| Matthew 2:22 | |
|---|---|
← 2:21 2:23 → | |
 The Division of Herod's Kingdom: | |
| Book | Gospel of Matthew |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Matthew 2:22 is the twenty-second verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The young Jesus and the Holy Family have just left Egypt after hearing of the death of King Herod.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
The World English Bible translates the passage as:
The Novum Testamentum Graece text is:
For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 2:22
Upon Herod's death his kingdom was divided in three. Judea went to his son Archelaus, who was as great a tyrant as his father. Most notably he killed some 3000 rebels soon after ascending the throne. His cruelty aroused such popular anger that in 6 AD Archelaus was deposed by the Romans in response to complaints from his subjects. As a result, the Romans began directly appointing a governor for the area, with Pontius Pilate being a notable example. [1] The concern Joseph expresses in this verse thus fits with what is known from the history of the period. The decision to go to Galilee was also a reasonable one. That region was ruled by Herod's far more even-tempered son Herod Antipas and there is evidence that the region had become a refuge to others fleeing the rule of Archelaus or the Romans.
One incongruity is that the word translated as reign, more precisely means "reign as a king." This is incorrect, unlike his father Archelaus was only an ethnarch, not a king. Most scholars, even evangelical ones, are content to accept this as the author of Matthew simply being imprecise. There have also been several attempts to explain the discrepancy. Jones notes that Augustus' decision that Archelaus would only be granted the title of ethnarch occurred six months into his reign. Jones thus thinks it possible that during these first months Archelaus did call himself king, and it would have been during this period that Joseph returned from Egypt. [2]
Joseph is again given important information in a dream. However, this time the author of Matthew does not report on its origin. The vocabulary of the passage and the previous instances make most scholars accept this to be another message from God.
The Gospel of Luke mentions none of this. Most scholars believe this is because Luke sees Nazareth as Joseph's original home, and thus sees no reason to explain why he returns there. Much time is spent explaining why the family was in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth. Matthew has the opposite view seeing Bethlehem as the family's original home, as demonstrated by them having a house in Matthew 2:11. It thus needs to go into some detail explaining why they eventually move to Nazareth. The important word is that translated as "withdrew" in the WEB. Gundry notes that the author of Matthew would have used return if Nazareth was Joseph's original home and "withdrawing" implies leaving for a new location. [3] Schweizer sees this as unambiguous proof that Matthew has Joseph originally from Bethlehem. [4] Evangelicals, of course, reject this view. France states that the author of Matthew does not discuss Joseph's origin in Nazareth because of his "typical avoidance of unnecessary detail." [5]
Referring to this passage the Glossa Ordinaria asks and answers: "why was he not afraid to go into Galilee, seeing Archelaus ruled there also? He could be better concealed in Nazareth than in Jerusalem, which was the capital of the kingdom, and where Archelaus was constantly resident."
Josephus: Herod had nine wives, by seven of whom he had a numerous issue. By Josida, his first born Antipater—by Mariamine, Alexander and Aristobulus—by Mathuca, a Samaritan woman, Archelaus—by Cleopatra of Jerusalem, Herod, who was afterwards tetrarch, and Philip. The three first were put to death by Herod; and after his death, Archelaus seized the throne by occasion of his father's will, and the question of the succession was carried before Augustus Cæsar. After some delay, he made a distribution of the whole of Herod's dominions in accordance with the Senate's advice. To Archelaus he assigned one half, consisting of Idumæa and Judæa, with the title of tetrarch, and a promise of that of king if he showed himself deserving of it. The rest he divided into two tetrarchates, giving Galilee to Herod the tetrarch, Ituræa and Trachonitis to Philip. Thus Archelaus was after his father's death a duarch, which kind of sovereignty is here called a kingdom. [6]
Augustine: Here it may be asked, How then could his parents go up every year of Christ's childhood to Jerusalem, as Luke relates, if fear of Archelaus now prevented them from approaching it? This difficulty is easily solved. At the festival they might escape notice in the crowd, and by returning soon, where in ordinary times they might be afraid to live. So they neither became irreligious by neglecting the festival, nor notorious by dwelling continually in Jerusalem. Or it is open to us to understand Luke when he says, they went up every year, as speaking of a time when they had nothing to fear from Archelaus, who, as Josephus relates, reigned only nine years. There is yet a difficulty in what follows; Being warned in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. If Joseph was afraid to go into Judæa because one of Herod's sons, Archelaus, reigned there, how could he go into Galilee, where another of his sons Herod was tetrarch, as Luke tells us? As if the times of which Luke is speaking were times in which there was any longer need to fear for the Child, when even in Judæa things were so changed, that Archelaus no longer ruled there, but Pilate was governor. [6]
Herod I or Herod the Great was a Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian Kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the expansion of its base—the Western Wall being part of it. Vital details of his life are recorded in the works of the 1st century CE Roman–Jewish historian Josephus.
Herodias was a princess of the Herodian dynasty of Judaea during the time of the Roman Empire. Christian writings connect her with the execution of John the Baptist.
Herod Antipas was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a son of Herod the Great and a grandson of Antipater the Idumaean. He is widely known today for accounts in the New Testament of his role in events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. His father, Herod the Great, was described in the account as ordering the Massacre of the Innocents, marking the earliest Biblical account of the concerns of the government in Jerusalem regarding Jesus's existence.
Herod Archelaus was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for nine years. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samaritan, brother of Herod Antipas, and half-brother of Herod II. Archelaus came to power after the death of his father Herod the Great in 4 BC, and ruled over one-half of the territorial dominion of his father. Archelaus was removed by the Roman emperor Augustus when Judaea province was formed under direct Roman rule, at the time of the Census of Quirinius.
Matthew 2:1 is the first verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The previous verse ends with Jesus being named by his father. This verse marks the clear start of a new narrative, although the use of a quotation from Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23 is also reflected in the use of four Old Testament quotations in chapter 2.
Matthew 2:3 is the third verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. In the previous verse the magi had informed King Herod that they had seen portents showing the birth of the King of the Jews. In this verse he reacts to this news.
Matthew 2:5 is the fifth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The magi have informed King Herod that they had seen portents showing the birth of the King of the Jews. Herod has asked the leading Jewish religious figures about how to find out where Jesus was to be born. In this verse they tell him.
Matthew 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It describes the events after the birth of Jesus, the visit of the magi and the attempt by King Herod to kill the infant messiah, Joseph and his family's flight into Egypt, and their later return to live in Israel, settling in Nazareth.
Matthew 2:10 is the tenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The magi, dispatched by King Herod, have been shown the location of the infant Jesus by the Star of Bethlehem. In this verse they react to this.
Matthew 2:14 is the fourteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Joseph has been warned in a dream that he must flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod. An event known as the Flight into Egypt.
Matthew 2:19 is the nineteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. King Herod has launched the Massacre of the Innocents in an attempt to kill the infant Jesus, but Joseph and his family, having been warned, have left for Egypt. In this verse, Joseph is again contacted by an angel and told that it is safe to return.
Matthew 2:20 and 2:21 are the twentieth and twenty first verses of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The young Jesus and the Holy Family are in Egypt. An angel has just informed Joseph that King Herod, his persecutor, is dead. In this verse the angel gives him further instructions. The wording of this verse is extremely close to that of Exodus 4:19.
Matthew 2:23 is the twenty-third verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The young Jesus and the Holy Family have just returned from Egypt and in this verse are said to settle in Nazareth. This is the final verse of Matthew's infancy narrative.
Matthew 3:1 is the first verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse takes up the narrative some thirty years after Matthew 2:23, beginning the account of Jesus' ministry. This verse introduces the figure of John the Baptist.
The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus since King Herod would seek the child to kill him. The episode is frequently shown in art, as the final episode of the Nativity of Jesus in art, and was a common component in cycles of the Life of the Virgin as well as the Life of Christ. Within the narrative tradition, iconic representation of the "Rest on the Flight into Egypt" developed after the 14th century.
Luke 23 is the twenty-third chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. This chapter records the trial of Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate, Jesus' meeting with Herod Antipas, and his crucifixion, death and burial.
The Census of Quirinius was a census of the Roman province of Judaea taken in 6 CE, upon its formation, by the governor of Roman Syria, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius. The census triggered a revolt of Jewish extremists led by Judas of Galilee.
The Herodian dynasty was a royal dynasty of Idumaean (Edomite) descent, ruling the Herodian Kingdom of Judea and later the Herodian Tetrarchy as a vassal state of the Roman Empire. The Herodian dynasty began with Herod the Great, who assumed the throne of Judea, with Roman support, bringing down the century-old Hasmonean Kingdom. His kingdom lasted until his death in 4 BCE, when it was divided among his sons and daughter as a tetrarchy, which lasted for about 10 years. Most of those tetrarchies, including Judea proper, were incorporated into Judaea Province from 6 CE, though limited Herodian de facto kingship continued until Agrippa I's death in 44 CE and nominal title of kingship continued until 92 CE, when the last Herodian monarch, Agrippa II, died and Rome assumed full power over his de jure domain.
The Herodian tetrarchy was a regional division of a client state of Rome, formed following the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE. The latter's client kingdom was divided between his sister Salome I and his sons Herod Archelaus, Herod Antipas, and Philip. Upon the deposition of Herod Archelaus in 6 CE, his territories were transformed into a Roman province. With the death of Salome I in 10 CE, her domain was also incorporated into a province.
The return of the family of Jesus to Nazareth, also known as the return from Egypt, appears in the reports of the early life of Jesus given in the canonical gospels. Both of the gospels which describe the nativity of Jesus agree that he was born in Bethlehem and then later moved with his family to live in Nazareth. The Gospel of Matthew describes how Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went to Egypt to escape from Herod the Great's slaughter of the baby boys in Bethlehem. Matthew does not mention Nazareth as being the previous home of Joseph and Mary; he says that Joseph was afraid to go to Judea because Herod Archelaus was ruling there and so the family went to Nazareth instead. The Gospel of Luke, on the other hand, does not record the flight to Egypt, and says that Joseph had been previously living in Nazareth, and returned there after the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .| Preceded by Matthew 2:21 | Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2 | Succeeded by Matthew 2:23 |