- Matthew 2:20–21
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Jacob Jordaens's The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt
Matthew 2:20 and 2:21 are the twentieth and twenty first verses of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The young Jesus and the Holy Family are in Egypt. An angel has just informed Joseph that King Herod, his persecutor, is dead. In this verse the angel gives him further instructions.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:
- 20: Saying, Arise, and take the young
- child and his mother, and go into
- the land of Israel: for they are dead
- 21: which sought the young child's life.
- And he arose, and took the young child and
- his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
The World English Bible translates the passage as:
- 20: "Arise and take the young child
- and his mother, and go into the
- land of Israel, for those who sought
- the young child's life are dead."
- 21: He arose and took the young child and
- his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 2:20, BibRef Matthew 2:21.
Like the rest of the infancy narrative these verses are careful to not refer to Jesus as Joseph's child. The angel refers to him as "the young child" not "your young child", but freely refers to Mary as his mother.
The main point of contention with this passage is why it refers to multiple people being dead when only Herod has died. The plural is unambiguous in the original Greek and in all surviving versions. This may link with the earlier part of the chapter where Herod colludes with the Jewish leaders to kill Jesus, but is unlikely the leaders would all have died in this brief period, and historical records demonstrates that many remained in office throughout this era. A number of explanations have been advanced to explain this problem. One proposal is that there was a secondary figure who died at the time. The most mentioned candidate being Herod's son Antipater, who died five dies before the king. The problem with this theory is that there is no evidence in Matthew, or any other contemporary work, that Antipater had any involvement in the persecutions.[1]
The standard explanation is that most scholars believe the plural is due to Matthew's basing this section on Exodus. The wording of this verse is extremely close to that of Exodus 4:19.[2] Brown sees this as an unlikely explanation. He argues that the author of Matthew was competent enough to change to the singular if he had so desired. Brown argues that the passage should more accurately be read as "the plot by those who wanted to kill is dead."[3]
Gundry notes that the phrase translated as "child's life" literally means "child's soul." At the time seeking someone's soul was an expression for trying to kill someone.[4]
The reference to Israel in this verse and the next one is important. This is the only place in the New Testament where Israel is unambiguously used to refer to a geographic location, the usage that is employed today by the State of Israel. The word translated as land can also be translated as state or country. Elsewhere in the New Testament the term Israel more often taken to refer to the kingdom of God or the Jewish people as a whole. Gundry notes that the author of Matthew rejects the more accurate terminology "land of Judah" as he was looking for a term that would encompass both Judah and Galilee, where the family would end up.[5]
Verse 21 is an almost exact copy of verse 20, except it is in the past tense. It is also very similar to Matthew 2:14. The similarity to the last verse shows that Joseph promptly and exactly obeys the instructions of the angel, obedience is an important virtue throughout Matthew.
References
- ^ Craig S. Keener. A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. pg. 112
- ^ Albright, W.F. and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." The Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.
- ^ Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. London: G. Chapman, 1977.
- ^ Gundry, Robert H. Matthew a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
- ^ Gundry, Robert H. Matthew a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
- Clarke, Howard W. The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
Gospel of Matthew Preceded by:
Matthew 2:19Chapter 2 Followed by:
Matthew 2:22Categories:- Gospel of Matthew verses
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