Matthew 2:1

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
when	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
Jesus	Ἰησοῦ Iēsou	G2424	Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
born	γεννηθέντος gennēthentos	G1080	to procreate (properly · verb — aorist passive participle, genitive singular masculine
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
Bethlehem	Βηθλέεμ Bēthleem	G965	Bethleem (i.e. Beth-lechem) · noun — dative singular feminine, a place
Judaea	Ἰουδαίας Ioudaias	G2449	the Judæan land (i.e. Judæa) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
days	ἡμέραις hēmerais	G2250	day · noun — dative plural feminine
Herod	Ἡρῴδου Hērōdou	G2264	heroic · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
king	βασιλέως basileōs	G935	a sovereign (abstractly · noun — genitive singular masculine
behold	ἰδοὺ idou	G2400	used as imperative lo! · interjection
came	παρεγένοντο paregenonto	G3854	to become near · verb — second aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
men	μάγοι magoi	G3097	a Magian · noun — nominative plural masculine
from	ἀπὸ apo	G575	"off · preposition
east	ἀνατολῶν anatolōn	G395	a rising of light · noun — genitive plural feminine
to	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
Jerusalem	Ἱεροσόλυμα Hi'erosoluma	G2414	Hierosolyma (i.e. Jerushalaim) · noun — accusative plural neuter, a place

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Micah 5:2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be…
John 7:42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
Luke 2:4-7 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because h…
Psalms 72:9-12 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest s…
Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the pe…
Isaiah 60:1-22 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 2:1-8

It was a mark of humiliation put upon the Lord Jesus that, though he was the Desire of all nations, yet his coming into the world was little observed and taken notice of, his birth was obscure and unregarded: herein he emptied himself, and made himself of no reputation. If the Son of God must be brought into the world, one might justly expect that he should be received with all the ceremony possible, that crowns and sceptres should immediately have been laid at his feet, and that the high and mighty princes of the world should have been his humble servants; such a Messiah as this the Jews expected, but we see none of all this; he came into the world, and the world knew him not; nay, he came…

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John Gill on Matthew 2:1

Now when Jesus was born,.... Several things are here related respecting the birth of Christ, as the place where he was born, in Bethlehem of Judea; so called to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in the tribe of Zabulon, Joshua 19:15. Here Christ was to be born according to a prophecy hereafter mentioned, and accordingly the Jews expected he would be born here, Matthew 2:4 and so Jesus was born here, Luke 2:4 and this the Jews themselves acknowledge; "Such a year, says a noted (l) chronologer of theirs, Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem Juda, which is a "parsa" and a half, i.e. six miles, from Jerusalem.'' Benjamin (m) Tudelensis says it is two parsas, i.e. eight miles, from it;…

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John Calvin on Matthew 2:1-6

Matthew 2:1-6 Matthew 2:1-6 1. Now when Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea, [175] in the times of Herod the King, lo, Magi from the East came to Jerusalem, 2. Saying, Where is he who is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and have come that we may worship him. 3. And having heard these things, Herod the King was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4. And having assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired at them where Christ should be born. 5. But they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it has been written by the prophet: 6. And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art by no means the least among the princes of Judah…

The Church Fathers

Let the shepherds take better care of their flock, and let the wise men spare their legs so long a journey; let them keep their gold to themselves.
— Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ

Let those Eastern magi be believed, dowering with gold and incense the infancy of Christ as a king; and the infant has received "the power of Damascus" without battle and arms.
— Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews

As you heard in the Gospel reading, dearest brothers, when the King of heaven was born, the king of earth was troubled, because earthly height is confounded when heavenly height is revealed.
— Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 10

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bethlehem — House of bread. (1.) A city in the “hill country” of Judah. It was originally called Ephrath (Gen. 35:16, 19; 48:7; Ruth 4:11). It was also called Beth-lehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2), Beth-lehem-judah (1…
Herod the Great — (Matt. 2:1-22; Luke 1:5; Acts 23:35), the son of Antipater, an Idumaean, and Cypros, an Arabian of noble descent. In the year B.C. 47 Julius Caesar made Antipater, a “wily Idumaean,” procurator of…
Jesus — (1.) Joshua, the son of Nun (Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:8; R.V., “Joshua”). (2.) A Jewish Christian surnamed Justus (Col. 4:11). Je’sus, the proper, as Christ is the official, name of our Lord. To distinguish…
Judea — After the Captivity this name was applied to the whole of the country west of the Jordan (Hag. 1:1, 14; 2:2). But under the Romans, in the time of Christ, it denoted the southernmost of the three…
Magi — (Authorized Version wise men).
Magic — The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg. 18:5, 6; Zech. 10:2). There is a remarkable illustration of this divining by teraphim in Ezek. 21:19-22. We read…
Mary — Hebrew Miriam. (1.) The wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus, called the “Virgin Mary,” though never so designated in Scripture (Matt. 2:11; Acts 1:14). Little is known of her personal history. Her…
Nativity of Christ — The birth of our Lord took place at the time and place predicted by the prophets (Gen. 49:10; Isa. 7:14; Jer. 31:15; Micah 5:2; Hag. 2:6-9; Dan. 9:24, 25). Joseph and Mary were providentially led to…
Heathen · .The Magi (wise men from the east) — .The Magi (wise men from the east)
Jesus, The Christ · .Magi (the wise men from the east) visit (at Bethlehem) — .Magi (the wise men from the east) visit (at Bethlehem)
Judea, Modern

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 2:1-8

John Gill on Matthew 2:1

John Calvin on Matthew 2:1-6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 2:1-8

John Gill on Matthew 2:1

John Calvin on Matthew 2:1-6

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 2:1-2