After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in JudeaBethlehem, a small town located about six miles south of Jerusalem, holds significant historical and prophetic importance. It is the birthplace of King David, as noted in
1 Samuel 16:1, and is prophesied as the birthplace of the Messiah in
Micah 5:2. The name "Bethlehem" means "house of bread," which is fitting for Jesus, who later refers to Himself as the "bread of life" (
John 6:35). The phrase "in Judea" distinguishes this Bethlehem from another Bethlehem located in the region of Zebulun (
Joshua 19:15).
during the time of King Herod
King Herod, known as Herod the Great, was a Roman-appointed king of Judea. His reign is marked by significant architectural achievements, including the expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, but also by his tyrannical rule and paranoia, which led to the infamous massacre of the innocents (Matthew 2:16-18). Herod's rule provides a historical anchor for the timing of Jesus' birth, as he died in 4 B.C. This period was characterized by political tension and unrest, as the Jewish people were under Roman occupation and eagerly anticipating a Messiah to deliver them.
Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem
The Magi, often referred to as "wise men," were likely scholars or astrologers from regions such as Persia or Babylon. Their journey from the east suggests a long and arduous travel, indicating the significance of the celestial event they followed, often associated with the prophecy inNumbers 24:17 about a star coming out of Jacob. The Magi's arrival in Jerusalem, the political and religious center of Judea, underscores the widespread expectation of a Jewish Messiah. Their presence fulfills the prophecy of nations coming to the light of Israel (Isaiah 60:3) and foreshadows the inclusion of Gentiles in the salvation brought by Christ.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
JesusThe central figure of the New Testament, whose birth in Bethlehem fulfills Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.
2.
BethlehemA small town in Judea, significant as the prophesied birthplace of the Messiah (
Micah 5:2).
3.
JudeaA region in the southern part of ancient Israel, under Roman rule during the time of Jesus' birth.
4.
King HerodKnown as Herod the Great, he was a Roman-appointed king of Judea, infamous for his tyrannical rule and the massacre of the innocents.
5.
MagiWise men or astrologers from the east, possibly Persia or Babylon, who followed a star to find the newborn King of the Jews.
Teaching Points
Fulfillment of ProphecyJesus' birth in Bethlehem is a direct fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, affirming the reliability and divine inspiration of Scripture.
God's SovereigntyThe arrival of the Magi and the timing of Jesus' birth demonstrate God's control over history and His ability to use various people and events to accomplish His purposes.
Seeking the SaviorThe Magi's journey from the east exemplifies a diligent and sincere search for truth, encouraging believers to seek Jesus with the same fervor.
Cultural and Spiritual OpennessThe inclusion of the Magi, who were Gentiles, highlights the universal scope of Jesus' mission and the breaking down of cultural barriers in the Kingdom of God.
Response to JesusThe contrasting responses of the Magi and Herod to Jesus' birth challenge us to consider our own response to Christ's lordship in our lives.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Matthew 2:1?
2.How does Matthew 2:1 affirm Jesus' fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies?
3.What significance does "born in Bethlehem" hold for understanding Jesus' messianic role?
4.How can we recognize God's guidance in our lives, as seen in Matthew 2:1?
5.Why is it important to seek Jesus, like the Magi did in Matthew 2:1?
6.How does the journey of the Magi inspire our pursuit of truth and wisdom?
7.How does Matthew 2:1 support the historical existence of Jesus?
8.Why were the Magi significant in Matthew 2:1?
9.What does Matthew 2:1 reveal about Jesus' birthplace?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Matthew 2?
11.Did Jesus travel to India?
12.How could a star lead the Magi to a specific house in Bethlehem?
13.In what year was Jesus born?
14.Is Christianity exclusively a white man's religion?What Does Matthew 2:1 Mean
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea• Matthew opens by stating a historical fact: Jesus’ birth has already taken place (Luke 2:6–7).
• Bethlehem matters because it fulfillsMicah 5:2, a clear promise that the Messiah would emerge from David’s hometown.
• “In Judea” ties Jesus to the royal tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and to Davidic lineage (2 Samuel 7:12–13).
• The phrase reassures readers that prophecy and place line up perfectly; God’s Word is precise, never accidental (John 7:42).
• Practical takeaway: whenever Scripture names a place, it’s anchoring truth in real geography—our faith is rooted in concrete history, not myth.
during the time of King Herod• Herod the Great ruled from 37–4 BC (Luke 1:5). His reign was marked by political savvy and brutal paranoia—he murdered rivals, even family.
• God intentionally sent His Son into a hostile environment, foreshadowing the suffering yet triumph of the cross (Galatians 4:4).
• Herod’s presence also lines up with Jacob’s prophecy that the scepter would not depart from Judah “until He to whom it belongs shall come” (Genesis 49:10). With an Idumean king on Israel’s throne, the moment for Messiah had arrived.
• Cross-referenceDaniel 2:44—God’s kingdom arises during earthly kingdoms, not after they fade.
• Application: no ruler, however threatening, can derail God’s timetable.
Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem• The Magi were respected scholars—likely from Persia or Babylon—skilled in astronomy and known for advising kings (Daniel 2:48).
• Their journey fulfillsIsaiah 60:3, “Nations will come to your light,” and echoesNumbers 24:17, “A star will come out of Jacob.”
• That Gentiles are first to seek and worship Jesus foreshadows the global reach of the gospel (Ephesians 2:11–13).
• The Magi expected a king; their arrival in Jerusalem, the royal city, testifies they believed prophecy literally.
• God used a star to guide them, showing He can speak through creation (Psalm 19:1–4) yet still directs seekers to Scripture for full revelation (Matthew 2:5–6).
• Takeaway: sincere seekers who respond to God’s light receive greater light, and true wisdom leads to worship, not mere curiosity.
summaryMatthew 2:1 anchors the birth of Jesus in verifiable history—Bethlehem of Judah, the reign of Herod, and the appearance of Magi—demonstrating fulfilled prophecy, God’s sovereignty over world events, and the early inclusion of the nations. The verse invites us to trust the reliability of Scripture, marvel at God’s precise timing, and join the Magi in recognizing and honoring the newborn King.
II.
(1)In the days of Herod the king.--The death of Herod took place in the year of Rome A.U.C. 750, just before the Passover. This year coincided with what in our common chronology would be B.C. 4--so that we have to recognise the fact that our common reckoning is erroneous, and to fix B.C. 5 or 4 as the date of the Nativity.
No facts recorded either in St. Matthew or St. Luke throw much light on the season of the birth of Christ. The flocks and shepherds in the open field indicate spring rather than winter. The received day, December 25th, was not kept as a festival in the East till the time of Chrysostom, and was then received as resting on the tradition of the Roman Church. It has been conjectured, with some probability, that the time was chosen in order to substitute the purified joy of a Christian festival for the license of the Saturnalia which were kept at that season.
The time of the arrival of the wise men was probably (we cannot say more) after the Presentation in the Temple ofLuke 2:22. The appearance of the star coincided with the birth. The journey from any part of the region vaguely called the East would occupy at least several weeks.
Wise men from the east.--The Greek word is Magi. That name appears inJeremiah 39:3;Jeremiah 39:13, in the name Rab-Mag, "The chief of the Magi." Herodotus speaks of them as a priestly caste of the Medes, known as interpreters of dreams (I. 101, 120). Among the Greeks the word was commonly applied with a tone of scorn to the impostors who claimed supernatural knowledge, andmagic was in fact the art of the Magi, and so the word was commonly used throughout the Roman world when the New Testament was written, Simon Magus is Simon the sorcerer. There was however, as side by side with this, a recognition of the higher ideas of which the word was capable, and we can hardly think that the writer of the Gospel would have used it in its lower sense. With him, as with Plato, the Magi were thought of as observers of the heavens, students of the secrets of Nature. Where they came from we cannot tell. The name was too widely spread at this time to lead us to look with certainty to its original home in Persia, and that country was to the North rather than the East of Palestine. The watching of the heavens implied in the narrative belonged to Chaldea rather than Persia. The popular legends that they were three in number, and that they were kings, that they represented the three great races of the sons of Noah, and were named Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, are simply apocryphal additions, originating probably in dramatic representations, and perpetuated by Christian art.
Verses 1-12.- Born at Bethlehem,
according to prophecy,
he receives there the homage of representatives of the,
heathen world.Verse 1. -
Now when Jesus; who has just been identified with Christ. But in this chapter the narrative employs only those terms ("Jesus," "young Child") which bystanders might have used. They are purely annalistic, not interpretative. Contrast
Matthew 1:18 and Herod's statement of a thee-logical problem (ver. 4). Was born in Bethlehem. The First Gospel, if taken alone would give the impression that Joseph had had no previous connexion with Nazareth. But about the place where Joseph and Mary lived before the birth of Jesus the evangelist did not concern himself (cf ver. 23, note).
Of Judaea. For the evangelist's purpose it was most important so to define it as to exclude Bethlehem of Zebulun (
Joshua 19:15). The inhabitants of Bethlehem of Judaea, a market town of a fruitful (Ephratah) district, live chiefly by agriculture, but also for several centuries have manufactured images of saints, rosaries, and fancy articles. Since 1834: it has been almost exclusively occupied by Christians (Socin's Baedeker,' p. 243, seq.). From "the House of Bread" came forth" the true Bread."
In the days of Herod the king. Herod the Great and Herod Agrippa II. (
Acts 25:13) alone held the legal title of "king" for any time (but cf.
Matthew 14:1, note) - the former as King of the Jews (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.,' 1:14.4), or King "of the Idumaeans and Samaritans" (Appian, 'Civ., 5:75;
vide Schurer, 1:1. 340), by a decree of an express meeting of the Roman senate,
B.C. 40; the latter by Claudius's appointment, as king first of Chalcis (A.D. 48-53) and afterwards (A.D. 53-100) of the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.,' 2:12. 8; 13. 2), although Herod Antipas was so spoken of by courtesy (
infra,
Matthew 14:9).
As the date of Agrippa II. is quite out of the question, we are almost compelled by this phrase alone to recognize the date of Christ's birth as falling in the lifetime of Herod the Great. Herod the Great died in the spring of A.U.C. 750, our
B.C. 4 (Schiirer, 1:1. 466), and as our Lord was born at least forty days earlier, for the purification in the temple must have taken place before Herod's massacre of the innocents, he cannot have been born later than the very beginning of
B.C. 4, or the end of
B.C. 5. Indeed, upon the most natural deduction from ver. 16, he must have been born some months earlier. The Church, from the days of Justin Martyr ('Ap.,' 1:32), has loved to see in the abolition by Rome of the kingdom of the Jews at the death of Herod, of its native dynasty by Herod's usurnation (Origen, 'Genesis Hom.,' 17:6), the fulfilment of Jacob's prophecy (
Genesis 49:10).
Behold, there came Wise Men from the East. The true order, as given in the Revised Version, lays the emphasis on the office, and in a subordinate degree on the home of the strangers
- Wise Men from the East came. This translation also hints at the full meaning of the verb (
παρεγένοντο) , of which the connotation is not of the place a quo, but of the publicity of their appearance at the place
in quo (cf.
Matthew 3:1).
Wise Men (
Μάγοι); "astromyens" (Wickliffe); "
rages" (Rheims). On this word see especially Schrader ('Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament') on
Jeremiah 39:3. He considers it to be in origin not Iranian (Medo-Persian), but Babylonian, and to have primarily meant either "
one who is deep whether in power and reputation or in insight," or one who has fulness of power. It was, perhaps, at first used with special reference to astrologers and interpreters of dreams, and, passing from Babylonia to Media, it became the name of the Median priestly order. In the latter sense it is probably used here. In
Acts 13:6-8 it, apparently by reversion, is used in its wider meaning. Of the number and rank of those who now came absolutely nothing is known. Of greater importance is Cicero's statement ('De Div.,' 1:41), "Nee quisquam rex Persarum potest esse, qui non ante magorum disciplinam scientiamque perceperit." These Magi
spontaneously submit to the Babe.
From the East. The proper home of the Magi would thus be Media, and, from the length of time employed on their journey (ver. 16), it is probable that by "the East" we must here understand Media or some other part of the kingdom, of Parthia, into which Media had been mostly absorbed, and in which, in fact, the Magi were now greatly honoured.
Many,
however (
e.g. Lightfoot, 'Her. Hebr.'; and Edersheim, 'Life,' etc., 1:203, who points out that a Jewish kingdom of Yemen then existed), think that these Magi came from Arabia; and with this the tradition, evidently received by Justin Martyr and frequently referred to by him (
οἱ ἀπὸ Ἀρραβίας Μάγοι, 'Trypho,' §§ 77, 78, 88, 102; cf. Reseh, 'Agrapha,' p. 471), perhaps agrees. But Justin's own opinion was that they came from Damascus, which "was and is a part of the land of Arabia" (§ 78). It is noticeable that Justin's tradition is confirmed by the Jerusalem Talmud ('Ber.,' 2:4), which makes an "Arabian" tell a Jew that Messiah is born. The whole passage is worth quoting for its illustration of several details in this chapter. "After this the children of Israel shall be converted, and shall inquire after the Lord their God, and David their king (
Hosea 3:5). Our rabbins say, 'That is King Messias, if he be among the living, his name is David, or if dead, David is his name.' Rabbi Tanchum said, 'Thus I prove it: He sheweth mercy to David his Messiah' (
Psalm 18:50). Rabbi Josua ben Levi saith, 'His name is
צמח, a Branch (
Zechariah 3:8).' Rabbi Judah bar Aibu saith, ' His name is Menahem (that is,
Para>klhtov, the Comforter).' And that which happened to a certain Jew, as he was ploughing, agreeth with this business. A certain Arabian travelling, and hearing the ox bellow, said to the Jew at plough, 'O Jew, loose thy oxen, and loose thy ploughs, for, behold, the temple is laid waste!' The ox bellowed the second time; the Arabian saith to him, 'O Jew, Jew, yoke thy oxen, and fit thy ploughs: for, behold, King Messiah is born!' But saith the Jew, 'What is his name?' 'Menahem,' saith he. 'And what is the name of his father?' 'Hezekiah,' saith the Arabian. To whom the Jew, 'But whence is he?' The other answered, ' From the palace of the King of Bethlehem-Judah.' Away he went, and sold his oxen, and his ploughs, and became a seller of infants' swaddling-clothes, going about from town to town. When he came to that city (Bethlehem) all the women bought of him, but the mother of Menahem bought nothing. He heard the voice of the women saying, 'O thou mother of Menahem, thou mother of Menahem, carry thy son the things that are here sold.' But she replied, 'May the enemies of Israel be strandded, because on the day that he was born the temple was laid waste.' To whom he said, 'But we hoped, that as it was laid waste at his feet, so at his feet it would be built again.' She saith, 'I have no money.' To whom he replied, 'But why should this be prejudicial to him? Carry him what you buy here, and if you have no money to-day, after some days I will come back and receive it.' After some days he returns to that city, and saith to her, 'How does the little infant?' And she said, 'From the time you saw me last, spirits [winds] and tempests came, and snatched him away out of my hands.' Rabbi Bon saith, 'What need have we to learn from an Arabian? Is it not plainly written, "And Lebanon shall fall before the Powerful One?" (Esa. 10:34). And what follows after? "A Branch shall come out of the root of Jesse" (Esa. 11:1)'" ('Hor. Hebr.,'
in loc.) . To Jerusalem. The capital, where this King would reign, and where information about his birth would most naturally be obtained.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Afterδὲ(de)Conjunction
Strong's 1161:A primary particle; but, and, etc.JesusἸησοῦ(Iēsou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2424:Of Hebrew origin; Jesus, the name of our Lord and two other Israelites.was bornγεννηθέντος(gennēthentos)Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 1080:From a variation of genos; to procreate; figuratively, to regenerate.inἐν(en)Preposition
Strong's 1722:In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.BethlehemΒηθλέεμ(Bēthleem)Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 965:Bethlehem, a town of Judea. Of Hebrew origin; Bethleem, a place in Palestine.in Judea,Ἰουδαίας(Ioudaias)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 2449:Judea, a Roman province, capital Jerusalem. Feminine of Ioudaios; the Judaean land, a region of Palestine.duringἐν(en)Preposition
Strong's 1722:In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.[the] timeἡμέραις(hēmerais)Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 2250:A day, the period from sunrise to sunset.of Kingβασιλέως(basileōs)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 935:A king, ruler, but in some passages clearly to be translated: emperor. Probably from basis; a sovereign.Herod,Ἡρῴδου(Hērōdou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2264:Compound of heros and eidos; heroic; Herod, the name of four Jewish kings.Magiμάγοι(magoi)Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3097:A sorcerer, a magician, a wizard. Of foreign origin; a Magian, i.e. Oriental scientist; by implication, a magician.from [the]ἀπὸ(apo)Preposition
Strong's 575:From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.eastἀνατολῶν(anatolōn)Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural
Strong's 395:From anatello; a rising of light, i.e. Dawn; by implication, the east.arrivedπαρεγένοντο(paregenonto)Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 3854:From para and ginomai; to become near, i.e. Approach; by implication, to appear publicly.inεἰς(eis)Preposition
Strong's 1519:A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.Jerusalem,Ἱεροσόλυμα(Hierosolyma)Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Strong's 2414:The Greek form of the Hebrew name: Jerusalem. Of Hebrew origin; Hierosolyma
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NT Gospels: Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matt. Mat Mt) 
