Matthew 1:18–2:12

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together,12 she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 1:19 Because Joseph, her husband to be,13 was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her14 privately. 1:20 When he had contemplated this, an15 angel of the Lord16 appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 1:21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him17 Jesus,18 because he will save his people from their sins.” 1:22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 1:23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him19 Emmanuel,”20 which means21 “God with us.”22 1:24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord23 told him. He took his wife, 1:25 but did not have marital relations24 with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named25 Jesus.

The Visit of the Wise Men

2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem1 in Judea, in the time2 of King Herod,3 wise men4 from the East came to Jerusalem5 2:2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose6 and have come to worship him.” 2:3 When King Herod7 heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him. 2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law,8 he asked them where the Christ9 was to be born. 2:5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they said, “for it is written this way by the prophet:

2:6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are in no way least among the rulers of Judah,

for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”10

2:7 Then Herod11 privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared. 2:8 He12 sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well.” 2:9 After listening to the king they left, and once again13 the star they saw when it rose14 led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 2:10 When they saw the star they shouted joyfully.15 2:11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down16 and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense,17 and myrrh.18 2:12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod,19 they went back by another route to their own country.

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12	tn The connotation of the Greek is “before they came together in marital and domestic union” (so BDAG 970 s.v. συνέρχομαι 3).
13	tn Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.
14	tn Or “send her away.” sn In the Jewish context, “full betrothal was so binding that its breaking required a certificate of divorce, and the death of one party made the other a widow or widower (m. Ketub. 1:2; m. Sota 1:5; m. Git. passim …)” (R. H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art, 21).
15	tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
16	tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324–35.
17	tn Grk “you will call his name.”
18	sn The Greek form of the name Iēsous, which was translated into Latin as Jesus, is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), which means “Yahweh saves” (Yahweh is typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT). It was a fairly common name among Jews in 1st century Palestine, as references to a number of people by this name in the LXX and Josephus indicate.
19	tn Grk “they will call his name.”
20	sn A quotation from Isa 7:14.
21	tn Grk “is translated.”
22	sn An allusion to Isa 8:8, 10 (LXX).
23	tn See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20. Here the translation “the angel of the Lord” is used because the Greek article (ὁ, ho) which precedes ἄγγελος (angelos) is taken as an anaphoric article (ExSyn 217–19) referring back to the angel mentioned in v. 20.
24	tn Or “did not have sexual relations”; Grk “was not knowing her.” The verb “know” (in both Hebrew and Greek) is a frequent biblical euphemism for sexual relations. However, a translation like “did not have sexual relations with her” is too graphic in light of the popularity and wide use of Matthew’s infancy narrative. Thus the somewhat more subdued but still clear “did not have marital relations” was selected.
25	tn Grk “and he called his name Jesus.” The coordinate clause has been translated as a relative clause in English for stylistic reasons.
1	map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
2	tn Grk “in the days.”
3	sn King Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 b.c. until he died in 4 b.c. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.
4	sn The Greek term magi here describes a class of wise men and priests who were astrologers (L&N 32.40).
5	map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
6	tn Or “in its rising,” referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ἀνατολαί (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ἀνατολή (anatolē) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BDAG 74 s.v. 1: “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical … likew. vs. 9”).
7	sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
8	tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateus) as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
9	tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
10	sn A quotation from Mic 5:2.
11	sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
12	tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
13	tn Grk “and behold the star.”
14	tn See the note on the word “rose” in 2:2.
15	tn Grk “they rejoiced with very great joy.”
16	tn Grk “they fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
17	sn Frankincense refers to the aromatic resin of certain trees, used as a sweet-smelling incense (L&N 6.212).
18	sn Myrrh consisted of the aromatic resin of certain shrubs (L&N 6.208). It was used in preparing a corpse for burial.
19	sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

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