Daniel P. Barron

1 Now after Joshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod ⁱ the king, behold, magicians ⁱⁱ from the East came to Jerusalem 2 saying, “Where is he who was born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star ⁱⁱⁱ in the East and have come to worship ^iv him.” ^v

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written by the prophet,

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you shall come a ruler, who shall shepherd my people Israel.’” ^vi

7 Then Herod, when he secretly called the magicians, ascertained from them the time the star appeared. ^vii 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, “Go, carefully search for the child. And when you find him, tell me, so that I might come and worship also.”

9 And after hearing the king, they departed, and behold, the star which they saw in the East went before them until it came and stood above where the child was. ^viii 10 And when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. And opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned ^ix in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their country via another way.

13 And after they departed, behold, a messenger of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, “Arise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to ^x seek for the child to destroy him.” 14 So he arose, took the child and his mother at night and went to Egypt. 15 And he was there until the end ^xi of Herod, that it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” ^xii

16 Then Herod, having seen that he was mocked ^xiii by the magicians, became exceedingly angry, and sent and destroyed all the children ^xiv who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the magicians. ^xv 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying,

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, ^xvi lamentation and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, ^xvii and not wanting to be comforted, because they are not.” ^xviii

19 Now when Herod was dead, ^xix behold, a messenger of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 saying, “Arise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s soul are dead.” 21 So he arose, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But, when he heard that Archelaus ^xx was ruling over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And, being warned ^xxi in a dream, he returned to the area of Galilee, 23 and came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene ^xxii.” ^xxiii

Matthew 1 - Matthew 3

Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf. ^xxiv

1. According to history, Herod ruled from 37 to 4 BC. ^
2. magoi (magoi) - “magicians” - KJV, NKJV “wise men;” NAS, NIV “magi” - This Greek word is found also in verses 7 and 16. It is also in Daniel 1:20; 2:2 (LXX, apparently for the Hebrew word µypiV;a' ['ashâphiym], NKJV “astrologers”); Daniel 2:10, 27; 4:7 (Aramaic 4:4); 5:7, 11, 15 (LXX, apparently for the Aramaic word ÷ypiv]a ['âshphiyn] [singular - ¹v'a; ('âshaph)] NKJV “astrologers”); and in Acts 13:6 and 8 for “sorcerer” (KJV, NKJV, NIV; NAS “magician”). Also noteworthy, Acts 8:9 has the related verb mageuwn (mageuôn, KJV, NKJV, NIV “sorcery;” NAS “magic”) and Acts 8:11 has the related noun mageiaiv (mageiais, KJV, NKJV “sorceries;” NAS “magic arts;” NIV “magic”). Furthermore, Acts 19:19 “magic” (NKJV, NAS; KJV “curious arts”) is a totally different Greek word (perierga, perierga). Context weighs heavily on this word. It is a compound word combining the preposition peri (peri, “about,” “concerning”) with erga (erga, “work,” or “deed”). It is only used one other place in the NT (1 Timothy 5:13, KJV, NKJV, NAS “busybodies”). The Greek word for “sorcery” (NKJV, NAS, farmakeia, pharmakeia - Galatians 5:20 [KJV, NIV “witchcraft]; Revelation 18:23 [NIV “magic spell”]), “sorceries” (KJV, NKJV, NAS, farmakeiwn, pharmakeiôn - Revelation 9:21 [NIV “magic arts”]), and “sorcerers” (KJV, NKJV, NAS; NIV “magic arts”) are different as well. The context of Matthew 2 fits well for a possible translation of “astrologers” or “astronomers.” ^
3. a morning star? 2 Peter 1:19; Revelation 2:28; 22:16; see also Genesis 1:14; Numbers 24:17; Judges 5:20 (?). For constellations mentioned in Scripture, see 2 Kings 23:5 (NKJV “constellations” t/lZÉM', mazzâlot); Job 9:7-9; 38:31-32 (NKJV “Mazzaroth” t/rZÉm', mazzâroth); Amos 5:8. ^
4. proskunhsai (proskunêsai) - “to worship” - found also only in Matthew 2:8, 11; 4:9-10; 8:2; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 18:26 (see footnote); 20:20; 28:9, 17; Mark 5:6; 15:19; Luke 4:7-8; 24:52; John 4:20 (2x), 21, 22 (2x), 23 (3x), 24 (2x); 9:38; 12:20; Acts 7:34; 8:27; 10:25; 24:11; 1 Corinthians 14:25; Hebrews 1:6; 11:21; Revelation 3:9 [see also vs. 21, and Isaiah 66:23 LXX]; 4:10; 5:14; 7:11; 9:20; 11:1, 16; 13:4 (2x), 8, 12, 15; 14:7, 9, 11; 15:4; 16:2; 19:4, 10 (2x), 20; 20:4; 22:8-9. ^
5. How would they know this information?! A hint is found in Daniel 9:24-25. ^
6. Micah 5:2 ^
7. Apparently, the star appeared at a certain time (Matthew 2:16). ^
8. This is phenomenal! There is only about a 5 mile difference between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. ^
9. crhmatisyentev (chrêmatisthentes) - “being warned” - KJV adds “of God,” NKJV “divinely,” NAS “by God” (italics), NIV has simply “having been warned.” This word is also found in verse 22 and Luke 2:26 (because the Holy Spirit is explicitely mentioned here, there is no additional “by God” in these translations on this verse); Acts 10:22; 11:26 (“called”); Romans 7:3 (“called”); Hebrews 8:5; 11:7; 12:25 (NKJV “who spoke”). ^
10. mellei (mellei) - “is about to” - found also e.g. in Matthew 17:12 ("is . . . about to"); 17:22 ("is about to"); 20:22 ("I am about to"); Luke 9:31 ("was about to"); 9:44 ("is about to"); 10:1 ("was about to"); 21:7 ("are about to"); John 6:15 ("they were about to"); Acts 3:3 ("about to"); 12:6 ("was about to"); 16:27 ("was about to"); 18:14 ("was about to"); 20:3 ("was about to"); 21:37 ("was about to"); 22:29 ("were about to"); 23:27 ("was about to"); 27:33 ("was about to"); Hebrews 8:5 ("was about to"); Revelation 2:10(2x) ("you are about to" & "is about to"); 8:13 ("are about to"); 10:4 ("I was about to"); 10:7 ("he is about to"). See also footnotes for Matthew 12:32; Acts 22:16; 23:15. ^
11. teleuthv (teleutas) - “end” - i.e. death ^
12. Hosea 11:1 ^
13. enepaicyh (enepaichtha) - “mocked” - found also in Matthew 20:19; 27:29, 31, 41; Mark 10:34; 15:20, 31; Luke 14:29; 18:32; 22:63; 23:11, 36. ^
14. paidav (paidas) - “children” - There is no Greek word “male” here, yet this Greek word is in the masculine plural. This is the same word that would be used for simply “children” (including male and female). The context dictates that it is the male children that Herod would be concerned with, but the wording in the Greek is not definitive; since it uses the masculine plural that could mean all children (male and female) or simply all male children. In verse 18 the word for children there is neuter plural, tekna (tekna). ^
15. There is no record of anyone else being warned. Moreover, as a result of Christ coming into the world, because of this wicked man, masses of children were killed. ^
16. rama (rama) - “Ramah” - about six miles North of Jerusalem. ^
17. tekna (tekna) - neuter plural ^
18. Jeremiah 31:15 ^
19. teleuthsantov (teleutêsantos) - “dead” - This word has the idea of “came to an end.” ^
20. According to history, he ruled from 4 BC to 6 AD. ^
21. crhmatisyeiv (chrêmatistheis) - “being warned” - KJV, NKJV, and NAS (in italics) add of or by “God.” NIV has no “God.” There is no “God” in the text, but it may be implied. See footnote for verse 12. ^
22. nazwraiov (nazôraios) - “Nazarene” - found also only in Matthew 26:71; Luke 18:37; 24:19 (Majority & Received Texts); John 18:5, 7; 19:19; Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 6:14; 22:8; 24:5; 26:9. The term for “of Nazareth” is nazarhnov (nazarênos) found only in Mark 1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6; Luke 4:34; 24:19 (Critical Text). ^
23. There is no Biblical record of this. ^
24. Mirrored here. ^