rd

Matthew 2

1 The time and place of Christ’s birth. 11 The Wisemen offer their presents. 14 Christ fleeth into Egypt. 16 The young children are slain. 23 Joseph turneth into Galilee.
1.When *JESUS then was born at Beth-lehem in aJudea, in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came bWisemen from the East to Jerusalem,
2.Saying, Where is the King of the Jews that is born? for we have seen his cstar in the East, and are come dto worship him.
3.When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4.And gathering together all the chief Priests and Scribes of the people, he asked of them, where Christ should be born.
5.eAnd they said unto him, At Beth-lehem in Judea: for so it is written by the Prophet,
6.*And thou Beth-lehem in the land of Juda, art not the least among the Princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come the governor that shall feed my people Israel.
7.Then Herod fprivily called the Wisemen, and diligently inquired of them the time of the star that appeared,
8.And sent them to Beth-lehem, saying, Go, and search diligently for the babe: and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come also, and worship him.
9.¶ So when they had heard the King, they departed: and lo, the gstar which they had seen in the East, went before them, till it came, and stood over the place where the babe was.
10.And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy,
11.And went into the house, and ^found the babe with Marie his mother, & fell down, & worshipped him, & opened their treasures, & presented unto him gifts, heven gold, and incense, and myrrh.
12.And after they were warned of God in a dream, that they should inot go again to Herod, they returned into their country another way.
13.¶ After their departure, behold the Angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the babe and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there till I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the babe, to destroy him.
14.So he arose and took the babe and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt,
15.And was there unto the death of Herod, kthat it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the *Prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son.
16.lThen Herod, seeing that he was mocked of the Wisemen, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Beth-lehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two year old and under, according to the time which he had diligently searched out of the Wisemen.
17.Then was that fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet Jeremias, saying,
18.*In mRama was a voice heard, mourning, and weeping and great lamentation: Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they nwere not.
19.And when Herod was dead, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20.Saying, Arise, and take the babe and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are odead which sought the babe’s life.
21.Then he arose up, and took the babe and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.
22.But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in stead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: ^yet after he was warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee,
23.And went and dwelt in a city called Nazaret, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets, which was, That he should be called ^a pNazarite.

Notes

1-*.
Luk. 2.6.
1-a.
For there is another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zebulun.
1-b.
Wisemen, or Magi, in the Persian’s and Chaldeans’ tongue, signify Philosophers, Priests, or astronomers, and are here the first fruits of the Gentiles that came to worship Christ.
2-c.
An extraordinary sign to set forth the King’s honour, whom the world did not esteem.
2-d.
Which was a declaration of that reverence, which the Gentiles should bear unto Christ.
5-e.
They could well tell of Christ in general: but when they should profess his name, and give him his due honour, they wax cold, and shrink back.
6-*.
Micah 5.2, John 7.42.
7-f.
An evil conscience is a burning fire.
9-g.
The star vanished away before, to the intent they should tarry at Jerusalem, and there inquire of the thing, to the confusion of the Jews.
11-^.
Or, saw.
11-h.
The Persian’s manner was not to salute Kings without a present, and therefore they brought of that which was most precious in their country, whereof every one of them offered.
12-i.
Promise ought not to be kept, where God’s honour and preaching of his truth is hindered: or else it ought not to be broken.
15-*.
Hose. 11.1.
15-k.
That which was prefigured by the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, which were Christ’s Church and his body, is now verified, and accomplished in the head Christ.
16-l.
Within a certain time after.
18-*.
Jere. 31.15.
18-m.
Herod renewed the sorrow which the Benjamites had suffered long before, yet for all his cruelty he could not bring to pass, that Christ should not reign.
18-n.
That is, they were killed and dead.
20-o.
Thus the faithful may see how God has infinite means to preserve them from the rage of tyrants.
22-^.
Or, therefore.
23-^.
Or, of Nazaret.
23-p.
Which is holy and consecrated to God: alluding unto those that were Nazarites in the old Law, which were a figure of that holiness which should be manifested in Christ, as was Samson, Joseph &c.