---
title: "Matthew 2 - Study King James Bible with trapps complete commentary"
description: "Read Matthew 2 with trapps complete commentary commentary. 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, 2 Saying, Where is"
image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/trapps-complete-commentary/matthew/2"
---

[ Read](/kjv/matthew/2)[ Commentary](/study/matthew/2)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/matthew/2) Audio

 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,

 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

 3 When Herod the king had heard *these things*, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

 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.

 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found *him*, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

 11 ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

 13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

 16 ¶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,

 18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping *for* her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

 19 ¶ But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.

 21 And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

 22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:

 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.
 
[Matthew 1](/study/matthew/1) [Matthew 3](/study/matthew/3)

## Commentary

 To verse 1
 
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, **** 

Ver. 1. **Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem** ] The house of bread, that bread of life that came down from heaven, [John 6:50](/kjv/john/6/50) , and dwelt among us in this city of David, otherwise called Ephrata, that is, fruit bearing; and situated (they say) in the very navel and centre of the earth, because in him all nations should be blessed: here was Jesus born, by mere accident in regard of his parents (who were brought hither by a tyrannical edict of the emperor, forcing all, even great bellied women, to repair to their own city to be taxed, though it were in the deep of winter), but by a sweet Providence of God, to fulfil the Scripture and to settle our faith. 

**In the days of Herod the king** ] When the sceptre was departed from Judah, and the times were grown deplored and desperately wicked. Joseph found his brethren in Dothan, *i.e.* in defection; so did Christ, when he came: scarcely were there four, or fewer, found, that waited for the consolation of Israel. Then, also, when among the poor Gentiles a plentiful harvest, a very great number of elect, were ready ripe,[Matthew 9:37](/kjv/matthew/9/37); [Matthew 9:37](/kjv/matthew/9/37) ; [Luke 10:2](/kjv/luke/10/2) ; [John 4:35](/kjv/john/4/35) . Then, when *cuncta atque continua totius generis humani aut pax fuit, aut pactio* (Flor.), then came the Prince of Peace into the world, when all was at peace throughout the world. 

**Behold, there came wise men** ] Neither kings nor cunning men, but sages of the East, Θεωρητικοι , contemplative persons, philosophers, interpreters of the laws of God and men ( μαγοι, מהנים ). The tale of the three kings of Cullen is long since exploded. 

**To Jerusalem** ] So misreckoning of a point they missed the haven, and had like to have run upon the rocks. Had they met with the shepherds of Bethlehem, they had received better intelligence than they could from the learned scribes of Jerusalem. God hath chosen the weak of the world to confound the wise, [1 Corinthians 1:27-28](/kjv/1-corinthians/1/27-28) . *Surgunt indocti et rapiunt coelum, et nos, cum doetrinis nostris, detrudimur in Gehennam* (August. Confess. viii. 8). None are so far from Christ, many times, as knowing men. Some of the scribes and Pharisees were very atheists, for they knew "neither the Father nor the Son." Ulpian the chief lawyer, Galen the chief physician, Porphyry the chief Aristotelian, Plotinus the chief Platonist, Libanus and Lucian the chief orators of that age, were all professed enemies to Christ. No Church was founded at Athens, [Acts 17:16](/kjv/acts/17/16) , which yet Demosthenes calls the soul, sun, and eye of Greece, Euripides the Greece of Greece, Thucydides and Diodorus the common school of all men, the mart of good learning, &c.; ψυχην, και ηλιον, και οφθαλμον ελλαδος. ελλαδυς ελλαδα. κοινον παιδευτηριον παντων ανθρωπων . The greatest clerks are not always the wisest men in the affairs of God. Howbeit, learned Nathaniel, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, masters in Israel, were disciples to our Saviour; lest, if he had called simple men only, it might have been thought, *quod fuissent ex simplicitate decepti,* that they were deceived out of their simplicity, saith one.

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