Matthew 2:16

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: :Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, :was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children :that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from :two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently :inquired of the wise men. The World English Bible translates the passage as: :Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, :was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children :who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from :two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had :learned from the wise men. The Novum Testamentum Graece text is: :Τότε Ἡρῴδης ἰδὼν ὅτι ἐνεπαίχθη ὑπὸ τῶν μάγων :ἐθυμώθη λίαν, καὶ ἀποστείλας ἀνεῖλεν πάντας τοὺς παῖδας :τοὺς ἐν Βηθλεὲμ καὶ ἐν πᾶσι :τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς ἀπὸ διετοῦς καὶ κατωτέρω, :κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ὃν ἠκρίβωσεν παρὰ τῶν μάγων. For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 2:16 ==Analysis==

Brown notes that the then, when construction is used throughout Matthew to indicate a change of scene as in this case where the narrative moves from the Holy Family to King Herod. The word empaizein is variously translated as deceived or mocked; in reality, Brown notes that the word is a combination of the two ideas and has no direct English translation. Herod was documented to have killed his own sons (Antipater, Alexander and Aristobulus) when he perceived them as threats to his throne, as recounted in the compendium Saturnalia (compiled by Macrobius) that Augustus remarked "It is better to be Herod's pig than his son." Jones notes that "surroundings" refers to the rural areas around the village of Bethlehem. It does not refer to any other nearby towns or villages. At the time, Bethlehem was a small village and it and its surrounding area would have had a very small population. Albright and Mann estimate the village would have had only some 300 people at the time, Raymond E. Brown estimates it was around a thousand. This number clashes with the traditional view of thousands of deaths, but it helps explain why the massacre was not mentioned by any historians such as Josephus. The killing of all the infants in a small village would have been only one of many massacres Herod is recorded to have carried out in his later years. At the same time, Brown notes that the double word all shows that the author of Matthew is trying to portray a large massacre. It is taken to indicate that close to a year had elapsed since the birth of Jesus. Herod is believed to have died in 4 BC so based on Matthew, Jesus' birth is guessed to have been in 5 or 6 BC. ==Commentary from the Church Fathers==

Pseudo-Chrysostom: When the infant Jesus had subdued the Magi, not by the might of His flesh, but the grace of His Spirit, Herod was exceeding wrath, that they whom he sitting on his throne had no power to move, were obedient to an Infant lying in a manger. Then by their contempt of him the Magi gave further cause of wrath. For when kings’ wrath is stirred by fear for their crowns, it is a great and inextinguishable wrath. But what did he? He sent and slew all the children. As a wounded beast rends whatsoever meeteth it as if the cause of its smart, so he mocked by the Magi spent his fury on children. He said to himself in his fury, ‘Surely the Magi have found the Child whom they said should be King;’ for a king in fear for his crown fears all things, suspects all. Then he sent and slew all those infants, that he might secure one among so many. ==References==