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Matthew 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It describes the events after the birth of Jesus. The first section deals with the visit of the magi and the attempt by King Herod to kill the infant messiah. The second portion deals with Jesus' flight to Egypt, and his later return to Judaea.

Analysis

As with Matthew 1 most scholars see this chapter as geared towards proving that Jesus is the messiah who was foretold by the prophets. The chapter contains five references to the Old Testament, a greater density than anywhere else in the New Testament. The author of Matthew uses them to try and demonstrate that Jesus matches the predictions of the prophets. Schweizer sees the chapter as being divided into five subsections, each ending with an Old Testament quotation. As with the genealogy of Matthew 1 many scholars feel that this chapter is trying to portray Jesus as the culmination of Jewish history with the author of Matthew relating events in Jesus' life to important ones in history. Many scholars feel that the author of Matthew is paralleling Exodus in this chapter with Jesus as Moses and Herod as Pharaoh. The Gospel also takes care to mention a sojourn by the Holy Family in Egypt that is mentioned nowhere else. Through a quote from Jeremiah the Massacre of the Innocents is linked to the Babylonian Captivity, and Jesus being born in Bethlehem echoes King David who was also born in that village.

At the same time this chapter also contains several passages that are often seen as anti-Semitic. Matthew 2:3 and Matthew 2:4 both show the Jewish leaders and people of Jerusalem acting in lockstep with the tyrant Herod who tries to kill the infant. The historicity of this is dubious as other sources show great rivalry and animosity between the two. Gundry notes that persecution is an important theme of Matthew, who was writing at a time when a number of forces were working to crush the new religious movement.

Most of what is in this chapter is found in no other gospel and differs sharply from the infancy narrative in Luke 2. Evangelical scholars have developed theories to explain these discrepancies that allow them to stand by the inerrancy of the Bible. Most other scholars feel that this part of the Gospel of Matthew is not a literal work of history. Robert H. Gundry sees Matthew as a heavily embellished version of Luke with the humble shepherds transformed into the more exotic magi, for instance.

Verses

See also

• KJV text at Wikisource

References

• Albright, W.F. and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." The Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.
• Brown, Raymond E. The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. London: G. Chapman, 1977.
• Carter, Warren. Matthew and Empire. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2001.
• Clarke, Howard W. The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
• France, R.T. The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985.
• Gundry, Robert H. Matthew a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
• Hill, David. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981
• Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975
• Levine, Amy-Jill. "Matthew." Women's Bible Commentary. Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, eds. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998.

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• New Testament chapters