Matthew 2

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town in the region of Judea, while Herod was king. After that, wise men from lands to the east came to Jerusalem.

1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

NoteHerod the king is Herod the Great, who ruled Judea from 37 BC until his death as a king appointed and backed by Rome. Judea was the southern part of the Jewish homeland, the district around Jerusalem. Bethlehem was a small town about five miles south of Jerusalem, remembered as the home town of King David. The "wise men" of the King James are magoi in Greek, a word used for Persian or Babylonian scholar-priests who studied the stars, dreams and omens; the text does not say how many there were or call them kings.

2They asked, "Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star rise in the east, and we have come to bow down before him."

2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Note"Worship" in 1611 English covered any act of deep homage, including the bow or prostration a subject made before a king, and the Greek word here is the ordinary word for falling at someone's feet. The English of the King James does not by itself settle what kind of honor the visitors had in mind. The phrase "his star in the east" translates a Greek expression that can mean either "in the eastern sky" or "at its rising", that is, when it first became visible.

3When King Herod heard this, he was upset and worried, and so was everyone in Jerusalem.

3When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4So he called together all the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and asked them where the Christ was supposed to be born.

4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

Note"Chief priests" were the senior priestly families who ran the Temple in Jerusalem. "Scribes" were not copyists in the ordinary sense but professional experts in the written law of Moses, the men you asked when you wanted to know what scripture said. "Demanded" in 1611 meant simply "asked"; it carried none of the modern force of a demand. "Christ" is a title, not a name: the Greek christos translates the Hebrew mashiach, "anointed one", the promised king from David's line.

5They told him, "In Bethlehem, in Judea, because this is what the prophet wrote:

5And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not the least among the rulers of Judah. Out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

6And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

NoteThe priests are quoting the prophet Micah, chapter 5, verse 2. "Juda" is the King James spelling of Judah, the tribe and the territory named after it. "Princes" here renders a word for the clan chiefs or leading towns of a region, not royal sons. To "rule" as a shepherd was standard ancient language for governing a people, with the sense of feeding and protecting them rather than merely commanding them.

7Then Herod called the wise men to meet him in secret, and found out from them exactly when the star had appeared.

7Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

Note"Privily" means privately or in secret. "Diligently" here means carefully and in detail; Herod wanted the exact date.

8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, bring word back to me, so that I can go and bow down before him too."

8And 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.

9After they heard the king, they left. The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10When they saw the star, they were filled with joy.

10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11They went into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary. They knelt down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

NoteFrankincense and myrrh are aromatic gum resins tapped from desert trees in Arabia and East Africa. Frankincense was burned as incense, in temples and at banquets; myrrh was used in perfume, in medicine and in preparing bodies for burial. Both traveled long distances by caravan and were expensive, in the same class of gift as gold. "Their treasures" means the containers they carried their valuables in.

12God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their own country by a different road.

12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Note"Warned of God" is old English for "warned by God"; through the whole chapter the King James uses "of" where modern English uses "by".

13After they left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to leave, because Herod is going to look for the child in order to kill him."

13And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

NoteEgypt was a Roman province outside Herod's jurisdiction and the nearest safe refuge, a few days' journey southwest, with long-established Jewish communities, especially in Alexandria. People fleeing trouble in Judea had gone there for centuries.

14So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt.

14When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

15He stayed there until Herod died. This happened so that what the Lord had said through the prophet would come true: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

15And 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.

NoteThe quotation is from the prophet Hosea, chapter 11, verse 1, where the words referred to Israel being brought out of slavery in Egypt. "Spoken of the Lord by the prophet" means spoken by the Lord through the prophet.

16When Herod realized that the wise men had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders and had all the boys in Bethlehem and the surrounding area killed, every one two years old and under, based on the time he had learned from the wise men.

16Then 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 enquired of the wise men.

Note"Coasts" in 1611 English meant borders or surrounding territory and had nothing to do with the sea; Bethlehem is inland. "Wroth" means enraged. "Mocked of the wise men" means outwitted or made a fool of by them. Bethlehem was a small town, so the number of boys under two would have been quite small, perhaps a dozen or two.

17Then what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:

17Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,

Note"Jeremy" is the older English form of the name Jeremiah.

18"A voice was heard in Ramah, crying and loud weeping and deep sadness. Rachel was weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they were gone."

18In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

NoteThe quotation is from Jeremiah, chapter 31, verse 15. Ramah was a town a few miles north of Jerusalem, a staging point from which captives were marched off to exile in Babylon. Rachel was one of the wives of Jacob, the ancestral mother of several of Israel's tribes, and her tomb was traditionally located in this area; the prophet pictures her weeping over descendants being carried away. "Because they are not" is a Hebrew way of saying they no longer exist, they are gone.

19But after Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

19But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

20and said, "Get up. Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, because the men who were trying to kill the child are dead."

20Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

Note"They are dead which sought the young child's life" uses a plural although only Herod has been named. The wording matches, almost word for word, what God says to Moses in Egypt in Exodus chapter 4, verse 19, when it is safe to return.

21So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

21And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22But he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, and he was afraid to go there. God warned him in a dream, so he turned aside and went to the region of Galilee.

22But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:

NoteArchelaus was Herod the Great's son, who took over Judea, Samaria and Idumea at his father's death. He began his reign with a massacre in the Temple courts and was so brutal that Rome removed him about ten years later. "In the room of" is old English for "in place of", and "thither" means "to there". Galilee, well to the north, was governed by a different son of Herod, Antipas.

23He went and settled in a town called Nazareth. This happened so that what the prophets had said would come true: "He will be called a Nazarene."

23And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

NoteNazareth was an obscure hill village in Galilee, never mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures. No single prophet says "He shall be called a Nazarene", and the writer says "prophets", plural, rather than naming one, which suggests he is pointing at a theme or at a play on words rather than quoting a verse. Readers have long noticed that the Hebrew word netzer, "branch" or "shoot", used of a coming king in Isaiah chapter 11, sounds like the name of the town.