Matthew 2:13-16

The Escape to Egypt

2:13 After they had gone, an ¹  angel of the Lord ²  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 ³  is going to look for the child to kill him.” 2:14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during ⁴  the night, and went to Egypt. 2:15 He stayed there until Herod ⁵  died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ⁶ 

2:16 When Herod ⁷  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ⁸  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ⁹  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

Luke 13:31-33

Going to Jerusalem

13:31 At that time, ¹⁰  some Pharisees ¹¹  came up and said to Jesus, ¹²  “Get away from here, ¹³  because Herod ¹⁴  wants to kill you.” 13:32 But ¹⁵  he said to them, “Go ¹⁶  and tell that fox, ¹⁷  ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day ¹⁸  I will complete my work. ¹⁹  13:33 Nevertheless I must ²⁰  go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible ²¹  that a prophet should be killed ²²  outside Jerusalem.’ ²³ 

Luke 23:7-12

23:7 When ²⁴  he learned that he was from Herod’s jurisdiction, ²⁵  he sent him over to Herod, ²⁶  who also happened to be in Jerusalem ²⁷  at that time. 23:8 When ²⁸  Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform ²⁹  some miraculous sign. ³⁰  23:9 So ³¹  Herod ³²  questioned him at considerable length; Jesus ³³  gave him no answer. 23:10 The chief priests and the experts in the law ³⁴  were there, vehemently accusing him. ³⁵  23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ³⁶  dressing him in elegant clothes, ³⁷  Herod ³⁸  sent him back to Pilate. 23:12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, ³⁹  for prior to this they had been enemies. ⁴⁰ 

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

[2:13]  ³ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Herod the Great was particularly ruthless regarding the succession to his throne.

[2:14]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:15]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.

[2:16]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “soldiers.”

[2:16]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[13:31]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “At that very hour.”

[13:31]  ¹¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[13:31]  ¹² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:31]  ¹³ tn Grk “Go away and leave from here,” which is redundant in English and has been shortened to “Get away from here.”

[13:31]  ¹⁴ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

[13:32]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:32]  ¹⁶ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[13:32]  ¹⁷ sn That fox. This is not fundamentally a figure for cleverness as in modern western culture, but could indicate (1) an insignificant person (Neh 4:3; 2 Esd 13:35 LXX); (2) a deceiver (Song Rabbah 2.15.1 on 2:15); or someone destructive, a destroyer (Ezek 13:4; Lam 5:18; 1 En. 89:10, 42-49, 55). Luke’s emphasis seems to be on destructiveness, since Herod killed John the Baptist, whom Luke calls “the greatest born of women” (Luke 7:28) and later stands opposed to Jesus (Acts 4:26-28). In addition, “a person who is designated a fox is an insignificant or base person. He lacks real power and dignity, using cunning deceit to achieve his aims” (H. W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas [SNTSMS], 347).

[13:32]  ¹⁸ sn The third day is a figurative reference to being further on in time, not a reference to three days from now. Jesus is not even in Jerusalem yet, and the events of the last days in Jerusalem take a good week.

[13:32]  ¹⁹ tn Or “I reach my goal.” The verb τελειόω (teleiow) is a key NT term for the completion of God’s plan: See Luke 12:50; 22:37; John 19:30; and (where it has the additional component of meaning “to perfect”) Heb 2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28.

[13:33]  ²⁰ tn This is the frequent expression δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) that notes something that is a part of God’s plan.

[13:33]  ²¹ tn Or “unthinkable.” See L&N 71.4 for both possible meanings.

[13:33]  ²² tn Or “should perish away from.”

[13:33]  ²³ sn Death in Jerusalem is another key theme in Luke’s material: 7:16, 34; 24:19; Acts 3:22-23. Notice that Jesus sees himself in the role of a prophet here. Jesus’ statement, it is impossible that a prophet should be killed outside Jerusalem, is filled with irony; Jesus, traveling about in Galilee (most likely), has nothing to fear from Herod; it is his own people living in the very center of Jewish religion and worship who present the greatest danger to his life. The underlying idea is that Jerusalem, though she stands at the very heart of the worship of God, often kills the prophets God sends to her (v. 34). In the end, Herod will be much less a threat than Jerusalem.

[23:7]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[23:7]  ²⁵ sn Learning that Jesus was from Galilee and therefore part of Herod’s jurisdiction, Pilate decided to rid himself of the problem by sending him to Herod.

[23:7]  ²⁶ sn Herod was Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. See the note on Herod in 3:1.

[23:7]  ²⁷ sn Herod would probably have come to Jerusalem for the feast, although his father was only half Jewish (Josephus, Ant. 14.15.2 [14.403]). Josephus does mention Herod’s presence in Jerusalem during a feast (Ant. 18.5.3 [18.122]).

[23:8]  ²⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to see some sign performed by him.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

[23:8]  ³⁰ sn Herod, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign, seems to have treated Jesus as a curiosity (cf. 9:7-9).

[23:9]  ³¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous statements in the narrative about Herod’s desire to see Jesus.

[23:9]  ³² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:9]  ³³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:10]  ³⁴ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[23:10]  ³⁵ sn Luke portrays the Jewish leadership as driving events toward the cross by vehemently accusing Jesus.

[23:11]  ³⁶ tn This is a continuation of the previous Greek sentence, but because of its length and complexity, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying “then” to indicate the sequence of events.

[23:11]  ³⁷ sn This mockery involved putting elegant royal clothes on Jesus, either white or purple (the colors of royalty). This was no doubt a mockery of Jesus’ claim to be a king.

[23:11]  ³⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:12]  ³⁹ sn Herod and Pilate became friends with each other. It may be that Pilate’s change of heart was related to the death of his superior, Sejanus, who had a reputation for being anti-Jewish. To please his superior, Pilate may have ruled the Jews with insensitivity. Concerning Sejanus, see Philo, Embassy 24 (160-61) and Flaccus 1 (1).

[23:12]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “at enmity with each other.”