Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph went to Egypt because the King of Bethlehem was scared of being replaced by a younger unrelated boy, so ordered all boys under age 5 to be put to death.
Although it said Egypt, it is believed that the land of Goshen or the Sinai Peninsula is where Joseph, Mary and Jesus escaped.
That is not known. It is believed that they did not travel to Egypt, but rather to Egyptian territory, to get away from King Herod.
In Matthew's Gospel, Joseph fled to Egypt with Jesus and Mary, and remained there until Herod died. However, in Luke's Gospel, Joseph, Jesus and Mary did not go the Egypt. So which (if any) is correct?Many New Testament scholars say that neither nativity story is correct. John Shelby Spong says in Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus, Matthew was clearly writing Christian midrash.
Egypt.
Shortly after Jesus was born, his family fled to Egypt to escape King Herod who wanted to kill Jesus because he felt he was a threat to his power after Jesus was called "The King of Kings".
In Matthew's Gospel, Egypt is where Mary and Joseph escaped to to get away from King Herrod because he wanted to kill every new born baby at the time. Luke provides a different nativity story in which Jesus is not taken to Egypt, but to Jerusalem, where Matthew's Gospel would place him in the greatest danger from Herod, and then to Nazareth.
Possibly in his 40's-50's, the Bible does not say, but Jewish extra-biblical sources say he was an older man (not aged) and Jesus had brothers and sisters, so he can't have been too old to father children.
AnswerIn early Judaism, it was important for a new mother to go to the Temple in Jerusalem for her purification. In Matthew's Gospel, she could not go to Jerusalem, out of fear of King Herod, who wanted Jesus killed. They fled to Egypt instead.
In Matthew's Gospel, Joseph fled to Egypt with Jesus and Mary, and remained there until Herod died. However, in Luke's Gospel, Joseph, Jesus and Mary did not go the Egypt. They travelled to Herod's capital, Jerusalem, shortly after the birth then returned peacefully to Nazareth in Galilee. For Luke, Herod had no interest in the baby Jesus.
While still in Bethleham, after the birth of Jesus, Joseph had a dream. He was instructed to take the mother and child into Egypt to avoid King Harrod's soldiers who were sent to kill all male children under the age of two.
In Matthew's Gospel, Joseph, Mary and Jesus were returning to their family home in Bethlehem after the death of Herod, when God appeared to Joseph in a dream and told them to turn aside and go to Galilee, where they settled in Nazareth.
In Matthew's Gospel, Bethlehem was the home town of Mary and Joseph. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but they fled soon afterwards to Egypt, in fear of King Herod. Years later, they began the return jouney to their home in Bethlehem but, being warned in a dream, turned aside and travelled to Galilee where they settled in a city called Nazareth.In Luke's Gospel, Nazareth was the home town of Mary and Joseph. They travelled to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, then returned peacefully to Nazareth just a few weeks later.