Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Matthew 2:16

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

KJV

Τότε Ἡρώδης ἰδὼν ὅτι ἐνεπαίχθη ὑπὸ τῶν μάγων ἐθυμώθη λίαν, καὶ ἀποστείλας ἀνεῖλεν πάντας τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἐν Βηθλεὲμ καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς ἀπὸ διετοῦς καὶ κατωτέρω, κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ὃν ἠκρίβωσεν παρὰ τῶν μάγων.

Greek NT

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.

Vulgate

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Wise-men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had exactly learned of the Wise-men.

ASV

Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry: and sending killed all the menchildren that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.

Douay-Rheims

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In this verse

People Herod the GreatHerod Antipas
Places Bethlehem

In the original Greek

27 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

Βηθλεέμ
bethleem
noun · 8×
αὐτός
autos
pronoun · 5564×
διετής
dietes
adjective · 1×
θυμόω
thumoo
verb · 1×
κάτω
kato
adverb · 12×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
κατά
kata
preposition · 470×
λίαν
lian
adverb · 14×
μάγος
magos
noun · 6×
παρά
para
preposition · 191×
παῖς
pais
noun · 24×
πᾶς
pas
adjective · 1226×
τότε
tote
adverb · 157×
χρόνος
chronos
noun · 54×
ἀκριβόω
akriboo
verb · 2×
ἀναιρέω
anaireo
verb · 24×
ἀποστέλλω
apostello
verb · 131×
ἀπό
apo
preposition · 640×
ἐμπαίζω
empaizo
verb · 13×
ἐν
en
preposition · 2743×
Ἡρώδης
erodes
noun · 43×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὁράω
orao
verb · 682×
ὅριον
orion
noun · 12×
ὅς
os
relative_pronoun · 1404×
ὅτι
oti
conjunction · 1299×
ὑπό
upo
preposition · 221×

Intertextual echoes

This verse quotes or alludes to 1 earlier text.

  • Exod 1:22 · echo
    "And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive."
    Exodus: Pharaoh orders babies killed — Herod's massacre of innocents

Themes

Historic Christian voices

12 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§530The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents217 make manifest the opposition of darkness to the light: "He came to his own home, and his own people received him not."218 Christ's whole life was lived under the sign of persecution. His own share it with him.219 Jesus' departure from Egypt recalls the exodus and presents him as the definitive liberator of God's people.…
Proofs from the apostolic writings, that Jesus Christ was one and the same, the only begotten Son of God, perfect God and perfect man. 1. But there are some who say that Jesus was merely a receptacle of Christ, upon whom the Christ, as a dove, descended from above, and that when He had declared the unnameable Father He entered into the Pleroma in an incomprehensible and invisib…
Homilies on Matthew · 2 passages
2. And when they were departed, behold, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt. Matthew 2:13 There is something here worth inquiring into, both touching the magi, and touching the Child; for if even they were not troubled, but received all with faith, it is worthy of examination on our part, why they an…
2. Yea, says one, Herod you have full well deprived of excuse, and proved him bloodthirsty; but you have not yet solved the question about the injustice of what took place. For if he did unjustly, wherefore did God permit it? Now, what should we say to this? That which I do not cease to say continually, in church, in the market-place and everywhere; that which I also wish you c…
Covers Herod's appointment as king by Rome, his conquest of Jerusalem with Roman help, the murder of the last Hasmoneans, his building of the Second Temple (a massive expansion of Zerubbabel's temple), and his relationship with Augustus. Josephus's Herod is essential for understanding the political backdrop of Matthew 2.
Covers the domestic intrigues of Herod's court: the execution of his sons Alexander and Aristobulus, his paranoia, and the political dynamics of the Herodian family. This paranoid violence contextualizes the Massacre of the Innocents (Matt 2:16).
Josephus provides a compressed history from the Maccabean revolt through the reign of Herod the Great. Covers the political upheavals that set the stage for the Roman-Herodian world of the New Testament. Parallels and supplements the accounts in Antiquities 14-17.
1. When Herod, the first ruler of foreign blood, became King, the prophecy of Moses received its fulfillment, according to which there should not be wanting a prince of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until he come for whom it is reserved. The latter, he also shows, was to be the expectation of the nations. 2. This prediction remained unfulfilled so long as it was permitted …
1. When Christ was born, according to the prophecies, in Bethlehem of Judea, at the time indicated, Herod was not a little disturbed by the enquiry of the magi who came from the east, asking where he who was born King of the Jews was to be found — for they had seen his star, and this was their reason for taking so long a journey; for they earnestly desired to worship the infant…

Cross-references

  • 1Kgs 4:30 — And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
  • 2Kgs 8:12 — And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou sl
  • 2Kgs 11:1 — And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
  • Acts 23:35 — I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s judgment hall.
  • Dan 2:12 — For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
  • Dan 3:13 — Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
  • Dan 3:19 — Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven time
  • Esth 5:9 — Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.
  • Exod 2:3 — And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.
  • Gen 49:7 — Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
  • Hos 10:14 — Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
  • Isa 26:21 — For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
  • Isa 51:13 — And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he we
  • Isa 59:7 — Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.
  • Jer 31:15 — Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
  • John 12:10 — But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;
  • Judg 9:5 — And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal w
  • Judg 16:10 — And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.
  • Matt 2:13 — And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring
  • Prov 14:29 — He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
  • Prov 28:15 — As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
  • Prov 28:15 — As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
  • Prov 28:17 — A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
  • Prov 29:2 — When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
  • Ps 21:11 — For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
  • Ps 124:3 — Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
  • Rev 17:6 — And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.