Why did the holy family have to flee to Egypt?

Answer 1

Joseph and Mary weren't really exiled. They fled from the wrath of Herod and were warned by God to go to avoid this. Herod would have killed Jesus if he could - thus it was for Jesus' sake, not their own, that they left.

Answer 2

The Holy Family fled to Egypt to escape King Herod's order to kill all male infants in Bethlehem. An angel warned Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt until it was safe to return.

Answer 3

A:In Matthew's Gospel, the magi came from the east to worship the baby who would become king of the Jews, thereby alerting King Herod to the danger to his throne. Herod plotted to kill Jesus but Joseph, being warned in a dream, took Mary and Jesus to Egypt and remained there until Herod died. They then began the return journey to their home in Bethlehem, but Joseph was again warned in a dream so they turned aside and instead travelled to Nazareth in Galilee.

This does not apply to Luke's Gospel, since Nazareth was already Joseph's home town and the young family returned there peacefully just a few days after the birth of Jesus, never returning to Bethlehem.

Answer 4

In Luke's Gospel, Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem and then home to Nazareth quite shortly after his birth in Bethlehem. But, in Matthew's Gospel, Joseph took Jesus to Egypt instead. This is because, in Matthew's account, wise men came from the east and told King Herod of a baby born to be king of the Jews. Matthewsays that Herod intended to kill Jesus, so Joseph fled with Mary and Jesus to Egypt and remained there until after the death of Jesus.

Answer 5

Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt in the night as king Herod found that the wisemen had tricked him and gone to their own land by another route as the angel had told them to do so. Even a angel told Joseph to go in a dream.

Answer 6

In Luke's Gospel, Joseph, Mary and Jesus never went to Egypt. When it was time for Mary's purification, the young family went from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to present Jesus at the Temple, then returned home to Nazareth just a few weeks after the birth of Jesus.

In Matthew's Gospel, the magi, or wise men told King Herod that a baby was born, who would be king of the Jews. Herod planned to kill Jesus, but Joseph, being warned in a dream, fled with Mary and Joseph to the safety of Egypt. They remained there until the death of Herod. After Herod's death, they set out to return to their home in Bethlehem. Once again warned in a dream, they turned aside and travelled to a new home in Nazareth.

Answer 7

The Bible does not say, although they would have to either walk or, if they could afford it, go by donkey. The flight to Egypt is only in Matthew's Gospel, and John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) says that Matthew was clearly writing Christian midrash - essentially a literary creation based on a religious theme. On Spong's view and that of many biblical scholars, they did not travel to Egypt at all.

Answer 8

In Luke's Gospel, Joseph never took Jesus and Mary to Egypt - soon after the birth of Jesus, he took them to Jerusalem and then home to Nazareth. However, Matthew's nativity is a completely different story in which Bethlehem was actually their home town and the young family fled from Bethlehem to Egypt for fear of King Herod.

In this account, magi came from the east to Jerusalem, where they asked King Herod where to find the baby born to be King of the Jews. They had followed a star westwards to Jerusalem and it now turned and moved to the south-east, taking them to Bethlehem, where it stopped over the very house where Jesus lay. Herod had asked the wise men to return to Jerusalem and tell him where to find Jesus, but they returned home a different way. Realising that he had been tricked, Herod ordered all the boys under two years old to be slaughtered, but Joseph was warned in a dream and took Mary and Jesus to Egypt. After the death of Herod, the young family began the return journey to Bethlehem but, being once again warned in a dream, turned aside and travelled to a new home in Nazareth.

Answer 9

Because Herod said that he would kill any boy under the age of 2 because he wanted to kill Jesus.

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Answer 10

The Bible does not specifically say, but most likely around a year or so.