Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

2:13 flee to Egypt. The Egyptian border lay approximately 90 miles (146 km) from Bethlehem (see map). Jesus and his family would be safe from Herod the Great in Egypt, since it was outside his jurisdiction.

2:15 fulfill. The prophet Hosea recounted how God had faithfully brought Israel out of Egypt in the exodus (Hos. 2:15), which Matthew cites in comparing Israel, God's "son," being rescued and delivered, to Jesus, the One who will be revealed as God's true Son.

2:16 all the male children in Bethlehem . . . two years old or under. The small village may have had 10 to 30 boys of that age. Herod the Great's earlier query to the wise men about the time of the appearing of the star (v. 7) gave him an estimated time of birth for his potential challenger.

2:17-18 Jeremiah used personification to describe the mothers of Israel (Rachel) mourning for their children who had been removed from the land and carried off into exile, leaving Israel no longer a nation and considered dead (Jer. 31:15). Like the exile, the attempt on Jesus' life was intended to wipe out the chosen one of God.

2:22 Archelaus, one of Herod the Great's sons, succeeded Herod's throne over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea and ruled 4 b.c.-a.d. 6 (see Jewish and Roman Rulers). He was hated by the Jews and displayed the same kind of cruelty that had characterized his father's reign. Caesar Augustus, fearing a revolution from the people, deposed and banished him to Gaul.

2:23 Nazareth, in the lower Galilean hills halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee, was a relatively small village (population estimates vary from 200 to 1,600). Luke 1:26-27 and 2:39 indicate that Joseph and Mary had earlier come from Nazareth. He shall be called a Nazarene. Matthew is not quoting any specific OT prophecy but is referring to a general theme in the OT prophets (plural). Thus Matthew is saying that the OT prophets foretold that the Messiah would be despised (see Ps. 22:6; Isa. 49:7; 53:3; cf. Dan. 9:26), comparable to the way in which the town of Nazareth was despised in the time of Jesus (cf. John 1:46; 7:41, 52). Matthew may also have intended a wordplay connecting the word "Nazareth" to the OT messianic prophecy in Isa. 11:1, since "Nazareth" sounds like the word for "branch" in Hebrew, which was a designation for the Messiah. "Nazarene" has no evident connection with the OT "Nazirite" vow (Num. 6:2; Judg. 13:5), which is spelled differently, has no messianic significance, and has no connection with the town of Nazareth.