| Matthew 2 | |
|---|---|
 Gospel of Matthew 1:22–2:18 onCodex Vaticanus, written about AD 325–350 | |
| Book | Gospel of Matthew |
| Category | Gospel |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 1 |
Matthew 2 is the second chapter of theGospel of Matthew in theNew Testament. It describes the events after thebirth of Jesus, the visit of themagi and the attempt by KingHerod to kill the infant messiah, Joseph and his family'sflight into Egypt, and their later return to live in Israel, settling inNazareth.
The original text was written inKoine Greek. This chapter isdivided into 23 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:[a]
The infancy narrative of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew has some parallels with the story ofMoses's infancy in Jewish literature and the writings ofJosephus, as in the table below.[1]
| Narrative in Matthew | Source | Narrative related to Moses | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph's contemplation about Mary's pregnancy | Matthew 1:18–25 | Amram's contemplation about his wife's pregnancy | Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews 2.210-216 |
| Joseph was told that Jesus will be savior of his people from sins | Matthew 1:21 | Moses was destined to be savior of his people | Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews 2:228; b. Sot.a 12b |
| Herod learned about the birth of Israel's liberator from scribes | Matthew 2:4–6 | Pharaoh learned about the birth of Israel's liberator from scribes or magicians | Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews 2:205, 234; Jerusalem Targum on Exodus 1:15 |
| Herod then ordered the slaughter of infants in Bethlehem | Matthew 2:16–18 | Pharaoh then ordered the slaughter of male Hebrew children | Exodus 1:22 |
This chapter consists of four sections, each of which refers to a quotation from theOld Testament which Matthew sees Jesus fulfilling:
The last portion ofMatthew 1 is similarly written, with a quotation fromIsaiah 7:14, and is often seen as part of this same section. TheologianKrister Stendahl notes that each of the four quotes in this chapter contain place names, and sees this entire chapter asapologetics for why the messiah moved from the important centre of Bethlehem to the minor one of Nazareth.[4]
R.T. France notes that the Old Testament quotations in this chapter are "notoriously obscure and unconvincing".[5] Many of them are heavily modified from the originals, with some passages being reversed in meaning. Almost all of them are taken out of context, and presented as prophecy when they were not in the original. The most confusing is that cited inMatthew 2:23, which does not appear anywhere in the Old Testament.Jerome associates it withIsaiah 11:1, where the etymology ofNazareth is derived from the Hebrew word forbranch (ne'tser).[6] That the quotations have been so contorted to fit the narrative, is to France and others, clear evidence that the narrative came first, and the quotations were added after. The author of Matthew firmly believed in the accuracy of the narrative they were recording, and would not alter it to make it better fit the prophecies.
As withMatthew 1 most scholars see this chapter as geared towards proving that Jesus is themessiah who was foretold by the prophets. The chapter contains five references to theOld Testament, a greater density than anywhere else in the New Testament. The author of Matthew uses them to try and demonstrate that Jesus matches the predictions of the prophets. Schweizer sees the chapter as being divided into five subsections, each ending with an Old Testament quotation.[7] As with the genealogy of Matthew 1 many scholars[who?] feel that this chapter is trying to portray Jesus as the culmination of Jewish history with the author of Matthew relating events in Jesus' life to important ones in history. The author of Matthew is parallelingExodus in this chapter with Jesus as Moses and Herod as Pharaoh. The Gospel also takes care to mention a sojourn by the Holy Family in Egypt that is mentioned nowhere else. Through a quote from Jeremiah (31:15), theMassacre of the Innocents is linked to theBabylonian Captivity, and Jesus being born in Bethlehem echoes KingDavid who was also born in that village.
J. D. Kingsbury also sees this chapter as an exercise in apologetics with the cooperation of the chief priests and scribes with Herod, as described inMatthew 2:3 andMatthew 2:4, as prefiguring how the Jews and Gentiles will later respond to Christianity.[8] American theologianRobert H. Gundry notes that persecution is an important theme of Matthew, who was writing at a time when a number of forces were working to crush the new religious movement.[9]Paul L. Maier andR.T. France reject this however, France writing "What Christian writer of exemplary fiction would willingly choose Herod the Idumaean, of all unlikely candidates, to represent Israel, and a group of innocent children murdered in Bethlehem to stand for Israel's punishment."[10][11]
Most of this chapter's content is found in no other gospel and differs sharply from the infancy narrative inLuke 2. Conservative scholars have developed theories to explain these discrepancies which allow them to stand by theinerrancy of the Bible. Other scholars feel that this part of the Gospel of Matthew is not a literal work of history: for example, Gundry sees Matthew's gospel as a heavily embellished version of Luke's, with the humbleshepherds transformed into the more exotic magi.
Media related toGospel of Matthew - Chapter 2 at Wikimedia Commons