Gospel of Matthew (New)
editIn the Gospel of Matthew, an angel announced the impending birth to Joseph in a dream and told him to name the child Jesus, which he did.[1] After Mary gave birth to Jesus, Magi from the east of Jerusalem noticed a star appear, now called the Star of Bethlehem. They interpreted its appearance as a heavenly sign about the birth of a new ruler, so they traveled to Jerusalem with the intent of paying homage and they asked the locals: Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?[2] The Gospel of Matthew apparently draws from the Old Testament prophecy of Balaam, whom Jewish tradition made a magus and the father of the Magi,[3] that "a star shall come out of Jacob",[4] which was the name of the father of Joseph.[5]
Gospel of Matthew (Old)
editIn the Gospel of Matthew, the impending birth is announced to Joseph in a dream, in which he is instructed to name the child Jesus.[6] A star reveals the birth of Jesus to a number (traditionally three) of magoi (magi, Greek μάγος, commonly translated as "wise man" but in this context probably meaning "astronomer" or "astrologer")[7] who travel to Jerusalem from an unspecified country "in the east".[8]
Herod understands the phrase "King of the Jews" as a reference to the Messiah, since he asked his advisers where the Messiah was to be born. They answer Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, and quote the prophet Micah: [9] "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage," a deceitful Herod tells the magi.
As the magi travel to Bethlehem, the star "goes before" them and leads them to a house where they find Jesus. They present Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.[10] In a dream, the magi receive a divine warning of Herod's intent to kill the child, whom he sees as a rival. Consequently, they return to their own country without telling Herod the result of their mission. An angel tells Joseph to flee with his family to Egypt. Meanwhile, Herod orders that all male children of Bethlehem under the age of two be killed,[11] the so-called "Massacre of the Innocents".
After Herod's death, the family return from Egypt, but, instead of going back to live in Bethlehem, fears concerning Herod's Judean successor Archelaus cause them to move to Galilee and settle in Nazareth, fulfilling a prophecy: "He will be called a Nazorean".[12] The Greek for this last word is Ναζωραιος.[13] The prophecy is derived from Judges 13:5, which says "the boy shall be a Nazirite";[14] this last word in the Codex Alexandrinus being Ναζειραιος. The writer of Matthew uses an allusion to the birth of Samson to supply extra reasoning for the move to Nazareth.[15] Others have speculated that the use of Ναζωραιος relates to the Hebrew term נצר [netzer], ie "branch," and its use in Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots" - a prediction that a new ruler would emerge from the line of Jesse, father of David.[16] Though interesting, this connection is not as linguistically close as Ναζειραιος to the Matthean term Ναζωραιος nor does it supply a textual source for the prophecy cited in Matthew 2:23.
References
edit- ^ Matthew 1:20–25.
- ^ Matthew 2:1–2.
- ^ Barton, John; Muddiman, John (2007-02-06). The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 849. ISBN 0-19-927718-4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link). - ^ Numbers 24:17.
- ^ Matthew 1:16.
- ^ Matthew 2:21
- ^ Raymond Edward Brown, An Adult Christ at Christmas: Essays on the Three Biblical Christmas Stories, Liturgical Press (1988), page 11; Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Eerdmans (2000), page 844.
- ^ Matthew 2:1–4
- ^ Matthew 2:4–6, Micah 5:2–4.
- ^ Matthew 2:9–11
- ^ Matthew 2:12–16
- ^ Matthew 2:23
- ^ Barbara & Kurt Aland, et al., Novum Testamentum Graece, p.5.
- ^ Judges 13:5
- ^ cf Maarten J.J. Menken, The Sources of the Old Testament Quotation in Matthew 2:23, Journal of Biblical Literature 120/3 (2000).
- ^ Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 1-39, (Broadman and Holman, 2007), page 268.