according to the time which he had inquired of the Magi, that, indeed, he should not further kill infants who were born subsequent to those thirteen days which had elapsed after the appearance of the star which indicated the birth of Christ; meaning that Herod slew all the infants from two years old because he was very sagacious and cruel; and below two years old, according to the time which he had carefully inquired of the Magi, because he excepted only those from slaughter who were born after the time at which the star had declared the birth of Christ; for he felt secure that none of those who were born after the star could be Messiah, and give him cause of apprehension.
But it seems scarcely credible that one so ambitious and fearful as Herod should have wished to kill infants born two years before the appearing of the star, and yet have spared those who were born a few days after its appearance, when there would be an equal or greater reason for suspecting that Christ might be amongst these last, especially in the case of such a very suspicious person as Herod. Whence Bede, the Gloss, Dionysius, and Barradi think that he killed the little infants who were born after as well as before the appearing of the star. But why did he slay infants born almost two years before the star appeared? for there could be no suspicion that Christ was born amongst them. So that to kill them would have been not merely inhuman, but altogether foolish and brutish, and could have had no other effect than to expose him to universal infamy and execration-yea, to raise up every one in arms against him as an intolerable tyrant, and more like a wild beast than a human being.
I maintain, therefore, that not immediately, nor even in the same year in which the Magi came, did Herod put the infants to death; but in the following, or second year from the birth of Christ. And so the meaning is, that Herod slew the children from two years old, that is, who were two years old and under,-that is, those who had not yet reached that age; but who were a year, or so many months, or days old. That is, he slew all who had been born within two years from the rising of the star, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Again, the expression, according to the time &c., might more strictly and precisely be taken thus: Herod did not take the whole time of the two years, but drew his conclusions from when the star appeared, which was the period whence the rising of the star began, but which was not completed. For Herod slew the children in the second year from the rising of the star, about the time of the Passover, or when Christ was about a year and three months old. Wherefore, he did not slay those who were born much before the fifteen months since which the star appeared. This is the force of the expression, he diligently inquired, in order that he might slay only those who had been born about the time when the star appeared, and not those who were born much before or much after, that he might not, with uselessly barbarous cruelty, slay more than might be necessary to secure the death of Christ.
So that, from two years old and under, &c., means the same thing as those who were fifteen months old. That was the time of the appearance of the star, and it continued for thirteen days, during which it went before the Magi to Bethlehem. Herod, therefore, would only seem to have slain the infants who were about fifteen months of age. For he believed the wise men, that Christ had been born at the time when his birth had been indicated by the star, and neither much before nor yet much after. So that he did not desire that any should be slain except such as were born about the time of the star’s appearance. And hence we may gather that the expression, from two years old and under, should be taken, not disjunctively, but unitedly, as when we say, “Two and three are five;” “All the planets are seven,” &c.
That this murder of the Innocents took place, not in the third month, but after the commencement of the second year, or about fifteen months from the birth of Christ, is the common opinion of Eusebius (in his Chronicle), Epiphanius (Hres. 30), S. Augustine (Serm. de Epiph.), Encherius, Cedrinus, S. Anselm, Haymo, Hugo Victor, S. Thomas, &c. But some of these have not correctly distinguished either the rising of the star from the birth of Christ (for they say that it appeared to the Magi two years before Christ’s birth, as SS. Augustine and Chrysostom); or the birth of Christ and the appearance of the star from the adoration of the Magi; for they say that on account of the length of the journey, they arrived at Bethlehem, and worshipped Christ there, two years after His birth. So S. Epiphanius (lib. 2, Hres. 30, contra Ebionos), and the Imperfect Author; for it is far more probable that the star arose at the same time that Christ was born, that it might be, as it were, an indicator and standard-bearer of that event, and that the Magi came to Bethlehem in the same year in which the birth of Christ took place,-indeed thirteen days afterwards; and that Herod put off the infanticide, which he had already planned in his mind, until the year following, for reasons which I shall assign presently. The obvious meaning of S. Matthew’s narrative, and especially the expression, from two years old, require this meaning. Also the number of events which happened after the Adoration, and before the Flight into Egypt, require the same sense; for after the departure of the Magi, Christ was presented in the Temple on the 2nd of February. After that He went and dwelt in Nazareth, and from that place fled into Egypt, as is clear from S. Luke (ii. 22-39). And all this would occupy many weeks, or rather months.
What Nicephorus (lib. I, C. 14) and Cedrinus say is in favour of this opinion. They say that S. John Baptist, on account of this persecution, fled into the wilderness when he was in his second year, that is,-when he was not quite two years old. For the Baptist was born six months before Christ; so that, at the time of the Infanticide, he was a year and nine months old. Whence Nicephorus relates: “When John was a year and a half old, he was preserved in safety, with his mother Elizabeth, in a cave in the mountains, probably to escape the bloody hand of Herod.”
Again, Macrobius says, not from two years old, but under two years, the infants were slain by Herod. Those who were fifteen months would be under two years old. In addition to this, Lucius Dexter says, in his Chronicle: “In the third year of Christ (U.R.C. 754) Herod slays all the male children in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood.” It was the third year from the birth of Christ by beginning the year with the 1st of January.
You may ask why Herod put off the Infanticide until the second year from the rising of the star and the birth of Christ. It is answered:-
1. That he might the better, by degrees, inform himself of the birth, person, parentage, and dwelling of Christ. So the Gloss. Again, because he sought by all means to avoid the imputation of such hateful cruelty, by finding and killing Christ alone. S. Matthew appears to intimate this (ver. 13). so S. Augustine (lib. de Consens. Evang. 2, c. 12).
2. Because, as Euthymius, S. Thomas, and Lyra show, Herod, towards the close of his life, being accused by the Arabians before Augustus Csar, that emperor three times refused even to speak to his ambassadors, although at length with wonderful art he appeased Csar, as Josephus relates, Ant. lib. 17, c. 7, &c. And then he sought and obtained permission from Augustus, as it would seem, to slay the children; in which Augustus deserves no small blame for giving this permission. So Ruperti, lib. 2 de Vict., c. 2.
3. He delayed the massacre in order to find out a sure way of killing all the infants, that none might be hidden by their mothers and so escape. Hence Abulensis thinks that Herod, in the first place, ordered the little boys to be enrolled with the name and age of each; and, when he had gathered them together, slew them all; but that he gathered them, not in one place, but in the various villages or districts, to each of which he sent executioners to seek out, gather together, and slay. Such a thing might be easily done amongst the Jews, because they kept very exact records of their genealogies, that it might be known that Messiah was born, according to Jacob’s prophecy of the tribe of Judah. Hence, when any child was circumcised, his name and parents, and the date of his birth, were set down, just as parish priests register the children who are baptized.
S. Antoninus thinks that Herod instituted a feast for boys, and ordered all the mothers to bring all their children who were about two years of age, as though they were to receive a reward.
Moreover Herod obtained leave from Augustus to put his own three sons, Alexander, Aristobulus, and Antipater to death. Whence he slew the first two named some time previously, and Antipater about five days before his own death, which happened, says Josephus, at the Passover, in the thirty-seventh year of his reign. (Ant. lib. 17, cc. 10 & II.) And it was then he slew the young children. This we learn from Macrobius. who, amongst other anecdotes of Augustus, relates this (Saturnal. lib. 2, c. 10): “When he heard that the king of the Jews had ordered the boys in Syria under two years old to be slain, and that his own son had been killed, he said, ‘It were better to be Herod’s pig than his son, because the Jews do not eat pork.'”
From what has been said, it may be gathered that the infants were slain about the time of the Passover, or about fifteen months from the birth of Christ. The Church, however, celebrates their festival at Christmas, because they were killed for Christ’s sake, that she may thus, as it were, magnify and decorate the Festival of the Nativity. Barradi, however, and Emmanuel Sa., think that they were slain on the anniversary of the very day on which the Church keeps their festival. They were slain when Christ was in the second year of His age, in spring and in the month of March, when their ancestress, Rachel, had died (Gen 35:16). It was about the same time that he ordered his own son Antipater to be put to death. He also cut off the Sanhedrim, as the great Council of the Jews is called, together with many of the Pharisees, because they would not acknowledge him to be king. The rest were compelled to take an oath of allegiance. In doing these things, he was aided by his father-in-law, Simon the son of Boethus, whom he had made high priest. And all was with the connivance of Quintilius Varro, the governor of Syria, a friend of Herod’s. Whence he was not afraid to shut up all the chief of the Jews in prison, and would have put them to death if he had lived. For just before his own death, he ordered his sister Salome, and her husband, Alexas, to kill them, in order, as he said, “that the Jews may wail at my death, whether they like it or not, since they must weep for their own friends.” But Salome, who was of a milder disposition, set them all at liberty as soon as Herod was dead. So Josephus, &c.
Some think from the Apocalypse (xiv. I) that the infants who were slain by Herod were 144,000, But S. John is speaking of the Virgins who shall resist the lust and persecution of Antichrist, even unto death and martyrdom. Neither is it credible that in so small a district as that of Bethlehem there were 144,000 boys under two years old. What the Abyssinians have in their Canon of the Mass, that the number was 14,000 is rather more probable; of this opinion are the Jesuit Salmeron, Franc. Lucas, and Gerebrard (lib. 2, Chronolog. A.C. III.). This last adds, that the Greeks give the same number in their Kalendar. And yet it is hard to suppose that there could be 14,000 infants in so small a place, more than are to be found in Rome, or Naples, or Milan, or other large cities.
Note, in the first place, that the infants who were slain by Herod, through hatred of Christ, were true martyrs, and as such are honoured by the Church, and their Festival kept. And the same may be said of all infants who are killed out of hatred to the Faith, through the unmerited and bountiful disposition of God.
Whence it follows that martyrdom justifies ex opere operato, for by it these little ones who had not yet been circumcised were cleansed from original sin and justified; and the same thing was wrought which baptism worketh. So the Fathers and Doctors, passim, and indeed the whole Church. (See S. Bernard, Serm. de Innocent.) Hence Doctors teach that there are three classes of martyrs. To the first belong those who, in deed as well as will, are martyrs. Such are adults who voluntarily accept death from a tyrant for the sake of Christ. The second class are those who are martyrs only in deed; such as infants who are slain for Christ. The third are those who are martyrs only in will-who desire martyrdom as S. Francis desired it. With this object in view he sent to the sultan of Egypt; but he, seeing him to be a holy man, would not kill him. Thus he missed the laurel crown of actual martyrdom.
Note, secondly, the wonderful providence of God, whereby, first, He punished the Bethlehemites by the slaughter of their children, because they themselves would not receive the Blessed Virgin, and her Son Jesus with hospitality, but compelled her to go into a stable, and there bring forth. Secondly, because by means of this massacre, He decorated the boys themselves, who were slain, with the laurel of martyrdom. Thirdly, because He brought about that Christ should escape by flight into Egypt, and should through this slaughter become better known to the world. By this “it was prophetically declared that the Church of God should increase by the cruel fury of her persecutors; since by the punishments and deaths of the blessed martyrs, whilst Christians were supposed to be diminished in numbers, they were augmented by example.” (S. Leo, Serm. de Epiph.) “And the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians,” as Tertullian observes in the end of his Apology.
Moreover, Christ as He was man, although an infant, had the use of reason. And when the WORD, which was united to Him, revealed to Him this slaughter of the little children for His sake, He grieved, because of the deep sympathy of His tenderness, and suffered with them and their parents. But in spirit He exulted over their glory and martyrdom. And thus He offered them to God the Father, as the first-fruits of His Advent, and the earliest oblations of His grace.
Note, thirdly, God’s just vengeance upon Herod for his murder of the infants, and as far as in him lay of Christ Himself. For, five days after the masacre, he himself breathed out his cruel soul; being smitten with fever, a cough, dysentery, dropsy, gout, consumption, the lousy disease, putrefaction, asthma, and such an intolerable stench, that he endeavoured to lay violent hands upon himself. His sons were not allowed to reign as kings, but were only tetrarchs, and perished miserably. Also his entire posterity, most numerous as it was, became, with few exceptions, entirely extinct within a hundred years, as Josephus relates (Ant. lib 17, c. 8, &c.), who adds that all men were of opinion that it was the effect of the just vengeance of God.
Allegorically, the infants slain by Herod at the Passover, as it were Paschal lambs, were a type of Christ, who, thirty-two years afterwards, was mocked by Herod, a descendant of this Herod the infanticide, and crucified by Pilate at the season of the Passover, and who offered Himself to God the Father, as it were a Lamb and a Paschal Victim, for the salvation of the world. Hear S. Augustine (Serm. 8 de Sanctis): “When Christ was born, grief began, not in heaven, but on earth. To mothers is proclaimed lamentation, to angels exultation, to infants translation. He is God who is born. To Him innocents are due as victims, for He came to condemn the wickedness of the world. Angels ought to be immolated, because the Lamb, who taketh away the sins of the world is about to be crucified. But the mother-sheep lament, because they lose their lambs bleating without speech: a glorious martyrdom, though a cruel spectacle.”
And Prudentius, in his hymn. says:-
“You, tender flock of lambs, we sing,
First victims slain for Christ your King:
Before the Altar’s heavenly ray,
With martyr palms and crowns ye play.”
Symbolically, the children who were slain by Herod in the springtime were like vernal flowers put forth in the country of Bethlehem by the warmth of the rays of the Sun of righteousness, and offered to Jesus of Nazareth as the Flourishing One. Whence Prudentius in his Epiphany hymn, and the Church in her office, sings:-
“All hail ye infant martyr flowers,
Cut off in life’s first dawning hours;
As rosebuds snapt in tempest strife,
When Herod sought your Saviour’s life.”
And S. Augustine (Serm. 2 de Innocent.): “How happily born were they whom eternal life met on the threshold of existence.” And (Serm. 3): “Rightly are these Innocents called the flowers of the Martyrs, whom, in the mid-winter of unbelief, a hoar frost as it were of persecution caused to bloom like the primal buds of the Church.”
And S. Chrysostom (Serm. 4) says: “Infancy, unconscious of suffering, bore away the palms and crowns of martyrdom. True martyrs of grace! they confess without voice; knowing it not they fight; ignorant of it, they conquer; unconscious, they die, they bear away the palms, they seize the crowns.”
We see that God made these little ones first to triumph, then to live. He adorns them with crowns before He bestows upon them perfect members.
Tropologically, Christ loves infants, that is, the little ones and the lowly; and raises such to the perfection of grace, that is, to martyrdom. Hence He Himself says, “Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Hear S. Leo (Serm. 7, in Epiphan.): “Wherefore my beloved brethren, the whole discipline of Christian wisdom consisteth, not in a copious flow of words, nor in cunning disputation, nor in the desire of praise and glory, but in true and voluntary humility, which the Lord Jesus Christ, from His mother’s womb even unto the death of the Cross, both chose and taught instead of every kind of strength.” And shortly afterwards: “He loveth infancy, which at the first He assumed, both in mind and body. Christ loveth infancy, the mistress of humility, the rule of innocence, the pattern of meekness. Christ loves infancy, which guides the manners of elders; unto which He directs the years of old men, and inclines to His own example those whom He would lift on high to the eternal kingdom.” And previously: “The whole victory of the Saviour, which overcame both the devil and the world, was conceived and completed by humility.”
Verses 17, 18.-Then was fulfilled, &c. They are not, because indeed, as far as the body was concerned they perished, in that they were slain by Herod; but as to their souls, they were carried into eternity, says S. Hilary.
I have explained this passage in my Commentary on Jer 31:15, which see.
S. Augustine graphically portrays this weeping of the mothers (Serm. I de Innocent.), and thus concludes: “The lamentation of the mothers was mingled with the oblation of the little ones, as they passed into heaven.”
Tropologically, Rachel, the sheep, as the word signifies in Hebrew, bewails the death of her lambs; but the angels rejoice, yea, even the little ones, because their souls passed to the society of the angels.
Whence S. Augustine (Serm. 3 de Innocent.): “Behold, the profane enemy could never have benefited the little ones by kindness as much as he did by hatred. And wherefore? Because they received the dignity of eternal life before they received the use of time present.” Therefore, in being born, they died unto the world; and by dying, they began to live in heaven. To these infants are most appropriate those words of S. Paul: “We are made a spectacle (Gr. , a theatre) to the world, and to angels, and to men.” (1Co 4:9.) That is to say, in the circus, in the amphitheatre, we are seen of all. We are ,-i.e. we are exposed to gladiators and to wild beasts.
Wherefore consider: by this infanticide God would teach us, as by a scenic representation, that the whole of a Christian’s life, from childhood unto death, is perpetual persecution, the cross and death; and that the fortitude and courage of a Christian consist rather in enduring hardness than in doing hard things; in constant patience than in fighting: for it is more difficult to suffer than to act and fight. “To act bravely,” saith one, “is the part of a Roman; to suffer bravely is the part of a Christian.” When Christ suffered for us, He said, “I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them. I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me.” (Isaiah i. 6.)
These little ones in their turn, for Christ’s sake, gave their limbs to be mangled by the executioners. A Christian may do the same, and for God’s sake give his body for a prey, give it unto death, unto labours, unto torments of every kind. Thus did S. Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, who writes to his flock, “I have given my body to the Arians for a prey.” By them he was tormented, and became a glorious martyr of Christ, and a defender of His Godhead, even unto death. Truly saith S. Fulgentius (de Epiph.), “To this end God permitted Herod to slay the infants, that He might cause them to triumph over Herod.” Lastly, S. Cyprian (lib. 4, Epist. 6 ad Thibarit.) says, “An age not suitable for battle was made fit for a crown. The Son of God suffered that He might make us sons of God; and the Son of Man wills not to suffer, that He may continue to be the Son of God.”
Now when Herod was dead, &c. (verses 19, 20). Herod died a few days after the slaughter of Antipater, as Josephus says, and so but a few days after the murder of the Innocents, as is clear from Macrobius. Hence Christ does not appear to have remained in Egypt more than two years. For He did not go there more than one year before Herod’s death; and after Herod’s death, when Archelaus his son had been to Rome and returned, Christ came back from Egypt, as the Gospel here states. Thus Onuphrius Pavinus, (in his Fasti), and before him S. Epiphanius (Hres. 78); although Baronius thinks that Christ returned from Egypt in the ninth year of His age.
They are dead, &c. They, viz., Herod and his sons Aristobulus, Alexander, and Antipater, who, it would appear, entered into a conspiracy with the Scribes and Pharisees against their father, and by consequence against Messiah, and were by Herod put to death.
Verses 21, 22. Who arose, and took the child &c. Observe, Archelaus reigned as tetrarch, not as king. The angel had said to Joseph, Go into the land of Israel. Joseph understood Juda, because that was the most important part of the land of Israel, and therein was the temple. Thither, therefore, he thought of going to render God thanks for his happy return, especially because, by God’s command, all the Hebrew males were commanded to go up to the temple thrice a year. Whence St. Augustine (lib. 2 de Consensu. Evang. c. 9): “The angel does not express into what part, that he may return to him again, when he is in doubt; but because he had not told him expressly, Joseph understood Judaea, the more worthy part of the kingdom: for he thought that with such a boy he might only dwell at Jerusalem. But the angel meant Galilee.”
Moreover, Joseph turned aside into Galilee, although he knew that Herod Antipas, the brother of Archelaus, ruled there. He did so, both because Archelaus was more ambitious and cruel than Antipas, as because the infant slaughter of Herod of Ascalon, the father of Archelaus and Antipas, had taken place in Juda, namely, in Bethlehem. Wherefore Archelaus would remember it, and would easily perceive that when Christ came back to Juda He had escaped the slaughter, and would therefore again seek to put Him to death.
Fully to enter into this history ab ovo, as they say, consult Josephus, Ant. Lib. 10, c. 10, et seq. When Herod died, in the thirty-seventh year of his reign, two of his surviving sons-Archelaus, and Herod Antipas, who clothed Christ in His Passion with a white robe, to mock Him-contended together for the possession of his kingdom. Augustus entrusted the settlement of the dispute to Caius Csar his grandson by his daughter Julia, who decided as follows-that neither disputant should succeed to the kingdom, but that it should be divided into four tetrarchies, whose rulers should be tetrarchs, not kings. In pursuance of this he assigned Juda to Archelaus, Galilee to Antipas, Trachonitis to their third brother, Philip, Abilene to Lysanias. This is clear from Luke iii. 1. When, therefore, S. Matthew says, Archelaus reigned, you must not understand that he was a king, or had the title of a king, but of a tetrarch, or toparch, but yet with the hope of the kingdom and the kingly name, if he conducted himself well, according to the promise of Augustus Csar.
After Archelaus had reigned as tetrarch for nine years, he was sent into exile for his bad government, thirty-seven years after the battle of Actium, and seven before the death of Augustus. So Josephus, Eusebius, Scaliger, &c.
After Archelaus was exiled, Augustus appointed governors of Juda, who ruled it in his name. There were three of those who presided over Juda during the seven years which elapsed before the death of Augustus. The first was Coponius, who, together with Quirinus, prefect of Syria, confiscated the riches of Archelaus; the second was M. Ambinius; the third was Annius Rufus.
From these facts much light is thrown upon the narratives of SS. Matthew and Luke. And, in the first place, it is clear why Matthew says that Joseph turned aside into Galilee from fear of Archelaus, reigning in Juda. It was lest he, following in the steps of his father Herod, should seek to slay Christ, as the King of the Jews. In the second place, we see why Christ only went up to the temple in Juda when He was twelve years old: Archelaus had been then deprived of the tetrarchy, and driven into exile. In Archelaus the race of Herod ceased to rule in Juda, and were succeeded by Roman governors, from whom Christ had nothing to fear, for they knew Him not, and had not heard even His name.
Ver. 23.-And he came and dwelt, &c. S. Mar 1:24, following the Latins, has ; the other Evangelists write . Adrichomius (Descr. Terr Sanct, p. 241, num. 73) gives the following account of Nazareth, which he has collected out of S. Jerome, Eusebius, Brochard, and others:-“Nazareth, which is interpreted a flower, is a fair and flourishing city of Galilee, not far from Capharnaum. It is built upon a mountain, which it girds like a crown. It is two leagues from Mount Tabor, and three days’ journey from Jerusalem. Here Blessed Mary, the Flower of Virgins, was born; here Christ, our Lord and Saviour, our glory and our crown, like a flower of the field, as Jerome says, was conceived and brought up in all virtues, and lived for four-and-twenty years. Hence this was His own and His father’s city; hence, also, He was called Nazarenus, or Nazarus, and a Galilan; hence, too, we who now are called Christians were anciently called Nazarenes and Galilans, as terms of reproach.”
“Moreover,” says Rabanus, “Galilee is interpreted migration, Nazareth a flower, because the more earnestly the Church passes over to heavenly things, the more she abounds in the flowers of virtues.
That it might be fulfilled-a Nazarene. The name of Nazareth does not once occur in the Old Testament. Hence we are unable to tell whether it were written in Hebrew with zain or tsade. If with the former, Nazareth means sanctified, separate, consecrated; if with tsade, full of flowers, or guarded.
The question arises, by what prophet, when, and wherefore was Christ called a Nazarene? There are several opinions; two are most probable:?
1. Christ was called a Nazarene, in Hebrew nazir, or nozeri, written with zain, meaning separate, holy, consecrate, crowned, religious, because Christ, as man, being separated from every other thing, was hypostatically and wholly united to the WORD. For the word nazar signifies to separate, to consecrate, to crown. Wherefore the religious, under the old law, who separated themselves from wine and from the world, and consecrated themselves to God, were called Nazarites. (See Num 6:2, seq.) But that Christ would be holy, and consecrated to God, all the prophets foretold, especially Dan 19:24: “The Holy of Holies-i.e., Christ-shall be anointed.” (Vulg.) Thus, too, Samson, who was a type of Christ, was a Nazarite. (Judg. xiii. 7.) So, too, was Joseph. (Gen 49:2.) And as Joseph, after his imprisonment, was made lord of Egypt, so Christ, after His death, was made lord of the universe. So S. Ambrose and Ruperti.
These Nazarites, however, are called in Greek , written with alpha (Nazari); but Christ is always called , (Nazoraeus), written with omega, to distinguish him from the Nazarites, because he was not a Nazarite by vow, like them, but was called Nazarus, from his country, Nazareth. Christ drank wine, which was forbidden to the Nazarites by their vow. The above is the explanation of S. Jerome on this passage, and of Eusebius (lib. 7, de Demonstrat. c. 2, Dem. 5), where he cites Lev 21:12, concerning the Aaronic priest, who was a type of Christ: “Neither shall he go forth out of the holy place, because the oil of the holy anointing of his God is upon him.” Instead of holy, as qualifying anointing, the Hebrew has nezar, i.e., consecration, or sanctification with the oil of the anointing of his God. The index of Hebrew words usually found at the end of our Bibles, and Paul of Burgos, think that the passage which is here cited is Psa 131:18: “Upon him shall my sanctification flourish.” (Vulg.?Heb. nizri, which S. Jerome translates his diadem.) Whence also the golden plate affixed to the pontifical tiara, on which was inscribed, Holiness to the Lord, is called nezor, i.e., a crown or diadem of holiness. (Exo 29:6.) It was a type, yea, an index of Christ of Nazareth, holy and crowned. To this the Apostle alludes (Heb 2:9): “We see Jesus, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour.” On which see my comment.
Eusebius says, the LXX translate nazer by holy; Aquila has separation; Symmachus, untouched. From these, therefore, the name Nazaraeus signifies either holy, or separate, or untouched. But some of the ancient priests, who were anointed with the prepared oil, which was called by Moses nazer, were named Nazarites from this word nazer. But our Saviour and Lord, by His own nature possessing in Himself holiness and separation, neither having need of any human anointing, still obtained the title of a Nazarite among men; not as though He were so called from any oil named nazer, but from the city Nazareth, where He was brought up among His own relations, forasmuch as He was a man. Christ, therefore, was a Nazarite, i.e., separated from other men, sanctified, consecrated, and crowned High Priest, Legislator, Teacher, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of the Universe.
The letter which is employed favours this opinion. The Evangelists always wrote Nazarus, or Nazarenus, with the letter z, which is the one which occurs in the Hebrew nezer and nazir. For if Nazarene is derived from nezer, with tsade, so as to signify flourishing, it ought to be written Nasarene with an s. In all other names the Hebrew letter tsade is represented by an s (in the Vulg.), as in Bosra, Asor (see Joshua, chaps. xii. and xv., where some suppose Asor to be Nazareth), Melchisedech, Sabaoth, &c. On the other hand the Hebrew zain is translated by our z, as appears from Zabulon, Zacharias, Beelzebub, &c.
Let us add, it is more worthy the dignity of Christ that He should be called Nazarene, with the letter zain, i.e., holy, than Nasarene, with tsade, that is, flourishing. For nazer, i.e., holiness, the consecration and crown of Christ, qu man, was the hypostatic union, or rather the actual Godhead of the WORD, which crowned, sanctified, separated to Itself, united, and consecrated the whole Humanity of Christ. Lastly, it is in favour of this opinion that S. Matthew says, “which was spoken by the prophets,” not by the prophet; “by which he shows,” says S. Jerome, “that he was not quoting the words of one passage of Scripture, but the sense of several.”
2. It is the opinion of others that Christ is called a Nasarene from neser, with tsade-i.e., flourishing, from flower-or, rather, germinating, from germ. For both Aquila and Theodotion, according to S. Jerome, render neser in Isa 11:2 by germen. In Isaiah xi. 1, the Vulg. has, “A flower shall rise up out of his root,” translating the Hebrew neser by flower. Nazarene, therefore, is the same as flourishing or germinating, growing into a great and glorious tree, and producing abundant fruit.
The first reason is that Christ is elsewhere called tsemach-i.e., germen, which the Vulg. renders Oriens, the dawn, or daystar, as though arising out of the earth. (See Zec 6:12; Zec 3:8.) For Christ sprung from the Virgin as an undefiled germen, or plant, and pure from every stain of sin. So He flourished with every virtue, and scattered the odour of His sweetness far and wide. Whence S. Ambrose (lib. de Spirit. Sanct., c. 5) says, “When a flower is plucked, it does not lose its smell; when it is bruised, it increases it.” So, when Christ was bruised in His Passion, He the more manifested the power of His Divinity and His grace.
The second reason is that in the inscription placed on the Cross of Christ, which is preserved in the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, in Rome, notseri is written with tsade, not zain. So says Pagninus, from ocular inspection. So, too, the Syrian and Arabic versions write Nazarene with tsade. And the modern Jewish Rabbis call Christians Notserim-i.e., Nazarenes, writing the word with tsade.
I myself have often seen the title of the Cross at Rome and carefully inspected it, but the letters are so worn away that I have never been able to see that the Hebrew inscription has tsade. On the contrary, zain, not tsade, seemed to me to be the letter. Bosius (lib. I de Cruce triumph.) has a perfectly exact impression of the superscription of the Cross. Examine it, and you will agree with me. Besides, this title was written by Pilate the Roman governor, or his Roman servants, who had little knowledge of Hebrew, and could not tell whether Nazarene were spelt with a tsade or a zain, and certainly would not care for the distinction between them. Various commentators, as Rabanus, Salmeron, Jansen, &c., write Nazarene with a tsade, and translate it flourishing, but most of them seem to have been influenced by Pagninus, who said that he had found notseri spelt with a tsade on the title of the Cross.
Both opinions may be conjoined and reconciled with each other by saying that if you look strictly to the letters you will find nezer with zain-that is to say, holiness, consecration, crown; yet that there is an allusion to netser with tsade-i.e., a shoot, a flower-for these two letters are somewhat akin both in form and sound, and are occasionally interchanged both with one another and with some other Hebrew letters, as appears in the conjugation Hispael. (See Bellarmine’s Hebrew Grammar.) Wherefore the Psalmist conjoins the two (Psa 131:18), saying: “My sanctification (nazer) shall flourish (nazarene) upon him.” (Vulg.) So also S. Jerome says, “Nazarus is interpreted holy.” All Scripture testifies that the Lord shall be holy. We are able also to use, in another sense, what is written in the same words in the Prophet Isaiah according to the Hebrew verity, “Behold a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a Nazarene shall arise out of his root.” Lastly, as in their letters, so also in their significations these two words are closely connected; for He who is Nazarenus-i.e., separated from earthly pleasures-is likewise Nasarus-i.e., flourishing with virtues. Hence some derive the Greek , holy from , not and the earth; for he who is separated from the earth, cultivates heavenly things, and is holy.
Matthew adds this, because Nazareth was a small and despised town. Hence the name of Nazarene seemed both to Jews and Gentiles vile and mean, so that on account of it many were kept back from Christ, and from acknowledging Him as Messiah. Whence Nathanael said to Philip, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” And Julian the Apostate was wont, in contempt, to call Christ “the Galilan,” and “the Nazarene.” When he was struck by a dart from heaven, and was about to die, he cried, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilan, thou hast conquered.”
Matthew, therefore, here shows that the name of Nazarene was a glorious one, forasmuch as it had been spoken of by the prophets, and assigned to Christ many ages previously.
The sense then is as follows-although Christ was born in Bethlehem He was conceived and brought up in Nazareth, a city small and obscure, that He might the better elude Herod and his posterity when they sought to slay Him, and that He might give us an example of humility and contempt of the pomps of the world. Whence He was called a Nazarene from the city of Nazareth, but so that not only the name Nazarene, but what was signified by the name, that is, holiness, should apply to Him. So there was in reality fulfilled what Isaiah and the prophets foretold concerning Christ, that He was nazir, holy, and noseri, or Nasarus, flourishing with all virtue and grace.
Consequently, the name of Nazarene, which the Jews and others gave to Christ by way of reproach, is most illustrious, yea, a note and mark of the true Messiah; for by this very title the prophets indicated and glorified Messiah.
Tropologically, Christ is a Nazarene, i.e., separated from the world and consecrated to God, flourishing with all virtues, and the origin, father, and prince of the Nazarenes, that is, the religious, who despise the world, and dedicate themselves wholly to God, that they may flourish in virtues, according to those words in Lam. iv. 7. “Her Nazarites were fairer than snow, whiter than milk; they were more ruddy than ancient ivory, brighter than sapphires.” (Vulg.) Where see my Comment.
Salmeron adds, Nazarene is the same as Samaritan, i.e., a keeper (for natsar, is to keep, to guard) namely of men; according to those words of Job, “What shall I do unto thee, O thou keeper of men?” (Vulg.) And Psalm 121., “Behold He shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel.” So, too, Francis Lucas says, Nazarene, that is, keeper, preserver, defender. By Nazareth, therefore, the Blessed Virgin is represented, of whom Christ the Nazarene was born. For she was kept from original sin, from the shame of conception, from the corruption and pain of child-birth, and from turning to dust after death. For the body of the Virgin was not resolved into ashes after her death, as is the lot of other bodies; but it was, together with her soul, taken up into heaven. These things are true, but rather symbolical than literal.
Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary
Herod died in 4 B.C. [Note: Hoehner, p. 13.] Josephus recorded that he died a horrible death, his body rotting away and consumed by worms. [Note: Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 17:6:5; idem, The Wars . . ., 1:33.] His grandson, Herod Agrippa, later suffered a similar fate (Act 12:23).
As noted, Matthew frequently used the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies to show that Jesus was the Christ. Mat 2:15 contains another fulfillment. This one is difficult to understand, however, because in Hos 11:1 the prophet did not predict anything. He simply described the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt as the departure of God’s son (cf. Exo 4:22). Old Testament writers frequently used the term "son" to describe Israel in its relationship to God. What did Matthew mean when he wrote that Jesus’ departure from Egypt fulfilled Hosea’s words (Hos 11:1)? Matthew’s quotation is from the Hebrew text.
Matthew did not say that Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy. Another significant factor is the meaning of the word "fulfill" (Gr. pleroo). It has a broader meaning than simply "to make complete." It essentially means "to establish completely." [Note: Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek, p. 500.] In the case of predictive prophecy, the complete establishment of what the prophet predicted occurred when what he predicted happened. In the case of prophetic utterances that dealt with the past or present, the complete establishment of what the prophet said took place when another event that was similar happened. This is the sense in which Jesus’ departure from Egypt fulfilled Hosea’s prophecy (cf. Jas 2:21-23). Jesus was the Son of God (Mat 2:15; Mat 3:17; Mat 4:3; Mat 4:6; Mat 8:29; Mat 11:27; Mat 14:33; Mat 16:16; Mat 17:5; Mat 26:63; Mat 27:40; Mat 27:43; Mat 27:54). The history of Israel, the son of God in a different sense, anticipated the life of Messiah. [Note: Plummer, p. 19.] To state the same thing another way, Jesus was the "typological recapitulation of Israel " [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 91.] Another writer called this "literal [event] plus typical [fulfillment]." [Note: Fruchtenbaum, pp. 843-44.] Still another referred to it as "literal prophecy plus a typical import." [Note: Cooper, pp. 175-76.]
"There were similarities between the nation and the Son. Israel was God’s chosen ’son’ by adoption (Exo 4:22), and Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son. In both cases the descent into Egypt was to escape danger, and the return was important to the nation’s providential history." [Note: Barbieri, p. 22.]
". . . Matthew looked back and carefully drew analogies between the events of the nation’s history and the historical incidents in the life of Jesus." [Note: Tracy L. Howard, "The Use of Hos 11:1 in Mat 2:15 : An Alternative Solution," Bibliotheca Sacra 143:572 (October-December 1986):325. This article evaluated several other proposed solutions to this difficult citation.]