00001
 \\The Book\\ (\\biblos\\).  There is no article in the Greek, but the
 following genitives make it definite. It is our word Bible that
 is here used, _the_ Book as Sir Walter Scott called it as he lay
 dying. The usual word for book is a diminutive form (\\biblion\\), a
 little book or roll such as we have in
 # Lu 4:17
 "The roll of the prophet Isaiah." The pieces of papyrus
 (\\papuros\\), our paper, were pasted together to make a roll of
 varying lengths according to one's needs. Matthew, of course, is
 not applying the word book to the Old Testament, probably not to
 his own book, but to "the genealogical table of Jesus Christ"
 (\\biblos geneses Isou Christou\\), "the birth roll of Jesus
 Christ" Moffatt translates it. We have no means of knowing where
 the writer obtained the data for this genealogy. It differs
 radically from that in
 # Lu 3:23-38
 One can only give his own theory of the difference. Apparently in
 Matthew we have the actual genealogy of Joseph which would be the
 legal pedigree of Jesus according to Jewish custom. In Luke we
 apparently have the actual genealogy of Mary which would be the
 real line of Jesus which Luke naturally gives as he is writing
 for the Gentiles.

 \\Jesus Christ\\. Both words are used. The first is the name (\\Isous\\)
 given by the angel to Mary
 # Mt 1:21
 which describes the mission of the child. The second was
 originally a verbal adjective (\\christos\\) meaning anointed from
 the verb to anoint (\\chri\\). It was used often in the Septuagint
 as an adjective like "the anointed priest"
 # 1Ki 2:10
 and then as a substantive to translate the Hebrew word "Messiah"
 (\\Messias\\). So Andrew said to Simon: "We have found the Messiah,
 which is, being interpreted, Christ"
 # Joh 1:41
 In the Gospels it is sometimes "the Anointed One," "the Messiah,"
 but finally just a proper name as here, Jesus Christ. Paul in his
 later Epistles usually has it "Christ Jesus."

 \\The Son of David, the son of Abraham\\ (\\huiou Daueid huiou Abraam\\).
 Matthew proposes to show that Jesus Christ is on the human side
 the son of David, as the Messiah was to be, and the son of
 Abraham, not merely a real Jew and the heir of the promises, but
 the promise made to Abraham. So Matthew begins his line with
 Abraham while Luke traces his line back to Adam. The Hebrew and
 Aramaic often used the word son (\\bn\\) for the quality or
 character, but here the idea is descent. Christians are called
 sons of God because Christ has bestowed this dignity upon us
 # Ro 8:14; 9:26; Ga 3:26; 4:5-7
 Verse 1 is the description of the list in verses
 # 2-17
 The names are given in three groups, Abraham to David
 # 2-6
 David to Babylon Removal
 # 6-11
 Jechoniah to Jesus
 # 12-16
 The removal to Babylon (\\metoikesias Babulnos\\) occurs at the end
 of verse
 # 11
 the beginning of verse
 # 12
 and twice in the resume in verse
 # 17
 This great event is used to mark off the two last divisions from
 each other. It is a good illustration of the genitive as the case
 of genus or kind. The Babylon removal could mean either to
 Babylon or from Babylon or, indeed, the removal of Babylon. But
 the readers would know the facts from the Old Testament, the
 removal of the Jews to Babylon. Then verse
 # 17
 makes a summary of the three lists, fourteen in each by counting
 David twice and omitting several, a sort of mnemonic device that
 is common enough. Matthew does not mean to say that there were
 only fourteen in actual genealogy. The names of the women
 (Thamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba the wife of Uriah) are likewise
 not counted. But it is a most interesting list.

00002
 \\Begat\\ (\\egennsen\\). This word comes, like some of the early
 chapters of Genesis, with regularity through verse 16, until the
 birth of Jesus is reached when there is a sudden change. The word
 itself does not always mean immediate parentage, but merely
 direct descent. In verse
 # 16
 we have "Joseph the husband of Mary, from whom was begotten Jesus
 who is called Christ" (\\ton Isph ton andra Marias ex hs\\
 \\egennth Isous ho legomenos Christos\\). The article occurs here
 each time with the object of "begat," but not with the subject of
 the verb to distinguish sharply the proper names. In the case of
 David the King
 # 1:6
 and Joseph the husband of Mary
 # 1:16
 the article is repeated. The mention of the brethren of Judah
 # 1:2
 and of both Phares and Zara
 # 1:3
 may show that Matthew was not copying a family pedigree but
 making his own table. All the Greek manuscripts give verse
 # 16
 as above save the Ferrar Group of minuscules which are supported
 by the Sinaitic Syriac Version. Because of this fact Von Soden,
 whose text Moffatt translates, deliberately prints his text
 "_Jacob begat Jesus_" (\\Isph de egennsen Isoun\\). But the
 Sinaitic Syriac gives the Virgin Birth of Jesus in Mt
 # 1:18-25
 Hence it is clear that "begat" here in
 # 1:16
 must merely mean line of descent or the text has been tampered
 with in order to get rid of the Virgin Birth idea, but it was
 left untouched in
 # 1:18-25
 I have a full discussion of the problem in chapter XIV of
 _Studies in the Text of the New Testament_. The evidence as it
 now stands does not justify changing the text of the Greek
 uncials to suit the Sinaitic Syriac. The Virgin Birth of Jesus
 remains in
 # 1:16
 The spelling of these Hebrew names in English is usually
 according to the Hebrew form, not the Greek. In the Greek itself
 the Hebrew spelling is often observed in violation of the Greek
 rules for the ending of words with no consonants save _n,r,s_.
 But the list is not spelled consistently in the Greek, now like
 the Hebrew as in Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, now like the Greek as in
 Judah, Solomon, Hezekiah, though the Hebrew style prevails.

00003
00004
00005
00006
00007
00008
00009
00010
00011
00012
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00018
 \\The birth of Jesus Christ\\ (\\tou [Isou] Christou h genesis\\). In
 the Greek Jesus Christ comes before birth as the important matter
 after
 # 1:16
 It is not certain whether "Jesus" is here a part of the text as
 it is absent in the old Syriac and the Old Latin while the
 Washington Codex has only "Christ." The Vatican Codex has "Christ
 Jesus." But it is plain that the story of the birth of Jesus
 Christ is to be told briefly as follows, "on this wise" (\\houts\\),
 the usual Greek idiom. The oldest and best manuscripts have the
 same word genealogy (\\genesis\\) used in
 # 1:1
 not the word for birth (begotten) as in
 # 1:16
 (\\gennsis\\). "It is in fact the word Genesis. The evangelist is
 about to describe, not the genesis of the heaven and the earth,
 but the genesis of Him who made the heaven and the earth, and who
 will yet make a new heaven and a new earth" (Morison).

 \\Betrothed to Joseph\\ (\\Mnsteutheiss ti Isph\\). Matthew proceeds
 to explain his statement in
 # 1:16
 which implied that Joseph, though the legal father of Jesus in
 the royal line, was not the actual father of Mary's Son.
 Betrothal with the Jews was a serious matter, not lightly entered
 into and not lightly broken. The man who betrothed a maiden was
 legally husband
 # Ge 29:21; De 22:23
 and "an informal cancelling of betrothal was impossible"
 (McNeile). Though they did not live together as husband and wife
 till actual marriage, breach of faithfulness on the part of the
 betrothed was treated as adultery and punished with death. _The
 New Testament in Braid Scots_ actually has "mairry't till Joseph"
 for "betrothed to Joseph." Matthew uses the genitive absolute
 construction here, a very common Greek idiom.

 \\Of the Holy Ghost\\ (\\ek pneumatos hagiou\\). The discovery that Mary
 was pregnant was inevitable and it is plain that she had not told
 Joseph. She "was found with child" (\\heureth en gastri echousa\\).
 This way of putting it, the usual Greek idiom, plainly shows that
 it was the discovery that shocked Joseph. He did not as yet know
 what Matthew plainly asserts that the Holy Ghost, not Joseph and
 not any man, was responsible for the pregnancy of Mary. The
 problem of the Virgin Birth of Jesus has been a disturbing fact
 to some through all the ages and is today to those who do not
 believe in the pre-existence of Christ, the Son of God, before
 his Incarnation on earth. This is the primal fact about the Birth
 of Christ. The Incarnation of Christ is clearly stated by Paul
 # 2Co 8:9; Php 2:5-11
 and involved in
 # Col 1:15-19
 and by John
 # Joh 1:14; 17:5
 If one frankly admits the actual pre-existence of Christ and the
 real Incarnation, he has taken the longest and most difficult
 step in the matter of the supernatural Birth of Christ. That
 being true, no merely human birth without the supernatural
 element can possibly explain the facts. Incarnation is far more
 than the Indwelling of God by the Holy Spirit in the human heart.
 To admit real incarnation and also full human birth, both father
 and mother, creates a greater difficulty than to admit the Virgin
 Birth of Jesus begotten by the Holy Spirit, as Matthew here says,
 and born of the Virgin Mary. It is true that only Matthew and
 Luke tell the story of the supernatural birth of Jesus, though
 # Joh 1:14
 seems to refer to it. Mark has nothing whatever concerning the
 birth and childhood of Jesus and so cannot be used as a witness
 on the subject. Both Matthew and Luke present the birth of Jesus
 as not according to ordinary human birth. Jesus had no human
 father. There is such a thing in nature as parthenogenesis in the
 lower orders of life. But that scientific fact has no bearing
 here. We see here God sending his Son into the world to be the
 world's Saviour and he gave him a human mother, but not a human
 father so that Jesus Christ is both Son of God and Son of Man,
 the God Man. Matthew tells the story of the birth of Jesus from
 the standpoint of Joseph as Luke gives it from the standpoint of
 Mary. The two narratives harmonize with each other. One credits
 these most wonderful of all birth narratives according as he
 believes in the love and power of Almighty God to do what he
 wills. There is no miracle with God who has all power and all
 knowledge. The laws of nature are simply the expression of God's
 will, but he has not revealed all his will in the laws that we
 discover. God is Spirit. He is Person. He holds in his own power
 all life.
 # Joh 3:16
 is called the Little Gospel because it puts briefly the love of
 God for men in sending his own Son to live and die for us.

00019
 \\A Righteous Man\\ (\\dikaios\\). Or just, not benignant or merciful.
 The same adjective is used of Zacharias and Elizabeth
 # Lu 1:6
 and Simeon
 # Lu 2:25
 "An upright man," the _Braid Scots_ has it. He had the Jewish
 conscientiousness for the observance of the law which would have
 been death by stoning
 # De 22:23
 Though Joseph was upright, he would not do that. "As a good Jew
 he would have shown his zeal if he had branded her with public
 disgrace" (McNeile). \\And yet not willing\\ (\\kai m theln\\). So we
 must understand \\kai\\ here, "and yet." Matthew makes a distinction
 here between "willing" (\\theln\\) and "wishing" (\\eboulth\\), that
 between purpose (\\thel\\) and desire (\\boulomai\\) a distinction not
 always drawn, though present here. It was not his purpose to
 "make her a public example" (\\deigmatisai\\), from the root
 (\\deiknumi\\ to show), a rare word
 # Col 2:15
 The Latin Vulgate has it _traducere_, the Old Latin _divulgare_,
 Wycliff _pupplische_ (publish), Tyndale _defame_,  Moffatt
 _disgrace_, Braid Scots "Be i the mooth o' the public." The
 substantive (\\deigmatismos\\) occurs on the Rosetta Stone in the
 sense of "verification." There are a few instances of the verb in
 the papyri though the meaning is not clear (Moulton and
 Milligan's _Vocabulary_). The compound form appears
 (\\paradeigmatiz\\) in
 # Heb 6:6
 and there are earlier instances of this compound than of the
 uncompounded, curiously enough. But new examples of the simple
 verb, like the substantive, may yet be found. The papyri examples
 mean to furnish a sample (P Tebt. 5.75), to make trial of (P Ryl.
 I. 28.32). The substantive means exposure in (P Ryl. I. 28.70).
 At any rate it is clear that Joseph "was minded to put her away
 privily." He could give her a bill of divorcement (\\apolusai\\), the
 \\gt\\ laid down in the Mishna, without a public trial. He had to
 give her the writ (\\gt\\) and pay the fine
 # De 24:1
 So he proposed to do this privately (\\lathrai\\) to avoid all the
 scandal possible. One is obliged to respect and sympathize with
 the motives of Joseph for he evidently loved Mary and was
 appalled to find her untrue to him as he supposed. It is
 impossible to think of Joseph as the actual father of Jesus
 according to the narrative of Matthew without saying that Matthew
 has tried by legend to cover up the illegitimate birth of Jesus.
 The Talmud openly charges this sin against Mary. Joseph had "a
 short but tragic struggle between his legal conscience and his
 love" (McNeile).

00020
 \\An angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream\\ (\\aggelos kuriou\\
 \\kat' onar ephan auti\\). This expression (\\aggelos kuriou\\) is
 without the article in the New Testament except when, as in
 # 1:24
 there is reference to the angel previously mentioned. Sometimes
 in the Old Testament Jehovah Himself is represented by this
 phrase. Surely Joseph needed God's help if ever man did. If Jesus
 was really God's Son, Joseph was entitled to know this supreme
 fact that he might be just to both Mary and her Child. It was in
 a dream, but the message was distinct and decisive for Joseph. He
 is called "Son of David" as had been shown by Matthew in
 # Mt 1:16
 Mary is called his "wife" (\\tn gunaika sou\\). He is told "not to
 become afraid" (ingressive first aorist passive subjunctive in
 prohibition, (\\m phobthis\\), "to take to his side" (\\paralabein\\,
 ingressive aorist active infinitive) her whom he had planned
 (\\enthumthentos\\, genitive absolute again, from \\en\\ and \\thumos\\)
 to send away with a writ of divorce. He had pondered and had
 planned as best he knew, but now God had called a halt and he had
 to decide whether he was willing to shelter Mary by marrying her
 and, if necessary, take upon himself whatever stigma might attach
 to her. Joseph was told that the child was begotten of the Holy
 Spirit and thus that Mary was innocent of any sin. But who would
 believe it now if he told it of her? Mary knew the truth and had
 not told him because she could not expect him to believe it.

00021
 \\Thou shalt call his name Jesus\\ (\\Kalesies to onoma autou Isoun\\).
 The rabbis named six whose names were given before birth: "Isaac,
 Ishmael, Moses, Solomon, Josiah, and the name of the Messiah,
 whom may the Holy One, blessed be His name, bring in our day."
 The angel puts it up to Joseph as the putative father to name the
 child. "Jesus is the same as Joshua, a contraction of Jehoshuah
 # Nu 13:16; 1Ch 7:27
 signifying in Hebrew, 'Jehovah is helper,' or 'Help of Jehovah'"
 (Broadus). So Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua
 # Heb 4:8
 He is another Joshua to lead the true people of God into the
 Promised Land. The name itself was common enough as Josephus
 shows. Jehovah is Salvation as seen in Joshua for the Hebrews and
 in Jesus for all believers. "The meaning of the name, therefore,
 finds expression in the title _Saviour_ applied to our Lord
 # Lu 1:47; 2:11; Joh 4:42
 " (Vincent). He will save (\\ssei\\) his people from their sins and
 so be their Saviour (\\Str\\). He will be prophet, priest, and
 king, but "Saviour" sums it all up in one word. The explanation
 is carried out in the promise, "for he is the one who (\\autos\\)
 will save (\\ssei\\ with a play on the name Jesus) his people from
 their sins." Paul will later explain that by the covenant people,
 the children of promise, God means the spiritual Israel, all who
 believe whether Jews or Gentiles. This wonderful word touches the
 very heart of the mission and message of the Messiah. Jesus
 himself will show that the kingdom of heaven includes all those
 and only those who have the reign of God in their hearts and
 lives. \\From their sins\\ (\\apo tn hamartin autn\\). Both sins of
 omission and of commission. The substantive (\\hamartia\\) is from
 the verb (\\hamartanein\\) and means missing the mark as with an
 arrow. How often the best of us fall short and fail to score.
 Jesus will save us away from (\\apo\\) as well as out of (\\ex\\) our
 sins. They will be cast into oblivion and he will cover them up
 out of sight.

00022
 \\That it may be fulfilled\\ (\\hina plrthi\\). Alford says that "it
 is impossible to interpret \\hina\\ in any other sense than in order
 that." That was the old notion, but modern grammarians recognize
 the non-final use of this particle in the _Koin_ and even the
 consecutive like the Latin _ut_. Some even argue for a causal
 use. If the context called for result, one need not hesitate to
 say so as in
 # Mr 11:28; Joh 9:36; 1Jo 1:9; Re 9:20; 13:13
 See discussion in my _Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the
 Light of Historical Research_, pp. 997-9. All the same it is
 purpose here, God's purpose, Matthew reports the angel as saying,
 spoken "by (\\hupo\\, immediate agent) the Lord through (\\dia\\,
 intermediate agent) the prophet." \\"All this has happened"\\ (\\touto\\
 \\de holon gegonen\\, present perfect indicative), stands on record
 as historical fact. But the Virgin Birth of Jesus is not due to
 this interpretation of
 # Isa 7:14
 It is not necessary to maintain (Broadus) that Isaiah himself saw
 anything more in his prophecy than that a woman then a virgin,
 would bear a son and that in the course of a few years Ahaz would
 be delivered from the king of Syria and Israel by the coming of
 the Assyrians. This historical illustration finds its richest
 fulfilment in the birth of Jesus from Mary. "Words of themselves
 are empty. They are useful only as vessels to convey things from
 mind to mind" (Morison). The Hebrew word for young woman is
 translated by virgin (\\parthenos\\), but it is not necessary to
 conclude that Isaiah himself contemplated the supernatural birth
 of Jesus. We do not have to say that the idea of the Virgin Birth
 of Jesus came from Jewish sources. Certainly it did not come from
 the pagan myths so foreign to this environment, atmosphere and
 spirit. It is far simpler to admit the supernatural fact than try
 to explain the invention of the idea as a myth to justify the
 deification of Jesus. The birth, life, and death of Jesus throw a
 flood of light on the Old Testament narrative and prophecies for
 the early Christians. In Matthew and John in particular we often
 see "that the events of Christ's life were divinely ordered for
 the express purpose of fulfilling the Old Testament" (McNeile).
 See
 # Mt 2:15,35; 4:14-17; 8:17; 12:17-21; 13:25; 21:4
 # Joh 12:38; 13:18; 19:24; 28:36

00023
 \\They shall call\\ (\\kalesousin\\). Men, people, will call his name
 Immanuel, God with us. "The interest of the evangelist, as of all
 New Testament writers, in prophecy, was purely religious"
 (Bruce). But surely the language of Isaiah has had marvellous
 illustration in the Incarnation of Christ. This is Matthew's
 explanation of the meaning of Immanuel, a descriptive appellation
 of Jesus Christ and more than a mere motto designation. God's
 help, Jesus=the Help of God, is thus seen. One day Jesus will say
 to Philip: "He that has seen me has seen the Father"
 # Joh 14:9

00024
 \\Took unto him his wife\\ (\\parelaben tn gunaika autou\\). The angel
 had told him not to be afraid to "take to his side" Mary his wife
 # 1:20
 So when he awoke from his sleep he promptly obeyed the angel and
 "took his wife home" (Moffatt). One can only imagine the relief
 and joy of Mary when Joseph nobly rose to his high duty toward
 her. I have tried to sketch Mary's problems in _Mary the Mother
 of Jesus: Her Problems and Her Glory._

00025
 \\And knew her not\\ (\\kai ouk eginsken autn\\). Note the imperfect
 tense, continuous or linear action. Joseph lived in continence
 with Mary till the birth of Jesus. Matthew does not say that Mary
 bore no other children than Jesus. "Her firstborn" is not genuine
 here, but is a part of the text in
 # Lu 2:7
 The perpetual virginity of Mary is not taught here. Jesus had
 brothers and sisters and the natural meaning is that they were
 younger children of Joseph and Mary and not children of Joseph by
 a previous marriage. So Joseph "called his name Jesus" as the
 angel had directed and the child was born in wedlock. Joseph
 showed that he was an upright man in a most difficult situation.

00026
 \\Now when Jesus was born\\ (\\tou de Isou gennthentos\\). The fact of
 the birth of Jesus is stated by the genitive absolute
 construction (first aorist passive participle of the same verb
 \\genna\\ used twice already of the birth of Jesus,
 # 1:16,20
 and used in the genealogy,
 # 1:2-16
 Matthew does not propose to give biographic details of the
 supernatural birth of Jesus, wonderful as it was and disbelieved
 as it is by some today who actually deny that Jesus was born at
 all or ever lived, men who talk of the Jesus Myth, the Christ
 Myth, etc. "The main purpose is to show the reception given by
 the world to the new-born Messianic King. Homage from afar,
 hostility at home; foreshadowing the fortunes of the new faith:
 reception by the Gentiles, rejection by the Jews" (Bruce).

 \\In Bethlehem of Judea\\ (\\en Bthleem ts Ioudaias\\). There was a
 Bethlehem in Galilee seven miles northwest of Nazareth (Josephus,
 _Antiquities_ XIX. 15). This Bethlehem (house of bread, the name
 means) of Judah was the scene of Ruth's life with Boaz
 # Ru 1:1; Mt. 1:5
 and the home of David, descendant of Ruth and ancestor of Jesus
 # Mt. 1:5
 David was born here and anointed king by Samuel
 # 1Sa 17:12
 The town came to be called the city of David
 # Lu 2:11
 Jesus, who was born in this House of Bread called himself the
 Bread of Life
 # Joh 6:35
 the true Manna from heaven. Matthew assumes the knowledge of the
 details of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem which are given in
 # Lu 2:1-7
 or did not consider them germane to his purpose. Joseph and Mary
 went to Bethlehem from Nazareth because it was the original
 family home for both of them. The first enrolment by the Emperor
 Augustus as the papyri show was by families (\\kat' oikian\\).
 Possibly Joseph had delayed the journey for some reason till now
 it approached the time for the birth of the child.

 \\In the days of Herod the King\\ (\\en hmerais Hridou tou\\
 \\Basiles\\). This is the only date for the birth of Christ given by
 Matthew. Luke gives a more precise date in his Gospel
 # Lu 2:1-3
 the time of the first enrolment by Augustus and while Cyrenius
 was ruler of Syria. More will be said of Luke's date when we come
 to his Gospel. We know from Matthew that Jesus was born while
 Herod was king, the Herod sometimes called Herod the Great.
 Josephus makes it plain that Herod died B.C. 4. He was first
 Governor of Galilee, but had been king of Judaea since B.C. 40
 (by Antony and Octavius). I call him "Herod the Great Pervert" in
 _Some Minor Characters in the New Testament_. He was great in sin
 and in cruelty and had won the favour of the Emperor. The story
 in Josephus is a tragedy. It is not made plain by Matthew how
 long before the death of Herod Jesus was born. Our traditional
 date A.D. 1, is certainly wrong as Matthew shows. It seems plain
 that the birth of Jesus cannot be put later than B.C. 5. The data
 supplied by Luke probably call for B.C. 6 or 7.

 \\Wise men from the east\\ (\\magoi apo anatoln\\). The etymology of
 \\Magi\\ is quite uncertain. It may come from the same Indo-European
 root as _(megas) magnus_,  though some find it of Babylonian
 origin. Herodotus speaks of a tribe of Magi among the Medians.
 Among the Persians there was a priestly caste of Magi like the
 Chaldeans in Babylon
 # Da 1:4
 Daniel was head of such an order
 # Da 2:48
 It is the same word as our "magician" and it sometimes carried
 that idea as in the case of Simon Magus
 # Ac 8:9,11
 and of Elymas Barjesus
 # Ac 13:6,8
 But here in Matthew the idea seems to be rather that of
 astrologers. Babylon was the home of astrology, but we only know
 that the men were from the east whether Arabia, Babylon, Persia,
 or elsewhere. The notion that they were kings arose from an
 interpretation of
 # Is 60:3; Re 21:24
 The idea that they were three in number is due to the mention of
 three kinds of gifts (gold, frankincense, myrrh), but that is no
 proof at all. Legend has added to the story that the names were
 Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior as in _Ben Hur_ and also that
 they represent Shem, Ham, and Japhet. A casket in the Cologne
 Cathedral actually is supposed to contain the skulls of these
 three Magi. The word for east (\\apo anatoln\\) means "from the
 risings" of the sun.

00027
 \\For we saw his star in the cast\\ (\\eidomen gar autou ton astera en\\
 \\ti anatoli\\). This does not mean that they saw the star which
 was in the east. That would make them go east to follow it
 instead of west from the east. The words "in the east" are
 probably to be taken with "we saw" i.e. we were in the east when
 we saw it, or still more probably "we saw his star at its rising"
 or "when it rose" as Moffatt puts it. The singular form here (\\ti\\
 \\anatoli\\) does sometimes mean "east"
 # Re 21:13
 though the plural is more common as in
 # Mt 2:1
 In
 # Lu 1:78
 the singular means dawn as the verb (\\aneteilen\\) does in
 # Mt 4:16
 (Septuagint). The Magi ask where is the one born king of the
 Jews. They claim that they had seen his star, either a miracle or
 a combination of bright stars or a comet. These men may have been
 Jewish proselytes and may have known of the Messianic hope, for
 even Vergil had caught a vision of it. The whole world was on
 tiptoe of expectancy for something. Moulton (_Journal of
 Theological Studies_, 1902, p. 524) "refers to the Magian belief
 that a star could be the _fravashi_, the counterpart or angel
 (cf.
 # Mt 18:10
 of a great man" (McNeile). They came to worship the newly born
 king of the Jews. Seneca (_Epistle_ 58) tells of Magians who came
 to Athens with sacrifices to Plato after his death. They had
 their own way of concluding that the star which they had seen
 pointed to the birth of this Messianic king. Cicero (_De Divin_.
 i. 47) "refers to the constellation from which, on the birthnight
 of Alexander, Magians foretold that the destroyer of Asia was
 born" (McNeile). Alford is positive that no miracle is intended
 by the report of the Magi or by Matthew in his narrative. But one
 must be allowed to say that the birth of Jesus, if really God's
 only Son who has become Incarnate, is the greatest of all
 miracles. Even the methods of astrologers need not disturb those
 who are sure of this fact.

00028
 \\He was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him\\ (\\etarachth kai psa\\
 \\Ierosoluma met' autou\\). Those familiar with the story of Herod
 the Great in Josephus can well understand the meaning of these
 words. Herod in his rage over his family rivalries and jealousies
 put to death the two sons of Mariamne (Aristobulus and
 Alexander), Mariamne herself, and Antipater, another son and once
 his heir, besides the brother and mother of Mariamne
 (Aristobulus, Alexandra) and her grandfather John Hyrcanus. He
 had made will after will and was now in a fatal illness and fury
 over the question of the Magi. He showed his excitement and the
 whole city was upset because the people knew only too well what
 he could do when in a rage over the disturbance of his plans.
 "The foreigner and usurper feared a rival, and the tyrant feared
 the rival would be welcome" (Bruce). Herod was a hated Idumaean.

00029
 \\He inquired of them where the Christ should be born\\ (\\epunthaneto\\
 \\par' autn pou ho Christos genntai\\).  The prophetic present
 (\\genntai\\) is given, the very words of Herod retained by
 Matthew's report. The imperfect tense (epunthaneto) suggests that
 Herod inquired repeatedly, probably of one and another of the
 leaders gathered together, both Sadducees (chief priests) and
 Pharisees (scribes). McNeile doubts, like Holtzmann, if Herod
 actually called together all the Sanhedrin and probably "he could
 easily ask the question of a single scribe," because he had begun
 his reign with a massacre of the Sanhedrin (Josephus, _Ant_. XIV.
 ix. 4). But that was thirty years ago and Herod was desperately
 in earnest to learn what the Jews really expected about the
 coming of "the Messiah." Still Herod probably got together not
 the Sanhedrin since "elders" are not mentioned, but leaders among
 the chief priests and scribes, not a formal meeting but a free
 assembly for conference. He had evidently heard of this expected
 king and he would swallow plenty of pride to be able to compass
 the defeat of these hopes.

00030
 \\And they said unto him\\ (\\hoi de eipan auti\\). Whether the
 ecclesiastics had to search their scriptures or not, they give
 the answer that is in accord with the common Jewish opinion that
 the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem and of the seed of David
 # Joh 7:42
 So they quote
 # Mic 5:2
 "a free paraphrase" Alford calls it, for it is not precisely like
 the Hebrew text or like the Septuagint. It may have come from a
 collection of _testimonia_ with which J. Rendel Harris has made
 the world familiar. He had consulted the experts and now he has
 their answer. Bethlehem of Judah is the place. The use of the
 perfect passive indicative (\\gegraptai\\) is the common form in
 quoting scripture. It stands written. \\Shall be shepherd\\
 (\\poimanei\\). The Authorized Version had "shall rule," but
 "shepherd" is correct. "Homer calls kings 'the shepherds of the
 people'" (Vincent). In
 # Heb 13:20
 Jesus is called "the great shepherd of the sheep." Jesus calls
 himself "the good shepherd"
 # Joh 10:11
 Peter calls Christ "the chief shepherd"
 # 1Pe 2:25
 "The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be their
 shepherd"
 # Re 7:17
 Jesus told Peter to "shepherd" the lambs
 # Joh 21:16
 Our word pastor means shepherd.

00031
00032
 \\Then Herod privily called the wise men\\ (\\tote Hrids lathrai\\
 \\kalesas tous magous\\). He had manifestly not told members of the
 Sanhedrin why he was concerned about the Messiah. So he conceals
 his motives to the Magi. And yet he "learned of them carefully"
 (\\ekribsen\\), "learned exactly" or "accurately." He was anxious to
 see if the Jewish prophecy of the birthplace of the Messiah
 agreed with the indications of the star to the Magi. He kept to
 himself his purpose. The time of the appearing star (\\ton chronon\\
 \\tou phainomenou asteros\\) is not "the time when the star
 appeared," but the age of the star's appearance.

00033
 \\Sent them to Bethlehem and said\\ (\\pempsas autous eis Bthleem\\
 \\eipen\\). Simultaneous aorist participle, "sending said." They were
 to "search out accurately" (\\exetasate akribs\\) concerning the
 child. Then "bring me word, that I also may come and worship
 him." The deceit of Herod seemed plausible enough and might have
 succeeded but for God's intervention to protect His Son from the
 jealous rage of Herod.

00034
 \\Went before them\\ (\\progen autous\\). Imperfect tense, kept on in
 front of them, not as a guide to the town since they now knew
 that, but to the place where the child was, the inn according to
 # Lu 2:7
 Justin Martyr says that it was in a cave. The stall where the
 cattle and donkeys stayed may have been beneath the inn in the
 side of the hill.

00035
 \\They rejoiced with exceeding great joy\\ (\\echarsan charan megaln\\
 \\sphodra\\). Second aorist passive indicative with cognate
 accusative. Their joy was due to the success of the search.

00036
 \\Opening their treasures\\ (\\anoixantes tous thsaurous autn\\). Here
 "treasures" means "caskets" from the verb (\\tithmi\\), receptacle
 for valuables. In the ancient writers it meant "treasury" as in
 1Macc. 3:29. So a "storehouse" as in
 # Mt 13:52
 Then it means the things laid up in store, treasure in heaven
 # Mt 6:20
 in Christ
 # Col 2:3
 In their "caskets" the Magi had gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
 all found at that time in Arabia, though gold was found in
 Babylon and elsewhere.

00037
 \\Warned in a dream\\ (\\chrmatisthentes kat' onar\\). The verb means to
 transact business (\\chrmatiz\\ from \\chrma\\, and that from
 \\chraomai\\, to use. Then to consult, to deliberate, to make answer
 as of magistrates or an oracle, to instruct, to admonish. In the
 Septuagint and the New Testament it occurs with the idea of being
 warned by God and also in the papyri (Deissmann, _Bible Studies_,
 p. 122). Wycliff puts it here: "An answer taken in sleep."

00038
00039
00040
 \\Until the death of Herod\\ (\\hes ts teleuts Hridou\\). The Magi
 had been warned in a dream not to report to Herod and now Joseph
 was warned in a dream to take Mary and the child along (\\mellei\\
 \\ztein tou apolesai\\ gives a vivid picture of the purpose of Herod
 in these three verbs). In Egypt Joseph was to keep Mary and Jesus
 till the death of Herod the monster. Matthew quotes
 # Ho 11:1
 to show that this was in fulfilment of God's purpose to call his
 Son out of Egypt. He may have quoted again from a collection of
 _testimonia_ rather than from the Septuagint. There is a Jewish
 tradition in the Talmud that Jesus "brought with him magic arts
 out of Egypt in an incision on his body" (_Shabb_. 104b). "This
 attempt to ascribe the Lord's miracles to Satanic agency seems to
 be independent of Matthew, and may have been known to him, so
 that one object of his account may have been to combat it"
 (McNeile).

00041
 \\Slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem\\ (\\aneilen pantas\\
 \\tous paidas tous en Bthleem\\). The flight of Joseph was
 justified, for Herod was violently enraged (\\ethumth lian\\) that
 he had been mocked by the Magi, deluded in fact (\\enepaichth\\).
 Vulgate _illusus esset_. Herod did not know, of course, how old
 the child was, but he took no chances and included all the little
 boys (\\tous paidas\\, masculine article) in Bethlehem two years old
 and under, perhaps fifteen or twenty. It is no surprise that
 Josephus makes no note of this small item in Herod's chamber of
 horrors. It was another fulfilment of the prophecy in
 # Jer 31:15
 The quotation
 # 2:18
 seems to be from the Septuagint. It was originally written of the
 Babylonian captivity but it has a striking illustration in this
 case also. Macrobius (_Sat_. II. iv. II) notes that Augustus said
 that it was better to be Herod's sow (\\hus\\) than his son (\\huios\\),
 for the sow had a better chance of life.

00042
00043
00044
00045
 \\For they are dead\\ (\\tethnkasin\\).  Only Herod had sought to kill
 the young child, but it is a general statement of a particular
 fact as is common with people who say: "They say." The idiom may
 be suggested by
 # Ex 4:19
 : "For all are dead that sought thy life."

00046
00047
 \\Warned in a dream\\ (\\chrmatistheis kat' onar\\). He was already
 afraid to go to Judea because Archelaus was reigning (ruling, not
 technically king, \\basileuei\\). In a fret at last before his death
 Herod had changed his will again and put Archelaus, the worst of
 his living sons, in the place of Antipas. So Joseph went to
 Galilee. Matthew has had nothing about the previous dwelling of
 Joseph and Mary in Nazareth. We learn that from Luke who tells
 nothing of the flight into Egypt. The two narratives supplement
 one another and are in no sense contradictory.

00048
 \\Should be called a Nazarene\\ (\\Nazraios klthsetai\\). Matthew says
 "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets"
 (\\dia tn prophtn\\). It is the plural and no single prophecy
 exists which says that the Messiah was to be called a Nazarene.
 It may be that this term of contempt
 # Joh 1:46; 7:52
 is what is meant, and that several prophecies are to be combined
 like
 # Ps. 22:6,8; 69:11,19; Isa 53:2,3,4
 The name Nazareth means a shoot or branch, but it is by no means
 certain that Matthew has this in mind. It is best to confess that
 we do not know. See Broadus on Matthew for the various theories.
 But, despised as Nazareth was at that time, Jesus has exalted its
 fame. The lowly Nazarene he was at first, but it is our glory to
 be the followers of the Nazarene. Bruce says that "in this case,
 therefore, we certainly know that the historic fact suggested the
 prophetic reference, instead of the prophecy creating the
 history." The parallels drawn by Matthew between the history of
 Israel and the birth and infancy of Jesus are not mere fancy.
 History repeats itself and writers of history find frequent
 parallels. Surely Matthew is not beyond the bounds of reason or
 of fact in illustrating in his own way the birth and infancy of
 Jesus by the Providence of God in the history of Israel.

00049
 \\And in those days cometh John the Baptist\\ (\\en de tais hmerais\\
 \\paraginetai Ians ho Baptists\\). Here the synoptic narrative
 begins with the baptism of John
 # Mt. 3:1; Mr 1:2; Lu 3:1
 as given by Peter in
 # Ac 1:22
 "from the baptism of John, unto the day that he was received up
 from us" (cf. also
 # Ac 10:37-43
 Peter's summary to Cornelius very much like the outline of Mark's
 Gospel). Matthew does not indicate the date when John appeared as
 Luke does in ch. 3 (the fifteenth year of Tiberius's reign). It
 was some thirty years after the birth of John, precisely how long
 after the return of Joseph and Mary to Nazareth we do not know.
 Moffatt translates the verb (\\paraginetai\\) "came on the scene,"
 but it is the historical present and calls for a vivid
 imagination on the part of the reader. There he is as he comes
 forward, makes his appearance. His name John means "Gift of
 Jehovah" (cf. German _Gotthold_) and is a shortened form of
 Johanan. He is described as "the Baptist," "the Baptizer" for
 that is the rite that distinguishes him. The Jews probably had
 proselyte baptism as I. Abrahams shows (_Studies in Pharisaism
 and the Gospels_, p. 37). But this rite was meant for the
 Gentiles who accepted Judaism. John is treating the Jews as
 Gentiles in demanding baptism at their hands on the basis of
 repentance.

 \\Preaching in the wilderness of Judea\\ (\\Krussn en ti ermi ts\\
 \\Ioudaias\\). It was the rough region in the hills toward the Jordan
 and the Dead Sea. There were some people scattered over the
 barren cliffs. Here John came in close touch with the rocks, the
 trees, the goats, the sheep, and the shepherds, the snakes that
 slipped before the burning grass over the rocks. He was the
 Baptizer, but he was also the Preacher, heralding his message out
 in the barren hills at first where few people were, but soon his
 startling message drew crowds from far and near. Some preachers
 start with crowds and drive them away.
