St Matthew Chapter II : Verses 13-23
Contents
⮚Matt. ii. 13-23 Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate)
⮚Notes on text
Matt. ii. 13-23
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| The flight into Egypt. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Qui cum recessissent, ecce angelus Domini apparuit in somnis Joseph, dicens : Surge, et accipe puerum, et matrem ejus, et fuge in Ægyptum, et esto ibi usque dum dicam tibi. Futurum est enim ut Herodes quærat puerum ad perdendum eum.
14 Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod:
Qui consurgens accepit puerum et matrem ejus nocte, et secessit in Ægyptum : et erat ibi usque ad obitum Herodis :
15 That it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Ut adimpleretur quod dictum est a Domino per prophetam dicentem : Ex Ægypto vocavi filium meum.
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| The Massacre of the Innocents. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Tunc Herodes videns quoniam illusus esset a magis, iratus est valde, et mittens occidit omnes pueros, qui erant in Bethlehem, et in omnibus finibus ejus, a bimatu et infra secundum tempus, quod exquisierat a magis.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying:
Tunc adimpletum est quod dictum est per Jeremiam prophetam dicentem :
18 A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Vox in Rama audita est ploratus, et ululatus multus : Rachel plorans filios suos, et noluit consolari, quia non sunt.
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| The return from Egypt. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
Defuncto autem Herode, ecce angelus Domini apparuit in somnis Joseph in Ægypto,
20 Saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child.
dicens : Surge, et accipe puerum, et matrem ejus, et vade in terram Israel : defuncti sunt enim qui quaerebant animam pueri.
21 Who arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
Qui consurgens, accepit puerum, et matrem ejus, et venit in terram Israel.
22 But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither: and being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee.
Audiens autem quod Archelaus regnaret in Judæa pro Herode patre suo, timuit illo ire : et admonitus in somnis, secessit in partes Galilææ.
23 And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was said by prophets: That he shall be called a Nazarene.
Et veniens habitavit in civitate quae vocatur Nazareth : ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per prophetas : Quoniam Nazaræus vocabitur.
Notes
13. after they were departed. It is probable that the apparition of the angel to Joseph took place immediately after the departure of the magi, for naturally the news of the arrival of these strangers and of their visit to the Holy Family would speedily have been noised abroad in a small hamlet such as Bethlehem, and this publicity would have constituted a danger for the Infant Jesus.
to Joseph. The angel was sent to the head of the family, to St Joseph ; yet he was the least in dignity. From this we learn a lesson of obedience and humility to those placed over us.
Arise. There was to be no delay, since the danger was imminent, and the flight into Egypt was to be the means of saving the life of the Infant Saviour.
fly into Egypt. Egypt lay beyond the jurisdiction of Herod, and there was a highway which led thither.
be there until I shall tell thee. St Joseph was to practise absolute resignation to the will of God.
Herod will seek the child. Lit. “purposes to seek the child” (μέλλει γὰρ Ἡρῴδης ζητεῖν τὸ παιδίον).
to destroy him. This was Herod’s set purpose (τοῦ ἀπολέσαι αὐτό.) from the moment he had heard of Christ’s birth.
14. Who arose, and took the child, etc. Notice St Joseph’s prompt and unquestioning obedience.
by night. Orientals were in the habit of setting out on a journey before daybreak in order to escape the heat of the day, but it is probable that the Holy Family travelled earlier still. By so doing they would be less likely to meet other travellers.
retired into Egypt. There were two roads leading from Jerusalem to Egypt, one through Gaza and the other through Hebron. The distance was about 120 miles, and the journey took from eight to ten days. According to the most ancient and the local traditions, the Holy Family went to Heliopolis, known as “ On ” to the Old Testament writers, and called “ Matarea ” by the Arabs. The city stood on the eastern bank of the Nile, near the Delta.
The Apocryphal Gospels narrate various miracles in connection with the flight into Egypt, and among others, the legend that all the idols in Egypt fell when the Holy Family entered Egypt, but these miracles are not authentic. This one in particular is based on a literal application of a prophecy concerning the ultimate conversion of the Egyptians. Cf. Behold the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egyp>t shall melt in the midst thereof. (Is. xix. 1).
until the death. The duration of the sojourn in Egypt is unknown. Various periods have been suggested, varying between a few months and eight years.
15. That it might be fulfilled, etc. Herod, like Augustus, was the unconscious instrument in bringing about the fulfilment of a prophecy. The words quoted applied, both historically and literally, to the Jews. The Septuagint reads, not “ my son,” but “ my sons.”
We frequently find this name given to the Israelites. Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, my first-born (Exod. iv. 22). The words quoted by the Evangelist were only fully accomplished in a secondary application when Joseph was bidden to return into the land of Israel at the expiration of the term of their exile.
16. Herod perceiving that he was deluded, etc. Lit. “ perceiving that he was made a sport of” (ἐνεπαίχθη). The Evangelist takes Herod’s standpoint and relates what passed in the tyrant’s mind. Doubtless he waited for the return of the magi ; then he made inquiries, and finally learned that he had been outwitted. To a tyrant such as Herod this must have seemed intolerable ; and some dire act of vengeance on his part was the natural consequence of the magi’s course of action.
and sending. Herod’s agents were probably selected from one of the four bands of men who were mentioned by Josephus as taking part in the obsequies of the king, i.e. a Thracian band, a company of Germans, a band of Galatians (composed of Gauls and Celts), and his own bodyguard. Members of these bands could be sent at any time to execute despotic acts of vengeance planned by Herod. It was thus that Herod Antipas had St John the Baptist executed (see St Mark vi. 14).
killed all the men-children. An obsolete expression for “ male children.” Some anti Christian writers have objected that since the Jewish historian Josephus does not mention this incident, it cannot be true, but he omits far more important events in the life of our Lord. Josephus wrote about ninety years after the birth of Christ ; and since it was his policy to interpret the prophecies concerning the Messias in favour of Vespasian and of the Roman empire, he would naturally abstain from relating any incident relating to our Lord.
Macrobius, a pagan historian of the fourth century, writes thus “ Augustus was informed that, among the boys under two years of age whom Herod, the king of Judea, had ordered to be slain in Syria, his own son had been slain. Hearing this, the emperor remarked It is better to be Herod’s pig (τὸν ὗν) than Herod’s son (τὸν ὑιὸν ).” Augustus was misinformed as regards the murder of Antipater, for he perished in full manhood before the birth of Christ ; but at least the historian’s words prove that the massacre of the innocents was well known to the ancient pagan world.
Note. — It is generally thought that about 15 to 20 children were slain ; for if we take the population of Bethlehem and its environs as consisting of about 1000 families, this would give approximately a birth-rate of 36 per year. Deducting the female children and allowing for premature deaths, we arrive at about 10 boys for each year ; and as those under two years were massacred, the number may have been about 20, as stated. Certainly the number of 14,000 given by the Greek liturgies far exceeds the truth.
from two years old and under. As we do not know the exact time of the appearance of the star, we cannot determine precisely what is meant by these words. They may mean children that had just entered on their second year and those who were under one year old, or they may refer to all those who had completed their second year.
17. Then was fulfilled, etc. The words quoted are rather a record of an historical event than a prophecy ; but inasmuch as they can be applied to the lamentation of the mothers of Bethlehem, they are prophetic in the wider sense of the word. They had been partially and provisionally fulfilled, in the first instance, in the murder by the Babylonians of the children of Judæa, particularly in the region where Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, was buried (Gen. xxxv. 17-20). But the prophecy now received its full and final accomplishment. “ The Holy Spirit, speaking by St Matthew, teaches us in these first two chapters (see i. 22, ii. 23. Cf. viii. 17, xii. 17, xiii. 35, xxi. 4, xxvii. 9, 35) that the prophecies spoken by Himself are not exhausted at once, but they flow in a perennial stream through successive ages, till they arrive at their height and springtide in Christ.”
19. But when Herod was dead. Not necessarily immediately after Herod’s death, which occurred in 750 A.U.C., after a reign of thirty-seven years of tyranny and crimes.
20. they are dead that sought the life of the child. By an idiomatic use, the plural is used for the singular.
22. Archelaus reigned. Lit. “reigned as king ” (βασιλεύει). Archelaus was not a king, but an ethnarch, although it seems probable that he was addressed as “king” by courtesy. Josephus tells us that “There was presently an acclamation made to Archelaus as king, and the soldiers came by bands, and their commanders with them, and promised the same good will .... which they had exhibited to Herod ” (Antiq., xvii. 8, 2). An ethnarch had less authority than a king. Archelaus governed the provinces of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea.
he was afraid to go thither. Notice the prudence of St Joseph. His fears were not ungrounded, for Archelaus was no sooner in power than he massacred 3000 Jews at a paschal solemnity (see Josephus, Antiq., xvii. 9. 3).
the quarters of Galilee. Galilee was the most despised province of Judea, and Nazareth was its poorest city. Antipas, Herod’s half-brother, governed this province. Though a tyrant like his father, Antipas was less cruel than Archelaus.
23. And coming he dwelt. This is the last time St Joseph’s name occurs in connection with our Lord. Tradition asserts that he died shortly after this event.
We infer that St Joseph died during the hidden life of our Blessed Lord, since —
St Joseph is invoked as the patron of a happy death, since his last moments were blessed by the presence of Jesus and Mary.1. He is not mentioned as taking part in any of the events of the Public Life of Christ.2. During the three years of Christ’s Ministry we sometimes find our Blessed Lady at Capharnaum.3. The Nazarenes, during His Public Life, speak of Christ as the Carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, etc., but St Joseph is not mentioned.4. Jesus, when dying, bequeathed his Blessed Mother to St John, which seems to prove that St Joseph was dead.
he shall he called a Nazarite. This is perhaps a copyist’s error for “ Nazarene,” since we do not read of our Lord being called a Nazarite, nor did He take the Nazarite vow, whereas He was reproached with being a Nazarene.
[Ed. Cf. And Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Scripsit autem et titulum Pilatus, et posuit super crucem. Erat autem scriptum : Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judaeorum. [John xix. 19]; And I answered: Who art thou, Lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. Ego autem respondi : Quis es, Domine? Dixitque ad me : Ego sum Jesus Nazarenus, quem tu persequeris. [Acts Of Apostles xxii. 8]
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per te, Maria.
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