Matthew 2

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 2:20

2:20 sought (b-21) Lit. the seekers of.' The article and participle are used as a noun, characterizing the persons. read more

John Darby

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 2:23

2:23 through (a-19) Dia . see ch. 1.22; Jeremiah 31:15 . that (c-11) 'That that might be,' ch. 1.22; 'so that that should be,' as here; and, 'then was fulfilled,' ver. 17, are never confounded in the quotations of the Old Testament. The first is the object of the prophecy; the second, not simply its object, but an event which was within the scope and intention of the prophecy; the third is merely a case in point, where what happened was an illustration of what was said in the prophecy.... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 2:1-23

The Wise Men1-12. The star in the east and the visit of the Magi (peculiar to St. Matthew). The incident fits well into secular history. About the time when the star appeared (7 or 6 b.c.), Herod the Great, being alarmed by a prophecy that the royal power was about to pass away from him and his line, put the authors of it to death. It is evident, therefore, that the announcement by the wise men that Herod’s supplanter in the kingdom had actually been born, would drive him to violent measures.... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:1

II.(1) In the days of Herod the king.—The death of Herod took place in the year of Rome A.U.C. 750, just before the Passover. This year coincided with what in our common chronology would be B.C. 4—so that we have to recognise the fact that our common reckoning is erroneous, and to fix B.C. 5 or 4 as the date of the Nativity.No facts recorded either in St. Matthew or St. Luke throw much light on the season of the birth of Christ. The flocks and shepherds in the open field indicate spring rather... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:2

(2) Where is he . . .?—The Magi express here the feeling which the Roman historians, Tacitus and Suetonius, tell us sixty or seventy years later had been for a long time very widely diffused. Everywhere throughout the East men were looking for the advent of a great king who was to rise from among the Jews. The expectation partly rested on such Messianic prophecies of Isaiah as Isaiah 9:11, partly on the later predictions of Daniel 7:0. It had fermented in the minds of men, heathens as well as... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:3

(3) Herod the king.—When the Magi reached Jerusalem, the air was thick with fears and rumours, The old king (the title had been given by the Roman Senate in B.C. 40) was drawing to the close of his long and blood-stained reign. Two years before he had put to death, on a charge of treason, his two sons by Mariamne, his best-loved wife, through sheer jealousy of the favour with which the people looked on them. At the time when this history opens, his eldest son, Antipater, was under condemnation.... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:4

(4) The chief priests and scribes.—The chief priests were probably the heads of the twenty-four courses into which the sons of Aaron were divided (2 Chronicles 23:8; Luke 1:5), but the term may have included those who had, though only for a time, held the office of high priest. The “scribes” were the interpreters of the Law, casuists and collectors of the traditions of the Elders, for the most part Pharisees. The meeting thus convened was not necessarily a formal meeting of the Sanhedrim or... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:5

(5) In Bethlehem of Judæa.—The words of the people in John 7:42 show the same belief thirty years later. The Targum, or Jewish paraphrase, of Micah 5:2, inserts the very words, “Out of thee the Messiah shall come.” read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:6

(6) And thou Bethlehem. . . .—The Evangelist is not quoting the prophecy of Micah himself, but recording it as it was quoted by the scribes. This in part explains the fact that he does not give either the version of the LXX., or a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew, but a free paraphrase. As the Targum, just referred to, belongs to this period, it is perfectly possible that the writer of it may have been one of the Council. At any rate, his Messianic reference of the passage was likely to be... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:7

(7) When he had privily called.—True to his nature to the last—himself probably a believer in astrology, and haunted by fears of what the star portended—the king’s next measure is to ascertain the limits of his danger. The English “what time the star appeared” is not quite accurate. Literally, the time of the star that was appearing—i.e., at what time the star, which was still visible (Matthew 2:9), had first appeared.Enquired of them diligently.—Better, ascertained exactly. read more

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 2:20

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - Matthew 2:23

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 2:1-23

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:3

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:4

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:5

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:6

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Matthew 2:7

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands