Mt. 2:13 Now when they departed, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Mt. 2:14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother and departed for Egypt.
Mt. 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Josephus, the Jewish historian, relates that Herod became very ill following an act of impiety against the priesthood, at which time an eclipse of the moon occurred. This eclipse, the only one mentioned by Josephus, happened on March 13th of the Julian Period, and the fourth year before the Common Era. Herod’s illness (we have no idea what it was) lasted for several months and it is documented in great detail as being painful and distressful. The sickness seized upon his whole body, and greatly disordered all its parts with various symptoms: for there was a gentle fever upon him, and an intolerable itching over all the surface of his body, and continued pains in his colon, and dropsical tumors about his feet, and an inflammation of the abdomen, and a putrefaction of his genitals, that produced worms. Besides which he had a difficulty in breathing upon him, and could not breathe but when he sat upright, and had a convulsion of all his members, insomuch that the diviners said those diseases were a punishment upon him for what he had done to the rabbis" (Jos. War 1.33.5 656). Many cures were sought and brought temporary relief. However, nothing prevented imminent death. According to Josephus’ calculations, Herod’s death occurred in about September-October, 4 B.C.E. Therefore with the knowledge that Herod’s death during he autumn, it is established that the birth of Yeshua was during that time period.
Source: Jos. Ant. 17.6.4 167 & Note #3
The second type of the New Testament quoting the Original Testament is called Literal plus typical. Hosea 11:1, "Out of Egypt I called My Son," which is quoted here, is a reference to Israel’s exodus out of Egypt. This is an allusion to Exodus 4:22 where Israel became nationally the Son of God. The reference here in Matthew is a type of this.
Source: Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1
Mt. 2:16 Then Herod when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
It was the custom in ancient Israel to count the years of one’s age from the date of conception. Therefore, Herod actually killed children one year old and younger, according to the way age is calculated today. This attempt to kill the seed of the woman is probably described in the book of Revelation this way: "and the dragon stood before the woman (Israel) who was ready to be delivered, to devour the Child (Yeshua) as soon as He was born” (Rev. 12:4). But, forewarned by God, Joseph and Miriam fled to Egypt with the Child.
Source: Revelation 12:4
Eusebius records Herod’s reward for his cruelty: “When Christ was born, according to the prophecies, in Bethlehem of Judea, at the time indicated, Herod was not a little disturbed by the inquiry of the magi who came from the east, asking where he who was born King of the Jews was to be found – for they had seen His star, and this was their reason for taking so long a journey; for they earnestly desired to worship the infant as God, – for he imagined that his kingdom might be endangered; and he inquired therefore of the doctors of the law, who belonged to the Jewish nation, where they expected Christ to be born. When he learned that the prophecy of Micah (5:2) announced that Bethlehem was to be his birthplace he commanded, in a single edict, all the male infants in Bethlehem, and all its borders, that were two years of age or less, according to the time which he had accurately ascertained from the magi, to be slain, supposing that Jesus, as was indeed likely, would share the same fate as the others his own age. But the child anticipated the snare, being carried into Egypt by his parents, who had learned from an angel that appeared unto them what was about to happen. These things are recorded by the Holy Scriptures in the Gospel.”
“It is worthwhile, in addition to this, to observe the reward which Herod received for his daring crime against Christ and those of the same age. For immediately, without the least delay, the divine vengeance overtook him while he was still alive, and gave him a foretaste of what he was to receive after death. It is not possible here to relate how he tarnished the supposed felicity of his reign by successive calamities in his family, by the murder of his wife and children, and others of his nearest relatives and dearest friends. The account, which casts every other tragic drama into the shade, is detailed at length in the histories of Josephus. How, immediately after his crime against our Savior and the other infants, the punishment sent by God drove him on to his death, we can best learn from the words of that historian who, in the seventeenth book of his Antiquities of the Jews, writes as follows concerning his end: ‘But the disease of Herod grew more severe, God inflicting punishment for his crimes. For a slow fire burned in him which was not so apparent to those who touched him, but augmented his internal distress; for he had a terrible desire for food which it was not possible to resist. He was affected also with ulceration of the intestines, and with especially severe pains in the colon, while a watery and transparent humor settled about his feet.’”
“‘He suffered also from a similar trouble in his abdomen. Nay more, his privy member was putrefied and produced worms. He found also excessive difficulty in breathing, and it was particularly disagreeable because of the offensiveness of the odor and the rapidity of respiration. He had convulsions also in every limb, which gave him uncontrollable strength. It was said, indeed, by those who possessed the power of divination and wisdom to explain such events, that God had inflicted this punishment upon the King on account of his great impiety.’”
Sources: Micah 5:2; Eusebius History, Bk. 1, Ch. 8; Jos. Ant. 17.6.5 168-171
“The writer mentioned above recounts these things in the work referred to. And in the first book of his History (The Jewish Wars) he gives a similar account of the same Herod, which runs as follows: ‘The disease then seized upon his whole body and distracted it by various torments. For he had a slow fever, and the itching of the skin of his whole body was insupportable. He suffered also from continuous pains in his colon, and there were swellings on his feet like those of a person suffering from dropsy, while his abdomen was inflamed and his privy member so putrefied as to produce worms. Besides this he could breathe only in an upright posture, and then only with difficulty, and he had convulsions in all his limbs, so that the diviners said that his diseases were a punishment. But he, although wrestling with such sufferings, nevertheless clung to life and hoped for safety, and devised methods of cure.
Sources: Jos. Wars 1.33.5 656-58; 1.33.8 665
Mt. 2:17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
Mt. 2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, lamenting, weeping and great mourning. .Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they were no more.”
These two verses demonstrate the third way the New Testament quotes the Hebrew Scriptures. This way is called literal, plus application. If we go back to the text of Jeremiah 31:15 and look at its original context, it is neither history nor prophecy, but something that was already presently happening. It was a present contemporary event of the prophet Jeremiah and is a reference to the Babylonian Captivity. In this account young Jewish men were being taken into captivity in Babylon. When they were taken away, they were taken by the town of Ramah, which is near the place where Rachel was buried. Rachel had become the symbol of Jewish motherhood. Rachel was a matriarch of Israel, wife of Jacob, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. She died in childbirth on the way from Bethel to Eprath. As she lay dying, she named her son “Ben Oni,” or “Son of my suffering.” Joseph always called him Benjamin. Jacob did not bury her in the ancestral patriarchal cave at Machpelah, but interred her at the place of her death and set up a monument over her grave. As the young men went by Ramah the mothers of the town came outside and were weeping for the sons of Israel that they would never see again. Jeremiah pictures this as Rachel (Jewish motherhood) weeping. When Herod ordered the male children to be killed, Jewish mothers were weeping again for sons that they would never see again.
Source: Jeremiah 31:15
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