'When they had departed, behold, the angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and
his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to
search for the child to destroy him.” 14 Joseph rose and
took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. 15 He stayed there until the death of
Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out
of Egypt I called my son.” 16 When Herod
realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered
the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and
under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been said
through Jeremiah the prophet: “18 A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and
loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more. 19 When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. 23 He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazorean.”
The angel that guided the Magi to worship the Christ child warned them to not to return to Herod, and also warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt with his family. In the OT, Egypt was a place of refuge (1 Kgs. 11:40) and a place of bondage (Ex. 1:8-14). When Herod died, Joseph was allowed to return to Nazareth. The evangelist Matthew recalled the words of the prophet Hosea, “Out of Egypt I called my son (Hosea 11:1).” Jesus represented the beginning of the restoration of the whole of Israel. The flight to Egypt represented a new Exodus with a greater Moses. Israel was referred to as God’s Son in the OT (Ex. 4:22) who was called out of Egypt, but Israel was an adopted son. Jesus was also called out of Egypt, but he was the only Son of God conceived by the Holy Spirit.
There is no historical record which confirms or refutes that Herod ordered the massacre of, “All the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under (v. 16)”. The Bethlehem area was small so if the event did occur the number of children that would have been killed was estimated to be no more than 20, so it might not have been recorded by historians of that time like Josephus who recorded Jewish history and was born in Jerusalem (c. 37 AD – c. 100 AD). By including the slaughter of innocent children, Matthew drew a parallel between the OT event, when Pharaoh who ordered all the Israelite male infants to be killed at birth (Ex. 1:15- 16), and Herod. The evangelist introduced a quotation from the prophet Jerimiah to show that the massacre of the innocents was foreseen by God; “In Ramah is heard the sound of sobbing, bitter weeping! Rachel mourns for her children, she refuses to be consoled for her children—they are no more (Jer. 3:15)!' Rachael, the wife of Jacob, is weeping so loudly that it could be heard 5 miles away in Ramah.
In keeping with the Exodus theme, Verse 20 echoes Exodus; “Then the Lord said to Moses in Midian: Return to Egypt, for all those who sought your life are dead (Ex. 4:19).” Joseph returned to Israel and settled in Nazareth. Joseph was a carpenter and would have been able to find work in the neighboring town of Sepphoris which was being rebuilt at the time.
Almighty God, our Creator and Redeemer, you willed that your Word should take flesh in an ever-virgin womb, and you protected him, not out of fear for his life, but to preserve the gift of eternal life for all mankind. Look with favor on our prayers, and in your mercy grant us a share in his divinity. This we pray through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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