Matthew 2:11

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. AND WHEN THEY WERE COME INTO THE HOUSE - not the stable; because as soon as Bethlehem was emptied of its strangers, they would have no difficulty in finding a dwelling-house. THEY SAW. The received text has "found" [ heuron (G2147)]; but here our translators rightly depart from it, because it has no authority. THE YOUNG CHILD WITH MARY HIS MOTHER. The blessed Babe is naturally mentioned first, then the mother; but Joseph, though doubtless present, is not noticed, as being but the head of the house. AND FELL DOWN AND WORSHIPPED HIM. Clearly this was no civil...

11._They found the young child _So revolting a sight might naturally have created an additional prejudice; for Christ was so far from having aught of royalty surrounding him, that he was in a meaner and more despised condition than any peasant child. But they are convinced that he is divinely appointed to be a King. This thought alone, deeply rooted in their minds, procures their reverence. They contemplate in the purpose of God his exalted rank, which is still concealed from outward view. (186) Holding it for certain, that he will one day be different from what he now appears, they are not at all ashamed to render to him the honors of royalty. Their presents show whence they came: for there can be no doubt that they brought them as the choicest productions of their country. We are not to understand, that each of them presented his own offering, but that the three offerings, which are me...

9-12 What joy these wise men felt upon this sight of the star, none know so well as those who, after a long and melancholy night of temptation and desertion, under the power of a spirit of bondage, at length receive the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with their spirits that they are the children of God. We may well think what a disappointment it was to them, when they found a cottage was his palace, and his own poor mother the only attendant he had. However, these wise men did not think themselves baffled; but having found the King they sought, they presented their gifts to him. The humble inquirer after Christ will not be stumbled at finding him and his disciples in obscure cottages, after having in vain sought them in palaces and populous cities. Is a soul busy, seeking after Christ? Would it worship him, and does it say, Alas! I am a foolish and poor creature, and have nothing to off...

Verse Matthew 2:11. _THEY PRESENTED UNTO HIM GIFTS_] The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a _present_ in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Sea Islands. _GOLD, AND FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH._] Some will have these gifts to be emblematic of the Divinity, regal office, and manhood of Christ. "They offered him _incense_ as their _God_; _gold_ as their _king_; and _myrrh_, as united to a human body, subject to _suffering_ and _death_." _Aurum, thus, myrrham, regique_, DEO, HOMINIQUE, _dona_ _ferunt_. JUVENCUS. Rather, they offered him the things which were in most esteem among themselves; and which were productions of their own country. The gold was p

THE HOUSE - The place where he was born, or the place where they lived at that time. FELL DOWN - This was the usual way of showing respect or homage among the Jews, Esther 8:3; Job 1:20; Daniel 3:7; Psalms 72:11; Isaiah 46:6. WORSHIPPED HIM - Did him homage as King of the Jews. See the notes at Matthew 2:2. HAD OPENED THEIR TREASURES - Th

EXPOSITION JESUS THE CHRIST BY HIS EARLY HISTORY answering to the word of God by the prophets. This is shown by four particulars, for each of which a corresponding prophecy is adduced. (1) The place of his birth; where, further, he receives homage of Gentiles, though neglected by his own people (Matthew 2:1). (2) His stay in Egypt (Matthew 2:13). (3) The slaughter of the innocents (Matthew 2:16). (4) His dwelling at Nazareth, and consequent appellation ...

AND WHEN THEY WERE COME INTO THE HOUSE,.... Which they entered without making any inquiry, being fully assured by the star's standing right over it, that this was the house, and here was the king of the Jews, whom they were come to worship; and having entered in "they saw" some copies read ευρον, THEY FOUND THE YOUNG CHILD, WITH MARY HIS MOTHER; in her lap, or arms, or in the house with her, for by this time he might go alone. Joseph perhaps was not at home, but about his business; and which might be so ordered by the providence of God, that so these men might only see the mother of Christ, who had no real father as man; who had they seen Joseph, might have took him to be his proper father. Upon the sight of the young child, THEY FELL DOWN on their knees or faces to the ground, agreeably to the custom of their country, AND WORSHIPPED HIM as a king; giving him the same civil honour and...

Matthew 2:1. _Now when Jesus was born is Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,_ Our Lord was born in Bethlehem, an inconsiderable village of Judaea. Its name, however, is significant; it means, «the house of bread.» Truly Bethlehem has become, in a spiritual sense, the house of bread to all who feed on Christ. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Matthew 2:2. _Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?_ There was another king, of whom we have just read: «Herod the king,» but he was an Idumean, an Edomite. He had no right to the throne; but here is born the true heir to the throne of David, and the Magi from the east have come to ask for him....

2. THE KING WORSHIPPED BY GENTILES; Jerusalem in Ignorance of Him; the Child Persecuted. _ 1. The Visit of the Wise Men.(Matthew 2:1 .) 2. The Flight into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13 .) 3. The Return from Egypt. (Matthew 2:19 .)_ CHAPTER 2 The second chapter in Matthew relates events which are nowhere else recorded in the Gospels. For this reason, and this is the only reason, the authenticity of the chapter has been doubted more than once. All that which the second chapter contains belongs properly into the Jewish, dispensational Gospel, and would indeed be entirely out of place in the other three Gospels, therefore the Holy Spirit has seen fit to put it only in the first Gospel. The chapter

MATTHEW 2. THREE INCIDENTS OF CHRIST'S CHILDHOOD. Matthew 2:1. The Visit of the Magians.The religion of the Magi well deserved the double honour of stimulating the growth of the doctrine of the Future Life in Judaism, and of offering the first homage of the Gentile world to the Redeemer (J. H. Moulton, Magi, HSDB). [See on the relations of this story to Magianism, J. H. Moulton's _Early Zoroastrianism,_ pp. 282- 285. He says, The narrative might have been composed by a Magus for the accuracy with which it portrays Magian ideas. In a Jew the correct colour is interesting. The star was not a planet or conjunction of planets, since the planets were malign for the Magi. He thinks it was a new star, such as occasionally flame out in the sky, dwindling speedily and fading from sight. The stars were connected with the Fravashis, and the quest of the Magi was for an identification of the