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Now Jesus was generated1 in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of2 King Herod.3 Look! magi4 from the east came into Jerusalem.
| 1 | Generated: Or, born. |
| 2 | In the days of: The birth is precisely related to a then ruling king, Herod. Compare the precision of Luke 3:1, 2. This is an historical event. |
| 3 | Herod: What we know about Herod is from the first century Jewish historian Josephus. “Herod” is really the designation of a royal house. These were semi-Jews from Edom, ancient enemies of the Israelites. (The Jewish War, I, 429, 430 [xxi, 13]; I, 656 [xxxiii, 5]; Jewish Antiquities, XIV, 168-176 [ix, 4]; XV, 395, 396 [xi, 3]; XV, 421 [xi, 6]; XV, 380 [xi, 1]; XV, 334, 335 [ix, 6]; XIV, 487, 488 [xvi, 4]; XVII, 190, 191 [viii, 1]; XVII, 167 [vi, 4]; 213 [ix, 3]; XVII, 148 [vi, 1]; XIV, 158 [ix, 2]) |
| 4 | Magi: From which comes “magi(c).” Or, Persian astrologers. The Latin magos occurs first at Leviticus 19:31 where the LXX has “ventriloquists.” Compare 1 Samuel 28:3; Isaiah 47:13; Daniel 2:27; 4:7; 5:7, 11. These astrologers were those “who, from the position of the stars at the hour of birth, by various arts of computation and divining… determined the fate of individuals.” (Gesenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, translated by S. P. Tregelles, 1901, pp. 166, 167) |
Dear Friends of the Nazarene,
We choose Matthew 2:1 as the theme verse of chapter two – Out of Egypt I called My Son. Matthew begins by relating matters regarding the birth of Christ. [1-6] Astrologers and Jewish priests are involved in what appears to be a satanic plot. The Eastern magi find Jesus, not in the manger, but in a home about two years after his birth. Warned in a dream the magi return to their homeland. The young child Jesus is saved from the slaughter of the innocents as the little family moves into Egypt. [13-18] After some years the angel of Jehovah directs the family of Jesus to return to Nazareth. [19-23]
How blest we are by the good news of the birth of Christ.
[12 October 2002]
