Matthew 2:1-21

The Visit of the Wise Men

2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem ¹  in Judea, in the time ²  of King Herod, ³  wise men ⁴  from the East came to Jerusalem ⁵  2:2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose ⁶  and have come to worship him.” 2:3 When King Herod ⁷  heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. 2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, ⁸  he asked them where the Christ ⁹  was to be born. 2:5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:

2:6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,

for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” ¹⁰ 

2:7 Then Herod ¹¹  privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. 2:8 He ¹²  sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” 2:9 After listening to the king they left, and once again ¹³  the star they saw when it rose ¹⁴  led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 2:10 When they saw the star they shouted joyfully. ¹⁵  2:11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down ¹⁶  and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, ¹⁷  and myrrh. ¹⁸  2:12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, ¹⁹  they went back by another route to their own country.

The Escape to Egypt

2:13 After they had gone, an ²⁰  angel of the Lord ²¹  appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod ²²  is going to look for the child to kill him.” 2:14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during ²³  the night, and went to Egypt. 2:15 He stayed there until Herod ²⁴  died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ²⁵ 

2:16 When Herod ²⁶  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ²⁷  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ²⁸  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 2:17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ²⁹ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ³⁰  gone.” ³¹ 

The Return to Nazareth

2:19 After Herod ³²  had died, an ³³  angel of the Lord ³⁴  appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 2:20 saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 2:21 So ³⁵  he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel.

[2:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[2:1]  ² tn Grk “in the days.”

[2:1]  ³ sn King Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 b.c. until he died in 4 b.c. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.

[2:1]  ⁴ sn The Greek term magi here describes a class of wise men and priests who were astrologers (L&N 32.40).

[2:1]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Or “in its rising,” referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ἀνατολαί (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ἀνατολή (anatolh) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BDAG 74 s.v. 1: “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical…likew. vs. 9”).

[2:3]  ⁷ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:4]  ⁸ tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:6]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Mic 5:2.

[2:7]  ¹¹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:8]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Grk “and behold the star.”

[2:9]  ¹⁴ tn See the note on the word “rose” in 2:2.

[2:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “they rejoiced with very great joy.”

[2:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[2:11]  ¹⁷ sn Frankincense refers to the aromatic resin of certain trees, used as a sweet-smelling incense (L&N 6.212).

[2:11]  ¹⁸ sn Myrrh consisted of the aromatic resin of certain shrubs (L&N 6.208). It was used in preparing a corpse for burial.

[2:12]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:13]  ²⁰ tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[2:13]  ²¹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.

[2:13]  ²² sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Herod the Great was particularly ruthless regarding the succession to his throne.

[2:14]  ²³ tn The feminine singular genitive noun νυκτός (nuktos, “night”) indicates the time during which the action of the main verb takes place (ExSyn 124).

[2:15]  ²⁴ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:15]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.

[2:16]  ²⁶ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.

[2:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “soldiers.”

[2:16]  ²⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[2:18]  ²⁹ tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later mss (C D L W 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï) have a quotation in Matthew which conforms to that of the LXX (θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμός καὶ ὀδυρμός; qrhno" kai klauqmo" kai odurmo"). But such assimilations were routine among the scribes; as such, they typically should be discounted because they are both predictable and motivated. The shorter reading, without “lamentation and,” is thus to be preferred, especially since it cannot easily be accounted for unless it is the original wording here. Further, it is found in the better mss along with a good cross-section of other witnesses (א B Z 0250 ˹ pc lat co).

[2:18]  ³⁰ tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

[2:18]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.

[2:19]  ³² sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. When Herod the Great died in 4 b.c., his kingdom was divided up among his three sons: Archelaus, who ruled over Judea (where Bethlehem was located, v. 22); Philip, who became tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis (cf. Luke 3:1); and Antipas, who became tetrarch of Galilee.

[2:19]  ³³ tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[2:19]  ³⁴ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.

[2:21]  ³⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s instructions.