Matthew 2: Born in Bethlehem, carried to Egypt, raised in Nazareth
Read it →Jesus is born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, and wise men from the east come to Jerusalem asking where the king of the Jews has been born. The chief priests and scribes answer "In Bethlehem of Judea" from the prophet, and the star leads the wise men to the house where they worship the child before leaving by another way. Warned in a dream, Joseph takes the child and his mother to Egypt, and Herod kills the male children of Bethlehem and its region, fulfilling Jeremiah's words, "A voice was heard in Ramah". After Herod dies they return to the land of Israel, but with Archelaus reigning over Judea, Joseph withdraws to Galilee and settles in a city called Nazareth.
Regions on this map
Verses 22 and 23: the district of Galilee Joseph withdraws to, and Nazareth, the city where he settles.
The district Joseph withdraws to, warned in a dream, when he hears that Archelaus is reigning over Judea (2:22).
a region, not a site: the representative point the sources give falls in the Sea of Galilee
The city where Joseph goes and lives with the child and his mother, so that Jesus would be called a Nazarene (2:23). All 500 votes put it at modern Nazareth, in the hills of lower Galilee.
Today: Nazareth, in the hills of lower Galilee
Verses 1 to 22: Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Judea where the story begins, Ramah in the quotation of Jeremiah, and the land of Judah and the land of Israel.
Where Jesus is born (2:1), the answer the chief priests and scribes give Herod from the prophet (2:5-6), where Herod sends the wise men (2:8), and where he kills the male children two years old and under (2:16). All 500 votes put it at modern Bethlehem, about 8 km south of Jerusalem.
Today: Bethlehem, West Bank, south of Jerusalem
The wise men come to Jerusalem asking for the newborn king (2:1), and Herod and all Jerusalem with him are troubled (2:3). All 500 votes put it at the Old City of Jerusalem.
Today: the Old City of Jerusalem
Named in "Bethlehem of Judea" (2:1, 2:5) and as the country Archelaus rules in place of Herod, which Joseph is afraid to enter (2:22). The gazetteer's point for it is Jerusalem.
a region, not a site: the representative point the sources give is Jerusalem, already a pin on this map
Named only in the words of Jeremiah that Matthew quotes after the killing at Bethlehem: "A voice was heard in Ramah" (2:18). The gazetteer favours al-Ram, north of Jerusalem (847 votes), over Ramallah (40) and Ramat Rahel (10).
Today: al-Ram, north of Jerusalem
Named in the prophecy the chief priests and scribes quote to Herod: "And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah" (2:6). It is the tribal land around Bethlehem, which Matthew elsewhere calls Judea.
no point of its own in the sources; no site is plotted
Where the angel tells Joseph to take the child and his mother after Herod's death, and where they go (2:20-21). The text names the land as a whole; it then splits it into Judea, which Joseph avoids, and Galilee, where he settles (2:22).
the land as a whole has no point in the sources; no site is plotted
Verses 13 to 19: Egypt, where Joseph takes the child and his mother until the death of Herod.
Where an angel tells Joseph to flee with the child and his mother (2:13-14), where they remain until the death of Herod (2:15), and where the angel appears to Joseph again (2:19). Matthew reads the stay through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." The gazetteer's point is Ain Shams, ancient Heliopolis, at Cairo.
a country, not a site: the point offered is Heliopolis, one city standing in for the whole land
Matthew 2, verse by verse
- Matthew 2:1Now after Jesus was born in of in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to ,
- Matthew 2:3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all with him;
- Matthew 2:5They told him, “In of , for so it is written by the prophet:
- Matthew 2:6“‘And you, O , in the , are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
- Matthew 2:8And he sent them to , saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
- Matthew 2:13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to , and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
- Matthew 2:14And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to
- Matthew 2:15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of I called my son.”
- Matthew 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.
- Matthew 2:18“A voice was heard in , weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
- Matthew 2:19But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in ,
- Matthew 2:20saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the , for those who sought the child's life are dead.”
- Matthew 2:21And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the .
- Matthew 2:22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of .
- Matthew 2:23And he went and lived in a city called , so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.