2In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men* from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising,* and have come to pay him homage.’ 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah* was to be born. 5They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd* my people Israel.”
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,* until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
Translation: And Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, and magi from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the one born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and we came to do him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him, and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he questioned them where the Christ is being born. And they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written through the prophet: "And you, Bethlehem of Judah, are by no means least of the leaders of Judah, for out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel."
Then Herod secretly called the magi. He inquired specifically from them the time when the star had appeared. And he sent them into Bethlehem, saying, "Inquire carefully and with exactness concerning the child, and when you have found, tell me, so that I myself go (and) might do homage to him." And the ones hearing the king set out, and behold, a star, which they saw in its rising was leading them, until it came (and) stood where the child was. And seeing the star, they were rejoicing greatly (with) great cheer. And entering into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, they opened their treasure, and offered him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. And, they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod. They went back to their own land by another way.
Background and situation: Matthew introduces us to Herod. Herod came to power in 37 BC, and reigned until his death in 4 BC. His appointment was supported by both Mark Antony and Octavius Caesar. Octavian and Antony would soon go to war, but, at the time, they were co-rulers of the Roman Empire. Antony's "sphere of influence" was in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, and, like other rulers in the east, Herod would support Antony in the upcoming war.
Octavian won that war in 31 BC, whereupon he became Caesar Augustus--literally, "the emperor who is worthy of being worshipped." Herod went to Octavian, absent the trappings of his office, and told Octavian that he would be as loyal to Octavian as he had been to Antony. Octavian was impressed by Herod's presentation. He not only kept him on the job, but expanded his territory.
Herod repaid the favor in a big way. He built monuments topped with Roman eagles. He built a whole new city and harbor in honor of Caesar. He plastered Caesar's insignia on everything. He couldn't do enough for Caesar Augustus.
The "magi" originated in the Persian priestly class. They were sorcerers, fortune-tellers, astrologers. They represent the "wisdom of the east"--such as it was. Judaism didn't care that much for fortune-tellers. Indeed, Matthew presents them as a bit bone-headed. They seem naive about Herod, and, though they followed generally the proper trajectory--east to west--they wind up nine miles off. They come to Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem.
King of the Jews: The magi tell Herod about the birth of a "king of the Jews"--a title which technically belonged to Herod. (Later in the story, Herod will refer to the child as "messiah," not--pointedly--"king of the Jews.")
The magi had seen his star "at its rising"--en te anatole. Matthew is alluding to the story of Balaam, another "magi" from the east, who was called by Israel's ancient foe, Balak, to bring a curse on Israel, but brought blessings instead. Matthew is recalling Numbers 24: 17-18: "a star shall come out of Jacob...Edom shall become a possession." (This may have been a subtle slam on Herod. Herod was from Idumea, or Edom.)
People of the day would not have been surprised at the mention of a natal star. The births of Pliny and Alexander the Great had supposedly been attended by astral events. Virgil notes that a star led Aeneas to the place where the city of Rome was to be founded. What is distinctive and interesting about this star is that it leads not to some famous personage, but rather to the child of a peasant couple living in a hick town.
Herod was etaraxthe--agitated, troubled, disquieted, filled with inner turmoil--"and all Jerusalem with him." Jerusalem was a "company town," dominated by the Temple bureaucracy and their overseers, the Romans. When the king gets nervous, the whole city gets nervous. A "king of the Jews" other than Herod could be upsetting for business. To paraphrase a popular saying, "Better the devil you know than the messiah you don't."
Herod calls all the experts together--"the chief priests and scribes"--who, it turns out, would later be Jesus' primary opponents. The "chief priests and scribes" manage to cobble together an appropriate citation. The central text appears to be Micah 5: 2: "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to rule in Israel." (Matthew does not credit these Temple bureaucrats with an authoritative scriptural interpretation. He does not say "as it is written," or "this was to fulfill," as is customary for Matthew when he is citing scripture as scripture.)
Matthew makes two modifications to Micah 5:2, one minor and one major. The minor one is that he adds "by no means" to the opening phrase of Micah. Then he takes the phrase "shepherd my people Israel" and puts that in place of Micah's simple "rule in Israel." "Shepherd my people Israel" is from 2 Samuel, and refers to Saul, the founder of the monarchy, and which was overthrown by their great Shepherd-King, David. Jesus, whom even Herod refers to as "messiah," will be the "new David." (Matthew's major focus is to promote Jesus as the "new and better" Moses, but also asserts that Jesus is the "new and better" David as well.)
Herod quizzes the magi on the time the star appeared. This establishes a range of age that will set the stage for Herod's slaughter of the innocents, which follows immediately upon this lection (2:13-23). All born within two years of this "exact time" will be killed.
One wonders exactly how Herod got this information. In verse 4, he "questioned" (punthanomai) the magi concerning the place of the child's birth. This may mean simple inquiries. In verse 7, however, Herod calls the magi to him secretly, and then "inquired specifically" (akribos) regarding the date of the appearance of the star. That Herod called the magi to him "secretly" indicates that perhaps Herod wanted to question them apart from the chief priests and scribes, or perhaps Herod wanted to do his "questioning" without anyone else knowing. Did Herod torture the magi?
Herod "inquired specifically from them the time when the star had appeared". The word for time here is chronon--chronological "business as usual" time, and not kairos, which is God's time. In chronos time--"business as usual" time--extreme brutality and arbitrary violence is the way. Chronos time is attended by lies. Herod sends the magi to Bethlehem on a covert mission to supply him information about the child. He wants to "worship" him, he says, but, of course, he really wants to eliminate this rival "king of the Jews." Lying and violence go together. They are "business as usual."
The magi in Bethlehem: The magi seem to go along with this. They "hear" Herod and do what he says. As they go out, however, the star reappears, and guides them to the child. Literally, verse 10 reads: "Seeing the star, they rejoiced exceedingly great joy greatly"--four words in Greek, which pile superlative upon superlative. Contrast this with the defensive and fearful reaction of Herod, whose system was wracked by agitation and inner turmoil.
The magi see the child--Mary is mentioned via preposition, and Joseph not at all--and they worship. Indeed, this is the fourth use of the word prosekunasan--"worship in an especially reverential manner"--in this brief lection. For Jews of that day, worship was due only to God. Matthew, as he will do later in his gospel, is saying that worship of Jesus is the same as worshiping God.
Gifts were always presented to kings. The magi bring gold and frankincense, which recalls Isaiah 60:6--"they shall bring gold and frankincense". (Isaiah 60 is an oracle of hope for returning exiles from Babylon. Matthew, like Luke, sees Jesus in light of the prophetic tradition. For Matthew, Jesus is the "new" everything.)
The gifts also include myrrh, a very expensive perfume used by the Romans to mask the smell of burning corpses. Nero had reportedly burned a massive amount at the funeral of his wife Poppaea. What is Matthew saying with this inclusion of myrrh? Is it a signal that Jesus will be done in by the Romans?
The magi receive a dream from God which tells them to avoid Herod, and they go home "by a different way"--di' allys idou. The magi, rather clueless throughout, are nonetheless led and instructed by God onto a new path, not the "business as usual" path of lying and violence, but the different "way" of Jesus the Lord.
Image: Bethlehem's Star, James Fissel
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