Matthew 2:1
Encyclopedia
Matthew 2:1 is the first verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew
in the New Testament
. The previous verse ended with Jesus
being named by his father, this verse marks the clear start of a new narrative. This verse deals with the arrival of the Magi at the court of Herod the Great
in Jerusalem. This story of the magi continues until Matthew 2:12
.
, according to Westcott and Hort
, reads:
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
The New International Version
translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 2:1
, Matthew pays very little attention to this event, focusing far more on what occurred before and after.
This is the first point in the Gospel that Bethlehem
is mentioned. That it is specified as being "in Judea
" is ascribed by Albright and Mann to the need to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in Zebulun
, likely the modern town of Beit Lahna. Other scholars feel it is also to assert that Jesus was born in the heart of Judaism and also a link to the Old Testament figure Judas or Judah
.
Jesus being born in Bethlehem is important to both Matthew and Luke, but it links especially closely to the genealogy in Matthew 1
. The genealogy focuses on how Jesus was the heir to King David
. David was born in Bethlehem and Jesus being born here cemented his role as the Davidic heir. Having him born in Bethlehem was also important as it is believed critics attacked Jesus' origin in the minor and peripheral town of Nazareth
.
"Herod the King" is accepted to refer to Herod the Great
who ruled from around 47 BC
and most likely died in 4 BC
, but maybe lasted until 2 or 1 BC. All of these numbers seem to contradict Luke 2:1 that mentions a Roman census and Luke 2:2 that states Quirinius
was governor of Syria
. Luke thus seems to place Jesus' birth after 6 A.D. That Matthew has Jesus' birth in the years BC is not a Biblical error. Rather it is attributed to Dionysius Exiguus
who guessed incorrectly about when to start his calendar.
originally referred to Zoroastrian priests in Persia, but by the time this gospel was written it had come to mean anyone who dabbled in the occult
arts such as magic
, astrology
, and dream interpretation. Since the chapter later refers to their interest is stars it is likely magi here refers to astrologers. The KJV translation as "wise men" is considered by modern scholars as quite inaccurate, mostly motivated by the desire not to imply any support for the arcane arts. Also note that Matthew never says how many magi there are, just that there are more than one. Traditions such as the magi being kings and having names developed later. There are many different translations of the word found, such as wise men and astrologers. The only other place the word occurs in the New Testament is at Acts 13:6 and Acts 13:8. The magi in question is a negative figure and the word is more often translated as magician or sorcerer.
The phrase "from the east" is the only information Matthew provides on where the magi came from. Many scholars have theorized about where this east might be. Traditionally the view developed that the magi were Persian
or Parthia
n, and art works generally depicted them in Persian dress. The main support for this is that the first magi were from Persia and that land still had the largest number of them. The interest in astronomy leads some to believe they were from Babylon
, which was the centre of astrology at the time. The oldest attested theory, dating from 160 AD, is that they were from Arabia. This fits with the gifts they brought, which come from that part of the world. Brown comments that the author of Matthew probably didn't have a specific location in mind and the phrase "from the east" is for literary effect and added exoticism.
See also: The Journey of the Magi
, Three Wise Men
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. The previous verse ended with Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
being named by his father, this verse marks the clear start of a new narrative. This verse deals with the arrival of the Magi at the court of Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
in Jerusalem. This story of the magi continues until Matthew 2:12
Matthew 2:12
Matthew 2:12 is the twelfth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The magi, dispatched by King Herod, have found and paid homage to the Infant Jesus...
.
Text
The original Koine GreekKoine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
, according to Westcott and Hort
The New Testament in the Original Greek
The New Testament in the Original Greek is the name of a Greek language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort...
, reads:
- του δε ιησου γεννηθεντος εν βηθλεεμ της ιουδαιας εν ημεραις ηρωδου
- του βασιλεως ιδου μαγοι απο ανατολων παρεγενοντο εις ιεροσολυμα
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
- Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of
- Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
The New International Version
New International Version
The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...
translates the passage as:
- After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time
- of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 2:1
Birth of Jesus
The verse contains the full coverage given in Matthew to the birth of Jesus. Unlike LukeGospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
, Matthew pays very little attention to this event, focusing far more on what occurred before and after.
This is the first point in the Gospel that Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
is mentioned. That it is specified as being "in Judea
Judea
Judea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
" is ascribed by Albright and Mann to the need to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in Zebulun
Zebulun
Zebulun was, according to the Books of Genesis and Numbers, the sixth son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Zebulun...
, likely the modern town of Beit Lahna. Other scholars feel it is also to assert that Jesus was born in the heart of Judaism and also a link to the Old Testament figure Judas or Judah
Judah (Biblical figure)
Judah was, according to the Book of Genesis, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Judah. Biblical scholars, such as J. A...
.
Jesus being born in Bethlehem is important to both Matthew and Luke, but it links especially closely to the genealogy in Matthew 1
Matthew 1
Matthew 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It contains two distinct sections. The first lists the genealogy of Jesus's legal father Joseph from Abraham...
. The genealogy focuses on how Jesus was the heir to King David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
. David was born in Bethlehem and Jesus being born here cemented his role as the Davidic heir. Having him born in Bethlehem was also important as it is believed critics attacked Jesus' origin in the minor and peripheral town of Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
.
"Herod the King" is accepted to refer to Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
who ruled from around 47 BC
47 BC
Year 47 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calenius and Vatinius...
and most likely died in 4 BC
4 BC
Year 4 BC was a common year starting on Tuesday or Wednesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
, but maybe lasted until 2 or 1 BC. All of these numbers seem to contradict Luke 2:1 that mentions a Roman census and Luke 2:2 that states Quirinius
Quirinius
Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was a Roman aristocrat. After the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus from the tetrarchy of Judea in AD 6, Quirinius was appointed legate governor of Syria, to which the province of Iudaea had been added for the purpose of a census.-Life:Born in the neighborhood...
was governor of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Luke thus seems to place Jesus' birth after 6 A.D. That Matthew has Jesus' birth in the years BC is not a Biblical error. Rather it is attributed to Dionysius Exiguus
Dionysius Exiguus
Dionysius Exiguus was a 6th-century monk born in Scythia Minor, modern Dobruja shared by Romania and Bulgaria. He was a member of the Scythian monks community concentrated in Tomis, the major city of Scythia Minor...
who guessed incorrectly about when to start his calendar.
Arrival of the magi
The word magiMagi
Magi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BC, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which...
originally referred to Zoroastrian priests in Persia, but by the time this gospel was written it had come to mean anyone who dabbled in the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
arts such as magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, and dream interpretation. Since the chapter later refers to their interest is stars it is likely magi here refers to astrologers. The KJV translation as "wise men" is considered by modern scholars as quite inaccurate, mostly motivated by the desire not to imply any support for the arcane arts. Also note that Matthew never says how many magi there are, just that there are more than one. Traditions such as the magi being kings and having names developed later. There are many different translations of the word found, such as wise men and astrologers. The only other place the word occurs in the New Testament is at Acts 13:6 and Acts 13:8. The magi in question is a negative figure and the word is more often translated as magician or sorcerer.
The phrase "from the east" is the only information Matthew provides on where the magi came from. Many scholars have theorized about where this east might be. Traditionally the view developed that the magi were Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
or Parthia
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....
n, and art works generally depicted them in Persian dress. The main support for this is that the first magi were from Persia and that land still had the largest number of them. The interest in astronomy leads some to believe they were from Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, which was the centre of astrology at the time. The oldest attested theory, dating from 160 AD, is that they were from Arabia. This fits with the gifts they brought, which come from that part of the world. Brown comments that the author of Matthew probably didn't have a specific location in mind and the phrase "from the east" is for literary effect and added exoticism.
See also: The Journey of the Magi
The Journey of the Magi
The Journey of the Magi is a poem by T. S. Eliot on the subject of the magi who travelled to Palestine to visit the newborn Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew...
, Three Wise Men