“Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”
Parallel Translations
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“Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”
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sayinge: arise and take the chylde and his mother and go into the londe of Israel. For they are deed which sought the chyldes life.
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Saying, Arise, and take the babe and his mother, and goe into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the babes life.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Matthew 2:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 4:19 Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”
- 1 Kings 12:1-3 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam lived in Egypt, and they sent and called him), Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spoke to Rehoboam, saying,
- Matthew 2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
- 1 Kings 11:21 When Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.”
- 1 Kings 11:40 Therefore Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
- Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and…
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.
Ver. 20. For they are dead which sought the young child’s life] God hid him, as it were, "for a little moment, until the indignation was overpast," Isa 26:20. So he did Jeremiah, Baruch, Athanasius, Luther in his Patmos (as he used to call the castle of Wartburg), where when the Pope had excommunicated him, and the Emperor proscribed him, the Lord put into the heart of the Duke of Saxony to hide him for ten months; in which time the Pope died, the Emperor had his hands full of the French wars, and the Church thereby obtained a happy halcyon. At which time a pretty spectacle it was to behold Christ striving with Antichrist for mastery. For whatsoever the Pope and his champions could do to the contrary, all happened rather, as at Philippi, unto the furtherance of the gospel, Php 1:12. So was it here in Queen Mary’s time; do what they could, the Christian congregations in London were sometimes forty, sometimes a hundred, sometimes two hundred. I have heard of one (saith Mr Fox) that being sent to them to take their names and to spy on their doings, yet in being among them was converted, and cried them all mercy. Harpsfield hearing that the queen lay dying, hasted home from London to burn those six that he had in his cruel custody. Those were the last that were burnt. Many others escaped by the queen’s death.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Saying, arise, and take the young child and his…
Saying, arise, and take the young child and his mother,.... Joseph strictly observed and obeyed the divine command of the angel, who had ordered him to continue in Egypt, till he brought him word what he should do, and where he should go: here he was with Mary and Jesus, when the angel bid him arise, and take them with him,
and go into the land of Israel. He does not bid him go to Bethlehem or Nazareth, or any particular place, but the land of Israel, where he might go even into any part of it, without fear; and gives this reason for it,
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for they are dead which sought the young child's life; meaning either Herod only, the plural number being put for the singular; or including Antipater his son with him, who might be equally concerned in seeking the life of Christ; since he was next heir, and whom Herod (z) ordered to be slain about five days before his death; or else designing with him many of the executioners of the infants at Bethlehem, and thereabout; who might have been, as well as he, miserable instances of divine vengeance, for their concern in that barbarous tragedy.
(z) Joseph. de Bello Judaico, l. 1. c. 33. sect. 8, 9.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. They are dead] Both Herod and Antipater…
Verse 20. They are dead] Both Herod and Antipater his son; though some think the plural is here used for the singular, and that the death of Herod alone is here intended. But as Herod's son Antipater was at this time heir apparent to the throne, and he had cleared his way to it by procuring the death of both his elder brothers, he is probably alluded to here, as doubtless he entered into his father's designs. THEY are dead-Antipater was put to death by his father's command, five days before this execrable tyrant went to his own place. See Josephus, Antiq. xvi. 11; xvii. 9.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mat 2:20. They are dead which sought the young…
Mat 2:20. They are dead which sought the young child’s life — It has been conjectured by some, that Antipater, the son of Herod, who died but five days before his father, might also be referred to in these words, They are dead, &c. At the time when Christ was born, he was heir apparent to the crown, and was a prince so cruel and ambitious, that he had procured the death of his two elder brothers, to clear his way to the succession, and no doubt he would be an active counsellor and instrument in seeking the destruction of the new-born Jesus, and in advising the slaughter of the infants.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain They are dead who sought ... - This either…
They are dead who sought ... - This either refers to Herod alone, as is not uncommon, using the plural number for the singular; or it may refer to Herod and his son Antipater. He was of the same cruel disposition as his father, and was put to death by his father about five days before his own death.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his…
Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel--not to the land of Judea, for he was afterward expressly warned not to settle there, nor to Galilee, for he only went thither when he found it unsafe to settle in Judea but to "the land of Israel," in its most general sense; meaning the Holy Land at large--the particular province being not as yet indicated. So Joseph and the Virgin had, like Abraham, to "go out, not knowing whither they went," till they should receive further direction.
for they are dead which sought the young child's life--a common expression in most languages where only one is meant, who here is Herod. But the words are taken from the strikingly analogous case in Exo 4:19, which probably suggested the plural here; and where the command is given to Moses to return to Egypt for the same reason that the greater than Moses was now ordered to be brought back from it--the death of him who sought his life. Herod died in the seventieth year of his age, and thirty-seventh of his reign.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. They are dead — Words quoted from Exo_4:19,…
20. They are dead — Words quoted from Exo_4:19, where they are applied to Pharaoh the type of Herod. Our Lord’s stay in Egypt could have not been many months in duration.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19–21. The Return from Egypt
19–21. The Return from Egypt
20. they] Plural by a euphemism, the reference being to Herod alone.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) They are dead.—The use of the plural is…
(20) They are dead.—The use of the plural is noticeable, as Herod alone had been named. Possibly, however, others may have been implicated in the scheme; or the turn of the phrase may have been suggested to the reporter of the dream by the parallel language of Exo_4:19, in reference to Moses.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Saying, Arise, and take the young Child and his…
Saying, Arise, and take the young Child and his mother (so far verbally equivalent to ver. 13). And go into the land. of Israel; any part of the holy and promised land. (1Sa_13:19 Eze_11:17) For they are dead which sought the young Child"s life. The plural is difficult, and is perhaps best explained as an adaptation of the historic parallel of Exo_4:19.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 20. Arise … go into the land of Israel.…
20. Arise … go into the land of Israel. Notice that Joseph is not required to return to Bethlehem or to Judea, but simply to the land of Israel. They are dead which sought the young child's life. As “they” is plural, there must have been the death of more than one of those who sought the death of the Lord. Five days before the death of Herod he slew his son Antipater, a prince of dark, cruel, treacherous character, whom he expected to succeed him. Nothing could be more likely than that he had fully sympathized in the scheme of child-murder at Bethlehem. Now both, “they that sought the young child's life,” were dead.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:20-21 Jesus’ return to Israel fulfills Hos 11:1 (see…
2:20-21 Jesus’ return to Israel fulfills Hos 11:1 (see 2:13-15).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.