Matthew 2:1

Matthew 2:1-12. The Visit of the Magi. Recorded by St Matthew only

1. Jesus was born The year 3 before the Christian Era has been fixed almost beyond a doubt as the date of the Nativity. The present year 1877 is therefore correctly a. d. 1880. The data on which the computation is founded are (1) the first rule of Quirinus (Luke 2:2), (2) the accession of Tiberius a. d. 14, (3) the Paschal full moon at the time of the crucifixion probably a. d. 33, (4) the reign of Herod, which began in b. c. 36 and ended in b. c. 1. The last-named date has been accurately determined in a paper read before the Society of Biblical Archæology by Mr J. W. Bosanquet, which see for a learned discussion of the whole question.

in Bethlehem St Matthew omits the circumstances which brought Mary to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem (-The House of Bread," cp. John 6:51), the city of David, situate on a limestone ridge a few miles S. of Jerusalem. The old name of Bethlehem was Ephrath or Ephratah; it is now called Beit-lahm. It is worthy of remark that no visit of Jesus or of His disciples to Bethlehem, His birthplace and the cradle of His race, is recorded.

Herod Called afterwards, but not in his lifetime, Herod the Great; he was an Idumæan (Edomite) who, chiefly through the friendship of M. Antony, became king of Judæa. For date of reign see above. The title of Kingdistinguishes him from the other Herods named in the gospels. Antipas, who tried in vain to obtain the title, is called King by courtesy, Mark 6:14.

Herod was not an absolute monarch, but subject to the Roman empire, much in the same way as some of the Indian princes are subject to the British government, or as Servia was till recently subject to the Porte.

behold The use of this word in the original is a mark of the Hebrew style influencing the Greek.

wise men Lit. Magi, originally the name of a Median tribe, who, according to Herodotus, possessed the power of interpreting dreams. Their religion consisted in the worship of the heavenly bodies and of the elements. At this date the name implied a religious caste the followers of Zoroaster, who were the astrologers of the East. Their tenets had spread widely; and as the East is a vague term, it is difficult to determine from what country these Magi came. A theory, stated below, connects them with Egypt, or at least with an Egyptian system of chronology. The common belief that the Magi were three in number is a mere tradition, which has been perpetuated by great painters. It was probably an inference from Matthew 2:11. An equally groundless tradition has designated the Magi as kings, and has assigned names to them. Every reader of the Classics knows how common a failing it is with ancient annotators to state deductions from the text as proved facts.