Bible Study series: Matthew 2:1-12. Like Pharoah indirectly attacked baby Moses, Herod attacks baby Jesus.
A warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together. I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
1 Now, after Jesus had been born in Bethlehem in Judea in the days of Herod the king—look!—Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the one who was born the king of the Jews? For we have seen his star rising and have come to pay homage to him.” 3 On hearing this, King Herod was alarmed, and all of Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he gathered together all the chief priests and teachers of the law of the people, he was inquiring from them where the Christ would be born. 5 They said, “In Bethlehem, for thus it is written through the prophet:
6 Even you Bethlehem, in the land of Judea–
You are in no way the least among the leading cities of Judea,
For from you shall come a leader
Who shall shepherd my people Israel.” [Mic. 5:2; cf. 2 Sam. 5:2]
7 Then Herod privately summoned the Magi to learn precisely from them the time when the star appeared. 8 And as he sent them to Bethlehem, he said, “Go and inquire closely about the child. When you find him, report to me, so that I myself may go and pay homage to him.” 9 On hearing the king, they went.
And look! The star, which they had seen at its rising, led them on until it went and stood over where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 When they went into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother and fell and paid homage to him and opened up their treasure boxes and offered him gifts: gold, incense, and myrrh. 12 Then receiving a revelation in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed by a different road into their own country.
Commentary
Let’s take things verse by verse
But first an introduction.
This passage reflects the typology of Moses v. the Pharaoh. It is Jesus v. Herod, and in later verses it is Herod’s son who persecutes John the Baptists and by extension Jesus (Matt. 14:1-12).
As I noted in Matt. 1, in this passage, heaven comes down to earth, in the person of Jesus the Messiah. The curtains to heaven have been pulled back, if only a little, in order to reveal heaven’s plan and what the heavenly realm is like. Renewalists really do believe that we can open our hearts to Scripture and a revelation to our minds and hearts, if God in his sovereignty reveals it to us.
Here is how Turner sets up the first two chapters of Matthew (he’s getting this outline from R. E. Brown) (p. 53):
Jesus the Messiah is David’s and Abraham’s son
Genealogy: Jesus the Messiah culminates Israel’s history (Matt. 1:2-17)
Dream 1: Jesus is Immanuel. His virginal conception fulfills Isa. 7:14 (Matt. 1:18-25)
Magi: In David’s city, Bethlehem, Jesus fulfills Mic. 5:2 and is shown to be Abraham’s son by blessing Gentiles in spite of hostile, deceptive King Herod (Matt. 2:1-12)
Dream 2: Jesus, God’s Son, recapitulates the exodus, fulfilling Hos. 11:1 (Matt. 2:13-15)
Massacre: King Herod murders the boys of Bethlehem, fulfilling Jer. 31:15 (Matt. 2:16-18)
Dream 3: Jesus moves to Nazareth, again fulfilling biblical prophecy (Matt. 2:19-23)
1:
Jesus was reported to be born in the last verse in Matt. 1. And now a new turn of events arises (note the translation, “Look!” and see v. 9 for more comments). Magi arrive. They were wise men or astrologers. In Acts 13:6, 8, they were magicians with a supernatural ability. They were found all over the Roman empire, but their famous origins were Babylon (France, p. 66). Their ability was not ordinary sleight-of-hand card tricks. Demons were behind the scene. However, these Magi were probably just star-gazers. I say they were from Babylon. (Persia is too far away.) A large community of Jews had settled there after the exile in 587/6 B.C. So were these Magi Jewish astrologers? Probably not, for they had to ask where the king of the Jews had to be born. They did not know it was Bethlehem. They used the title “King of the Jews” instead of our king. They are supposed to remind us of Balaam, but with good intentions. They speak of homage from other nations (Ps. 72:10-11; Is. 60:5-6). The Queen of Sheba brought great quantities of spices to Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-10).
By the way, there is no word on how many Magi there were. The number three probably came about because of the three kinds of gifts (v. 11).
Repeat: the magi were Gentiles because they had to ask where the king of the Jews was to be born (2:4).
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
Stay away from those things. They are satanic and can snare your mind.
Bethlehem: It is about five miles (eight km) south of Jerusalem, the birthplace of King David. Some scholars say that because there is a Bethlehem of Galilee, it is more likely that Jesus was born there. However, the text clearly says the Bethlehem where Jesus was born was in Judea. Luke 2:4 says that Joseph and Mary traveled down to Judea and to his family town of Bethlehem because Joseph was of the lineage of David. I follow the biblical text.
Herod the king: he ruled from 37 to 4 BC, so now we know Jesus was born before 4 BC. As he grew older, Herod became increasingly paranoid about threats against his person and throne. He had numerous sons, wives, and others close to him put to death because he feared plots to overthrow him. After frequent disputes with Caesar Augustus, the emperor uttered his famous pun that he would rather be Herod’s pig (hys) than his son (huios) (Blomberg, comment on 2:1-2). You can google more about Herod, if you wish.
If we compare v. 7 with v. 16, it looks like about two years have passed. This means that Jesus was probably born about 6 B.C.
These posts are about systematic theology on the life of Christ and what it means for the Son of God to become a man:
3. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was God Incarnate
4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant
5. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Came Down from Heaven
6. Do I Really Know Jesus? Why Did He Become a Man?
7. Do I Really Know Jesus? Thirty Truths about His Life
8. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was Sinless
2. Two Natures in One Person: He Was Human and God
2:
“star rising”: BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT, and it says of the noun anatolē (pronounced ah-nah-toh-lay): (1) “upward movement of celestial bodies, rising”; (2) “the position of the rising sun, east, orient”; (3) “a change from darkness to light in the early morning, the dawn.” All three translations would work, but I decided to take grammarian Olmstead’s advice and translate it “rising.” I really like the image of changing from darkness to light, however. This is a perfect image of the purpose of the birth of the Messiah.
In commenting on the rising star, Osborne writes: “the miraculous moment when God revealed the star to them. Jesus is called a rising sun / star in Luke 1:78; 2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 22:16” (comment on 2:2).
“pay homage” could be translated as “worship him.” Osborne thinks that worship fits here. Since Matthew has a high Christology, “worship” is implied (2:2, 8, 11; 14:33; 28:9) (Turner, comment on 2:2).
“star”: BDAG says it means “a luminous body (other than the sun) visible in the sky, star, single star, planet.” Those possible translations in italics are merely suggestions based on what people knew back then and today. People have looked for the convergence of stars around the time of Jesus’s birth, but nothing definitive comes out of their good-faith efforts, which I appreciate. Commentator R. T. France mentions that Chinese astronomer spotted a super-nova (an exploding star that is bright for a few months) which was visible for seventy days in 5/4 B.C. This date fits the timeframe shortly before the death of Herod (p. 69). However, I believe the “star” was an angel because it is about to guide them forward and stand above the place where Jesus and his mother Mary were staying (v. 9). Stars don’t ordinarily move like that.
3:
It is easy to see why King Herod and all of Jerusalem were troubled or disturbed or upset—all possible translations of the verb, which I rendered as alarmed. They were jolted out of their religious security and even slumber. The new king had just been born. Why Jerusalem? Matthew is signaling how the Jerusalem establishment will respond. As the story unfolds, they will unite in opposition to Jesus (15:1; 16:21; 20:17-18; 21:1, 10; 23:37). His rejection by Jerusalem at his birth foreshadows his rejection by Jerusalem at the end of his ministry (Blomberg, comment on 2:3-6).
4:
“chief priests”:
“teachers of the law”: they can also be called scribes.
Learn more about them here:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
They were the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior (David E. Garland, Luke: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Zondervan, 2011], p. 243). The problem which Jesus had with them can be summed up in Eccl. 7:16: “Be not overly righteous.” He did not quote that verse, but to him they were much too enamored with the finer points of the law, while neglecting its spirit (Luke 11:37-52; Matt. 23:1-36). Instead, he quoted this verse from Hos. 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7). Overdoing righteousness, believe it or not, can damage one’s relationship with God and others.
“the Christ”: this is the Greek version or translation of the “Messiah.” It means the Anointed One. See my post on this title:
3. Titles of Jesus: The Son of David and the Messiah
5-6:
“leading cities” could be translated as “rulers.”
These learned men tell Herod where the Messiah was to be born, quoting from Micah 5:2. Jesus is fulfilling these prophecies, page by page in Matthew’s Gospel. We should never get rid of the Old Testament, as some advocate doing. This is short-sighted. Jesus fulfills not only isolated verses, which the NT authors quote here and there; he also and more deeply fulfills the patterns and concepts and theology of the OT. The quoted verses are focal points to teach us about his fulfilling the entire OT.
Blomberg on Matthew quoting Micah:
Discerning Jewish readers would have known the wording of the original text and would have recognized that Matthew’s addition was not a mistake in quoting the Scriptures but an interpretative explanation. Other changes to the text are minor and do not affect the overall meaning. Nevertheless, Matthew’s rendering of the Old Testament is more paraphrastic here than in 1:23 and probably reflects his independent translation of the Hebrew rather than dependence on the LXX. This in fact is Matthew’s consistent practice in citing Scripture … (comment on 2:3-6)
In other words, Matthew was inspired to paraphrase OT texts. Incidentally, the LXX stands for Septuagint (pronounced sep-TOO-ah-gent), a third to second century Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.
“Israel”: In no place does the NT refer to Palestine. In fact, the term never appears in the entire OT. Why would it? Israel was a nation–I say a major player–in the Mediterranean world. Robust and active Jerusalem was its well-known capital. There was no geo-political confusion in the way that there is today. It was the land where Jews resided. They were also called Israelites.
7:
Herod needs to find out when the star rose, so he could calculate which age-range of the babies he could murder. He figured he would go for the two-year-olds and younger.
Some critics say that Jesus was one Messiah among many and his fulfillment of Scripture was fake. However, Jesus did not choose his place of birth. Then some critics could charge Matthew of making up the whole thing. But these critics read these wonderful texts in bad faith. Matthew is not the only one to see the fulfillment of Scripture. The life of Jesus the Messiah conformed to the OT, in its patterns and concepts and themes and theologies and even genealogies. The authors of the Gospels did not intend to deceive and plagiarize, as the skeptics, who read with bad faith, claim.
Three Cures for the Skeptical Sneering Age!
8:
Of course, Herod’s words to the Magi were false. He had a plot of his own. He was not going to pay homage to him, but kill the recently born king of the Jews. No one could know that Jesus’s kingship was going to save people from their sins (1:21). He was not going to rescue Israel from the Romans or cruel rulers like Herod, by raising a powerful military made up of pious soldiers. That had been done before with the Maccabees and will be repeated with the Bar Kokhba revolt. They are not the best solution over the long range They ended when a more powerful empire took the revolts down. Changed and redeemed hearts are the most effective means. Then people’s behavior changes.
9:
This verse leads me to believe that the star was an angel. It stood above the house where Jesus and Mary were staying. Natural stars don’t stand over a house. “[T]he star led the way, and this language fits none of the celestial phenomena suggested in 2:2b. It must have been a supernatural manifestation, for it not only ‘went before’ them but also stopped and ‘stood’ above the home in which Jesus was staying. The language is reminiscent of the pillar of fire and the cloud in the wilderness that ‘went ahead of’ Israel to guide them along the way (Exod. 13:21; 40:38). God is still in control” (Osborne, comment on 2:9). I agree with him.
“Look!”: translates the older “behold!” Matthew is telling us that we must pay attention. The unexpected is happening. Yes, Matthew is borrowing from the OT’s “behold,” and he too moves his narrative along by the verb. Clearly the Gospel was meant to be read out loud, to interest the listeners. “Something unexpected or exciting is happening. Pay attention!”
10-11:
I really like the reaction of the Magi. They fell and paid him homage. Once again, the verb ordinarily can be translated “worship.” They must have sensed something special emanating from the boy. It could not be his surroundings; it was not a palace or a gold-plated crib. He did not wear a tiny golden crown. Clearly God was in and around the boy. Biblical and systematic theology says he was God in the flesh (see the links, above).
They entered a house; the family left the stable and manger behind. It must have belonged to Joseph’s family. Luke says Joseph and Mary stayed in a barn attached to a house and laid him in the manger (2:7). Why didn’t they stay in the house? The simple and straightforward answer is that it could have been filled with Joseph’s extended family, and they arrived late. Why not just settle for the night in a barn and manger?
“The family would remain in the stable for only a short time. Moreover, the idea of a separate stable is wrongheaded. Palestinian homes at that time had mangers at the edge of the living area with the animals, kept either downstairs or (in a one-room home) in one end of the house. So this could be the same home in which Jesus was born” (Osborne, comment on 2:11).
Turner writes: “Matthew’s ‘house’ is not a contradiction to the ‘manger’ of Luke 2:7 … since perhaps as much as two years have passed since Jesus was born (Matt. 2:16).”
The three gifts correspond to Ps. 72:10-11 and Is. 60:6. Bringing gifts to one’s superior was important in the Greater Middle East.
“incense”: it could be translated as frankincense. It is a glittering, odorous gum. It is made by making incisions in the bark of several trees: myrrh comes from a tree in Arabia. It could be used in embalming. Commentators found symbolic meaning in the three gifts: gold = royalty; incense = divinity; and myrrh = passion and burial. This is clever, but I don’t like to outsmart the inspired biblical authors. If Matthew had intended the symbols, he might have dropped a few hints. So the three kinds of gifts were well-known but expensive presents (Carson).
But if you prefer the symbolism, that’s up to you.
12:
God can give dreams to pagans like these Magi. This verse really does call it a revelation. God intended to protect his son and his earth-parents. They were excellent because their obedience was instant. The verb is often used for divine communication (Luke 2:26; Acts 10:22; Heb. 8:5; 11:5: 12:25). This dream came from God. So God could communicate with nonbelievers to get his purposes accomplished.
What Happens at Judgment to People Who Never Heard Gospel?
The Magi, meanwhile, just disobeyed Herod’s devious and unjust request or demand. It is right to disobey an unjust command or request when God gives you permission. Herod was intending to kill the boy. Therefore it is better to obey God than evil man.
GrowApp for Matt. 2:1-12
1. It is good to bring gifts to the king. What have you brought to Jesus? Your life? Your time? Your money? What?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
Reconciling Matthew’s and Luke’s Genealogies: Mission: Impossible?
Common Details in Matthew’s and Luke’s Birth Narratives
SOURCES
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom.
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