Matthew 2:13-18
Chapter 2
13
Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents
After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon be looking for the child in order to kill him.”14
Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left that night for Egypt,
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where he stayed until Herod’s death. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled:
Out of Egypt I called my son.
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When Herod discovered that he had been duped by the wise men, he became furious. He ordered the killing of all boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and its surrounding areas. This decision was based on what he had learned from the wise men about the approximate time when the star appeared.
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In this way, what the prophet Jeremiah had said was fulfilled:
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A cry is heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation:
Rachel weeps for her children.
She refuses to be comforted,
for they are no more.
Commentaries
Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents – Return from Egypt.
History, legend, and theology come together again in this episode, with which Matthew concludes his presentation of Jesus. The cruelty of Herod, which affected the newborn and his family, is a historical fact of those turbulent times. The evangelist records this not as a historian but as a theologian who reads history, interprets it in the light of the Word of God, and then weaves it into a dramatic narrative.
Like Moses, Jesus is saved from imminent death; he must flee with his family. The massacre of the innocent recalls the killing of the Israelite children (cf. Ex 1:15ff) and Rachel’s mourning (cf. Jr 31:15). His return from Egypt fulfills the prophet’s prophecy: “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos 11:1). In this way, the evangelist depicts Jesus as the new Moses, who, through a new Exodus, will lead his people—enduring exile and persecution—toward a new and ultimate liberation. And this liberation is not only for his people, Israel, but for all nations of the earth.