Matthew 2:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 2:6
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
thou · personal pronoun — 2nd person nominative singular
Bethlehem
βηθλέεμbēthleem
G965
Bethleem (i.e. Beth-lechem) · noun — vocative singular feminine, a place
land
γῆgē
G1093
soil · noun — vocative singular feminine
Juda
Ἰούδα,Iouda
G2448
Judah (i.e. Jehudah or Juttah) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a place
art
εἶeî
G1488
thou art
not
οὐδαμῶςoudamōs
G3760
by no means · adverb — negative
least
ἐλαχίστηelachistē
G1646
used as equivalent to G3398 (μικρός) · adjective — nominative singular feminine
among
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
princes
ἡγεμόσινhēgemosin
G2232
a leader · noun — dative plural masculine
Juda
Ἰούδα·Iouda
G2448
Judah (i.e. Jehudah or Juttah) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a place
for
γὰρgar
G1063
properly · conjunction
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
thee
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
come
ἐξελεύσεταιexeleusetai
G1831
to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
Governor
ἡγούμενοςhēgoumenos
G2233
to lead · verb — present middle or passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
that
ὅστιςhostis
G3748
which some · relative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
rule
ποιμανεῖpoimanei
G4165
to tend as a shepherd of (figuratively · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
people
λαόνlaon
G2992
a people (in general · noun — accusative singular masculine
Israel
Ἰσραήλ.¶Israēl
G2474
Israel (i.e. Jisrael) · noun — accusative singular masculine, 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
Ezekiel 34:23-25 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
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…
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,…
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?
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…
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord…
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Isaiah 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those th…
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…
And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda--the "in" being familiarly left out, as we say, "London, Middlesex."
art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, &c.--This quotation, though differing verbally, agrees substantially with the Hebrew and the Septuagint. For says the prophet, "Though thou be little, yet out of thee shall come the Ruler"--this honor more than compensating for its natural insignificance; while our Evangelist, by a lively turn, makes him say, "Thou art not the least: for out of thee shall come a Governor"--this distinction lifting it from the lowest to the highest rank. The "thousands of Juda," in the prophet, mean the subordinate d…
And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda,.... This prophecy, which the chief priests and scribes produced, as pointing at the place of Christ's birth, is owned by both ancient and later Jews (y) to be a prophecy of the Messiah. The difference between Micah and Matthew is easily reconciled. Bethlehem is called by Micah, Bethlehem Ephratah, and by Matthew, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, and both were one and the same place. Bethlehem Ephratah was in the land of Juda, as appears from the prophecy of Micah itself, from Ruth 1:2 and the Septuagint version of Joshua 15:60 and is described in this manner by Matthew, partly to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in the land of Zebulun, Joshua 19:15…
The Church Fathers
Though little among cities that have dominion, yet art thou not the least, for out of thee shall come the Ruler, who shall rule My people Israel; this Ruler is Christ, who rules and guides His faithful people.
Jacob was called the first Israel when he beheld the ladder and, on it, the "angels ascending and descending." He wrestled with the one who appeared to him. He heard him say, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel." By this name the entire people of Israel was called, as if by a name divinely chosen, setting them apart from other nations. Now, Israel means "a mind that sees God." Thus the church from among the Gentiles is also called Israel, not according to the flesh but according to divine grace.
(in Mich. v. 2.) The following is the sense of the prophecy. Thou, Bethlehem, of the land of Judah, or Ephrata, (which is added to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in Galilee,) though thou art a small village among the thousand cities of Judah, yet out of thee shall be born Christ, who shall be the Ruler of Israel, who according to the flesh is of the seed of David, but was born of Me before the worlds; and therefore it is written, His goings forth are of old. In the beginning was the Word.
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…
Ephratah — Fruitful. (1.) The second wife of Caleb, the son of Hezron, mother of Hur, and grandmother of Caleb, who was one of those that were sent to spy the land (1 Chr. 2:19, 50). (2.) The ancient name of…
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…
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…
Messiah — (Heb. mashiah), in all the thirty-nine instances of its occurring in the Old Testament, is rendered by the LXX. “Christos.” It means anointed. Thus priests (Ex. 28:41; 40:15; Num. 3:3), prophets (1…
Micah, Book of — The sixth in order of the so-called minor prophets. The superscription to this book states that the prophet exercised his office in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. If we reckon from the…
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…
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…
Bethlehem, a small village, had a privileged status as the birthplace of King David. The religious leaders knew from the prophets (1:22) that the Messiah would be born there. • King David had been a shepherd in his youth, and as king he became the shepherd of Israel (2 Sam 5:2). Micah 5:2-4 foresees the Messiah as a shepherd (cp. Ps 23:1).
Stars — The eleven stars (Gen. 37:9); the seven (Amos 5:8); wandering (Jude 1:13); seen in the east at the birth of Christ, probably some luminous meteors miraculously formed for this specific purpose (Matt.…
Bethlehem · .The city of Joseph — .The city of Joseph
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 · Called: The land of Judah — Called: The land of Judah
Magi · The wise men from the east who visited Jesus as an infant — The wise men from the east who visited Jesus as an infant
Quotations And Allusions · IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT — IN THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM, AND TO, THE OLD TESTAMENT
Titles And Names Of Christ · Governor — Governor
Wisdom · Of the Magi (wise men from the east) — Of the Magi (wise men from the east)
Wise Men · Of the East (the Magi) — Of the East (the Magi)
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
