What is the explanation of Matthew 2 v 3 to 23?

Answer 1

First, a brief summary of the text:

Wise men had come to Jerusalem from the east, saying that they had seen a star in the east. They believed that this star told of the birth of the king of the Jews, so for this reason they travelled to Jerusalem to worship him. King Herod gathered all the chief priests and scribes, who said that the new king must be born in Bethlehem. Herod instructed the wise men to go to Bethlehem and search for the baby and then tell him when they had found the new king. Until now, the star had been of no help in guiding the wise men, but suddenly it began to guide them to exactly the house in which Jesus was to be found.
God warned the wise men in a dream not to return to Jerusalem, and an angel warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt, where they remained until the death of Herod. Meanwhile, Herod had his men kill all the children under two years old in Bethlehem and nearby villages - the "Slaughter of the Innocents". When Herod had died, an angel told Joseph to return to Bethlehem. But when Joseph heard that Herod's son, Archelaus, was king in Judea, and being warned by God in a dream, turned and went to Galilee instead, going to live in a city called Nazareth.

Explanation and analysis of the text

The word used for 'wise men' is magoi or, in Latin, magi (sing: magus). The magoi were priests of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord"). Matthew was portraying the priests of this great religion as regarding the birth of a Jewish Messiah as a momentous event. By having them wish to worship him, Matthew was probably demonstrating that Jesus had dominion over even the Zoroastrians. In later centuries, the Zoroastrian connection became less important and the term "wise men" tends to be used in English translations. We are asked to believe that the wise men simply knew that when they dreamed of danger, this really was a message from God. If they were Zoroastrians, they worshipped Ahura Mazda and held him to be the real god of the universe, making this verse a difficult concept to rationalise.

Verses 2:9-10 have the star guide the wise men, not only to Bethlehem, but to the exact house. "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."

The logic of this is either that the star was clearly visible by day or that the wise men travelled and searched in Bethlehem by night. Further, the star must have disappeared for some time previously. If the star had previously been useful as a guide, the wise men would not have had to go to Jerusalem or seek help from the king - the story would have been completely different. These two verses may have been an afterthought or may have been inserted by a later interpolator.

Herod sent the men to Bethlehem because he feared the birth of a rival. When the wise men did not return, he killed all the infants under two years old.

This is important for an estimate of the date of birth of Jesus. Herod died as an old man in 4 BCE. He demonstrated that he was not overly concerned about Archelaus succeeding him. In fact he recommended to the Romans that Archelaus only succeed him in the territory of Judea, with his other sons succeeding him in other territories that Rome had granted Herod. So, any threat that worried Herod must have seemed to be a threat to his own rule. If he died in 4 BCE as an old man, the birth of Jesus must have taken place some years before this time, when Herod was still young enough to expect to rule for several more years and to worry about Jesus growing up and challenging him. King Herod was an Idumean, with a Nabatean mother, and had conquered Judea by force. He had many enemies among the Jews, yet surprisingly there is no record of the "Slaughter of the Innocents". It is most improbable that this event took place.

The flight to Egypt and return.

Much of the story of the flight to Egypt has parallels with the Old Testament story of another Joseph in Egypt. Arguably, Matthew was drawing analogies between Moses and Jesus. The weakest part of the story is where an angel told Joseph to return to Bethlehem, but shortly after God told them not to do so, but to migrate to Galilee. Do angels give bad advice? Why did no one expect Herod's son to succeed him in the normal way? Did God know that another of Herod's sons was now king of Galilee and would also have been dangerous? Matthew makes it clear that Joseph and Mary had never lived in Galilee, even explaining the association with Nazareth.

Luke's Gospel

Luke did not write of the wise men following a star to worship Jesus. Instead, he had poor shepherds coming to worship him. Herod did not present a threat, so the family remained in Bethlehem until it was time to go to the Temple in Jerusalem. They then returned peacefully to their home town, Nazareth. There was no flight to Egypt.