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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 2

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem 2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”⁠ 3 When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.⁠ 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are in no way least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”⁠ 7 Then Herod privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” 9 After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star they shouted joyfully. 11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back by another route to their own country.⁠ 13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”⁠ 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged.⁠ He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under,⁠ according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”⁠ 19 After Herod had died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up and took the child and his mother and returned to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee. 23 He came to a town called Nazareth and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 2:16 and Protoevangelium of James 22

New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

Matthew reports Herod’s order to kill children two and under. The Protoevangelium of James expands the story by adding Elizabeth’s desperate flight with the infant John, with a mountain splitting open to hide them from Herod’s soldiers.

Passages

Matthew 2:16

New Testament
14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men to kill all the children in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because they were gone.”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Protoevangelium of James 22

Early Christian · Gospel of James
22 When Herod realized that the Magi had deceived him, he flew into a rage and sent killers, ordering them, “Kill all the children two years old and younger.” When Mary heard that children were being killed, she became frightened. She took the baby, wrapped Him up, and placed Him in a manger. Elizabeth, hearing that they were also searching for John, took him and fled to the hills, desperately looking for a place to hide. But there was nowhere to go. In anguish, Elizabeth cried out, “Mountain of God, shelter this mother and her child!” Immediately, the mountain split open and took them in. A radiant light surrounded them, for an angel of the Lord was there, protecting them.
150–200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Protoevangelium of James

References

“... Protoevangelium of James 22:2-3 describes Herod’s wrath and Mary’s decision to hide Jesus in an ox-manger. The details include Herod sending out his henchmen with the command “to kill all the children who were two years old and under” and Mary being frightened after hearing that “children were being killed.” Matthew takes up the story of Herod’s wrath and makes specific references at 2:16 to the children being killed. Protoevangelium of James 22:2-4’s unique use of the information found in Matthew and Luke to create this new story strongly suggests that what we have here is a harmony. The difference between this passage and the two passages previously discussed is that the result is not simply a harmony of two parallel episodes, but rather a harmony of unrelated episodes fused together to create a new event. In order to remedy Mary’s situation, the author describes her hiding her child by wrapping him in swaddling cloth and placing him into a feeding trough or ox-manger ...”
Lily Vuong, Accessing the Virgin: Gender and Purity in the Protoevangelium of James (McMaster University, 2010), 339–340.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 2:16 and Protoevangelium of James 22

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