In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
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8 comments:
I believe in the essential inerrancy of the bible, the literal word of God. It is sad when the archbishop states that there is no "evidence" of the Bethlehem story of the birth of Jesus. I thought I had heard enough with Spoong, Regas, et.al..
I trust that my church will adhear to bible based belief and teaching.
In the following commentary by Raymond E Brown, the story of the Magi is an element in a larger effort of Matthew to understand and present Jesus in the context of and an advance beyond Jewish/Mosaic tradition.
Far from seeing 'plagerism' in such techniques, I find this reuse of imagery and plot (often found in scripture) a comfort and re-assurance thst we are proceeding from known quantities and the message of God is consistent and will be presented to us until we get it.
As Sister Lucia would say "we'll do this over and over until you get it right."
Commentary
"Imagery from Jewish Scriptures. Matthew begins his narrative with the genealogy of Jesus that includes the Hebrew patriarchs and the Judean kings. Matthew’s story of Joseph, who receives revelation in dreams and goes to Egypt, clearly recalls the story of the OT Joseph, the dreamer or master of dreams (Gen 37:19) who went to Egypt. The wicked king Herod who kills the male children at Bethlehem evokes the pharaoh who killed the male children of the Hebrews in Egypt. Jesus, the one child who escapes to become the Savior of his people, offers a parallel to Moses. The words spoken to Joseph by the angel after Herod’s death, “Go back to Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead” (Matt 2:20) are almost verbatim the words to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who were seeking your life are dead” (Exod 4:19). When ultimately Moses went from Egypt through the desert toward the land of Canaan, he encountered another wicked king with homicidal tendencies. Balak of Moab summoned Balaam, a visionary or magus (Philo, Vita Mos 1.50 §276) who came from the East (LXX Num 23:7) with two servants (22:22). Balaam foiled the hostile plans of the king by delivering oracles seen in a vision (as of one who sees God in his sleep; LXX 24:4, 16). These predictions concerned a star coming forth from Jacob (24:17) and a king who would rule many nations (24:7). The Matthean magi echo this story. Indeed, the blending of the pharaoh and Balak into Herod may have been facilitated by developments of the Moses story attested in Josephus (Ant 2.9 §205–37) and in early midrashim, whereby the pharaoh was forewarned by his sacred scribes (or in a dream which had to be interpreted by magi) that a Hebrew child who would deliver his people was about to be born. At this news, the Egyptians were filled with dread (cf. Matt 2:3: “When King Herod heard this, he was startled and so was all Jerusalem with him.”). The pharaoh’s plan to forestall the work of the promised child by executing all the male Hebrew children was frustrated because God appeared in a dream to Amram (Moses’ father), a Hebrew whose wife was already pregnant. Obviously, Matthew’s infancy account is quite close to these midrashic developments of the Moses story."
Raymond E Brown
The Anchor Bible Dictionary, (New York: Doubleday) 1997, 1992.
Use the words of the simple but think the thoughts of the wise so everyone can understand. If you want simple people like me to be able to follow your thoughts please use language I can understand. i.e.(essential inerrancy,Far from seeing 'plagerism' in such techniques )Forgive my boldness but I dont think my grandson can follow your thoughts. I came from the streets where if you dont dassle with your brillance you get baffled with BS.
Has anyone looked at Matthew 2:2 and wondered why there was a star from the east and not west and why he was the king of the Jews and not king of Isreal? or King of the world?
I have actually always wondered why they refered to him as King of the Jews. Was it lost in translation?
It has been suggested by scholars that the Gospel of Matthew was directed towards a Jewish audience and convincing the Jews that their messiah had come. So in that light, it would make sense that he was the King of the Jews, because it was refering back to the Jewish prophesies rather than a larger more global faith.
Re: Matthew 2:2, Star in the East (not West)
I checked eight different translations of Matthew 2:2 and about half say "star in the East" or "star from the East" and the other half say "star at its rising" or "star as it rose".
Sun, moon, stars and planets all appear to rise in the East and arc West across the sky. Mabey Matthew is simply saying these Magi knew their sky and how it worked. e.g. astrologers.
Where are all your bloggers? This is a wonderful way to gather the thoughts of your commuity and the uderstanding they have of the scripture. Maybe you can put a collum in the newsletter once a month with the comments of your bloggers?
Where are all the bloggers? This can be a valueable tool to gather information about your church members. There needs and understanding of the scriptures.
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