Matthew 2 explained: Visitors, a Jealous King, Escape

Visitors from the east (vv. 1-2)

The Magi were probably learned priests from Persia or Babylon who studied the stars, and they were not Jewish. They took an unusual star as a sign that a new king of the Jews had been born, and came to honor him.

Herod's fear and plan (vv. 3-8)

Herod ruled under Rome and was known for killing rivals, so talk of a newborn king alarms him. Religious experts point to the prophet Micah naming Bethlehem, King David's hometown, so Herod sends the visitors there while pretending he wants to worship too.

The star and the gifts (vv. 9-12)

No one knows what the star was, and guesses range from a comet to planets lining up to a miracle. Gold, frankincense (a fragrant resin burned in worship) and myrrh (a perfume also used for burial) were gifts fit for a king, and Christians later read them as pointing to Jesus as king, as God, and to his death.

Escape to Egypt (vv. 13-15)

Warned in a dream, Joseph takes his family to Egypt, a common refuge for people fleeing trouble in Judea. Matthew quotes the prophet Hosea, where "my son" meant the nation of Israel brought out of Egypt, and presents Jesus as living through Israel's story again.

Killing in Bethlehem (vv. 16-18)

Herod orders every boy two and under around Bethlehem killed, an atrocity no other ancient source records but one that fits his known cruelty. Matthew recalls Jeremiah's image of Rachel, an ancestral mother of Israel, weeping for her children and refusing comfort, and the text leaves that grief unresolved.

Settling in Nazareth (vv. 19-23)

After Herod dies, Joseph avoids Judea, now ruled by Herod's harsh son Archelaus, and settles in Nazareth, a small village in Galilee to the north. No Old Testament verse says "he will be called a Nazarene," so scholars are unsure what Matthew means, though one common idea is a play on netzer, a Hebrew word for a shoot that Isaiah uses as an image of a coming king growing from David's family line.

Key verse: Matthew 2:2

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether the star and the killings in Bethlehem should be read as straightforward history or as a story shaped mainly to echo Israel's scriptures and present Jesus as the promised king.

Something to think about

When something new and unexpected appears, what makes some people curious about it and others feel threatened by it?