Matthew 2:3

Mat_2:3

Herod.

Herod

1. Blind.

2. Luxurious.

3. Revengeful.

4. Flattered.

5. An habitual sinner. (J. M. Ashley.)

1. The shortness of kingdoms.

2. The fear of an evil conscience.

3. Various uses of Holy Scripture.

4. The disposition and temper of the world.

5. The conditions of an acceptable offering. The magi offered

(1) their best gifts;

(2) sincerely opened their treasures;

(3) of their own substance,

(4) with humility, without pomp;

(5) their hearts with their gifts;

(6) the care and prudence of God;

(7) the firmness of Gods counsels. (Baring Gould.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 2:3. When Herod heard, &c. — he was troubled — Or, alarmed, as Dr. Waterland renders εταραχθη. The word properly signifies a great emotion of mind, whatever the cause thereof be. Being a prince of a very suspicious temper, and his cruelties having rendered him obnoxious to his subjects, he feared losing his kingdom, especially as he had taken Jerusalem by force, and was settled on his throne by the aid of the Romans. Hence it is no wonder that he was concerned to hear of the birth of one that was to be king, and especially to have such an extraordinary confirmation of it, as that of persons coming from a far country, directed by an extraordinary impulse upon the sight of a new star, which pointed to Judea as the seat of his empire. And all Jerusalem with him — Fearing he should make it an occasion of renewing some of those tyrannical actions which had lately filled them with so much horror, as is related at large by Josephus. They dreaded likewise, it seems, a change of government, as knowing it does not usually happen without bloodshed, and that the Romans had great power, and would oppose any change in their affairs.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:3 Herod was deeply disturbed because he feared this child would rival him as king of the Jews.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 2:3. Ἐταράχθη, was troubled) The king, now seventy years old, might be troubled all the more easily, because the Pharisees, a short time before, had foretold (as we learn from Josephus, Antiquities xvii. 3), that the kingdom was about to be taken from the family of Herod. The trouble of the king is a testimony against the carelessness of the people. If Herod fears, why do not the Jews inquire? why do they not believe?—πᾶσα, all) sc. πόλις, the city[79]—μέτʼ αὐτοῦ, with him) The people, who had been long accustomed to the king, followed his lead. Men are frequently overset by the sudden announcement of even good tidings.

[79] Which had been so long standing in a posture of expectation, awaiting the Messiah’s coming.—Vers. Germ.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_2:3. Herod was afraid, because he dreaded the overthrow of his throne; the inhabitants of Jerusalem, however, not so much on account of the times of misfortune which were expected to precede the Messiah (Lightfoot on Mar_13:19; Bertholdt, Christol. p. 45 f.), but in keeping with their special circumstances, because they dreaded the adoption by the tyrant, in the maintenance of his rule, of measures hostile to the people.

Ἱεροσόλυμα] Feminine form, occurring only here and in Mat_3:5, and without any various reading in the Codd. It is found also in Latin (Tac. Hist. v. 2; Sueton. Aug. xciii.). To take the name as neuter, and to supply πόλις (Wetstein, Grimm, Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 16 [E. T. 18]), is not grammatically possible. The feminine form must have been in actual use, although the neuter, as in Mat_2:1, and Ἱερουσαλήμ, were and remained the prevailing forms.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 2:3 . ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἡρώδης ἐταράχθη : βασιλεὺς before the name, not after, as in Mat 2:1 , the emphatic position suggesting that it was as king and because king that Herod was troubled. The foreigner and usurper feared a rival, and the tyrant feared the rival would be welcome. It takes little to put evildoers in fear. He had reigned long, men were weary, and the Pharisees, according to Joseph (A. J. xvii. 2 4), had predicted that his family would were long lose its place of power. His fear therefore, though the occasion may seem insignificant, is every way credible. καὶ πᾶσα I., doubtless an exaggeration, yet substantially true. The spirit of the city was servile and selfish. They bowed to godless power, and cared for their own interest rather than for Herod’s. Few in that so-called holy city had healthy sympathies with truth and right. Whether the king’s fears were groundless or not they knew not nor cared. It was enough that the fears existed. The world is ruled not by truth but by opinion. πᾶσα : s Ἰεροσόλυμα feminine here, or is ἡ πὀλις understood? or is it a construction, ad sensum , of the inhabitants? (Schanz).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Was much moved, for he was a stranger, and came to the kingdom by force: and the Jews were troubled: for wickedness is mad and raging.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled--viewing this as a danger to his own throne: perhaps his guilty conscience also suggested other grounds of fear.

and all Jerusalem with him--from a dread of revolutionary commotions, and perhaps also of Herod's rage.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. When Herod - heard these things, he was troubled] Herod's consternation was probably occasioned by the agreement of the account of the magi, with an opinion predominant throughout the east, and particularly in Judea, that some great personage would soon make his appearance, for the deliverance of Israel from their enemies; and would take upon himself universal empire.

SUETONIUS and TACITUS, two Roman historians, mention this. Their words are very remarkable:-

Percrebuerat Oriente toto, vetus et constans opinio, esse in fatis, ut eo tempore Judaea profecti rerum potirentur. Id de imperatare Romano, quantum eventu postea predictum patuit, Judaei ad se trahentes, rebellarunt. SUETON. VESP. "An ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the east, that the fates had decreed some to proceed from Judea, who should attain universal empire. This persuasion, which the event proved to respect the Roman emperor, the Jews applied to themselves, and therefore rebelled."

The words of Tacitus are nearly similar:-

Pluribus persuasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum literis contineri, eo ipso tempore fore, ut valesceret Oriens, profectique Judaea rerum potirentur. Quae ambages Vespasianum ac Titum praedixerant.

"Many were persuaded, that it was contained in the ancient books of their priests, that at that very time the east should prevail: and that some should proceed from Judea and possess the dominion. It was Vespasian and Titus that these ambiguous prophecies predicted." Histor. v.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) Herod the king.—When the Magi reached Jerusalem, the air was thick with fears and rumours, The old king (the title had been given by the Roman Senate in B.C. 40) was drawing to the close of his long and blood-stained reign. Two years before he had put to death, on a charge of treason, his two sons by Mariamne, his best-loved wife, through sheer jealousy of the favour with which the people looked on them. At the time when this history opens, his eldest son, Antipater, was under condemnation. The knowledge that priests and people were alike looking for the “consolation of Israel” (Luk_2:25; Luk_2:38), the whispers that told that such a consolation had come, the uneasiness excited in the people by the “taxing” in which he had been forced to acquiesce, all these were elements of disquietude prior to the arrival of the Magi, and turned the last days of the Idumæan prince (his subjects never forgot his origin) into a time of frenzied and cruel suspicion. The excitement naturally spread throughout the city.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. all Jerusalem with him] Fearing some fresh outbreak of cruelty.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Herod the king had heard these things,.... That is, the report made by the wise men of the appearance of an unusual star, and of the birth of the king of the Jews, which they affirmed with all certainty, without any hesitation,

he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Herod was troubled, his mind was disturbed and made uneasy, fearing he should be deposed, and lose his kingdom, to which he knew he had no just right and claim, being a foreigner; and "all Jerusalem", i.e. all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who heard of this, were also troubled, and showed a concern at it with him; either feignedly, as knowing his jealousy, suspicion and cruelty; or in reality, because of tumults, commotions and wars, they might fear would arise upon this, having lost the true notion of the Messiah, as a spiritual king, saviour and redeemer. And hereby was fulfilled, in part, the famous prophecy in Gen 49:10 according to the sense of one (w) of the Targumists on it, who paraphrases it after this manner;

"Kings and governors shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor scribes, who teach the law, from his seed, until the time that the king Messiah, the least of his sons, comes, "and because of him", , "the people shall melt."''

that is, they shall be distressed and troubled, their hearts shall melt like wax within them; which was their present case, though perhaps the paraphrast may design the Gentiles.

(w) Jonathan ben Uzziel in loc.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 3. When Herod the King heard these things he was troubled] At that wherein the sages and shepherds rejoiced. It is fair weather with the saints when foulest with the wicked. Abraham stands upon the hill, and seeth the smoke of the cities ascend like a furnace. "Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen," Isa 65:14-15. Aelian ( Histor. Animal.) compareth tyrants to swine, which if a man but touch, they begin to cry, as dreaming of nothing but death; forasmuch as they have neither fleece nor milk, nor anything else, but their flesh only to forfeit. But si praesepe vagientis Herodem tantum terruit, quid tribunal iudicantis? saith one. If Christ in the cratch were so terrible, what will he be on the tribunal?

And all Jerusalem with him] Perhaps to comply and ingratiate with the tyrant (as the Arabians, if their king be sick or lame, they all feign themselves so); or, as homines ad servitutem parati; so Tiberius called the Romans, who gave public thanks for all, even the wicked acts of their emperors (Tacitus); or as fearing some new stirs in the state, as the burnt child dreads the fire.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Had heard these things - Had heard of their coming, and of the star, and of the design of their coming.

He was troubled - Herod had obtained the kingdom by great crimes, and by shedding much blood. He was therefore easily alarmed by any remarkable appearances; and the fact that this star appeared, and that it was regarded as proof that a King of the Jews was born, alarmed him. Besides, it was a common expectation that the Messiah was about to appear, and he feared that his reign was about to come to an end. He therefore began to inquire in what way he might secure his own safety and the permanency of his government.

All Jerusalem - The people of Jerusalem, and particularly the friends of Herod. There were many in Jerusalem to whom the coming of the Messiah would be a matter of joy; but all of Herod’s friends would doubtless be alarmed at his coming.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Through fear of losing his kingdom, he being a foreigner, and had obtained the sovereignty by violence. But why was all Jerusalem to be alarmed at the news of a king so long and so ardently expected? 1. Because the people, well acquainted with the cruelty of Herod, feared a more galling slavery. 2. Through apprehension of riots, and of a revolution, which could not be effected without bloodshed, as the Romans had such strong hold. They had also been so worn down with perpetual wars, that the most miserable servitude, with peace, was to the Jews an object rather of envy than deprecation. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Herod was hardly warm in his kingdom, and had taken Jerusalem by force, and was therefore much concerned to hear that there was a new King born; and supposing him to have been all his life acquainted with the Jewish writings and records, where were prophecies of the Messias under the notion of a King, and not knowing that the kingdom of the Messias was not to be of this world, but being possessed of the ordinary nation of the Jews, that the Messias should restore a temporal kingdom to Israel, he could not but be troubled at the news of one born who was to be the King of the Jews, especially having a confirmation of it by such an extraordinary means, as persons coming from a far country, and being directed to their journey by some extraordinary impulse, upon the sight of a new star, which pointed to Judea, as the place to which it related: Herod upon this might justly think that his newly acquired kingdom would not last long. And though most people are quickly weary of conquerors, yet their former miseries being fresh in their minds, and the renewing of them likely upon a change in the government, it is no wonder if the generality of the people were also troubled.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Herod… was troubled — It was a bold and alarming question put by these new comers. It would have been treason to the reigning king if there were not some superhuman authority in it. No wonder the reigning house is troubled by the rise of another king, armed with an omnipotent authority! All Jerusalem — It was strange that while the Messiah was born not six miles off, Jerusalem gets her first news from strangers coming from, perhaps, a thousand miles distance! And no wonder the city is excited through all its depths.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When; and when, Revised Version. There is a contrast (de) between the eager question of the Magi and the feelings of Herod. Herod the king. In the true text the emphasis is not on the person (as in ver. 1, where the date was all-important), but on the office as then exercised. Tile king visibly regnant is contrasted with him who was born to be King. Heard. Through some of his many sources of information, for "there were spies set everywhere" (Josephus, "Ant.," 15:10. 4). These things; it, Revised Version. Nothing is expressed in the original. He was troubled; perplexed, agitated (etaracyh). Fully in accordance with his jealous and suspicious character. For he had already slain, as actual or possible candidates for the throne, five of the Maccabean princes and princesses, including his favourite wife Mariamne (thus extirpating the direct line) and also his two sons by Mariamne. Josephus ("Ant.," 17:2. 4; cf. Holtzmann) mentions a prediction of the Pharisees towards the end of Herod"s life, that "God had decreed that Herod"s government should cease, and his posterity should be deprived of it." This seems to have a Messianic reference, though used at the time for an intrigue in favour of Pheroras, Herod"s brother. And all Jerusalem. The feminine (here only, pasa Ierosoluma) points to a Hebrew source. The reason for the inhabitants of Jerusalem feeling troubled is generally explained, by their fear, which was in fact only too well justified by experience, that the news would excite Herod to fresh crimes. It is also possible that many would shrink from the changes which the coming of Messiah could not but bring. Present ease, though only comparative, is with the unbelieving preferable to possibilities of the highest blessedness. Mat_21:10 affords both a parallel and a contrast. With him. In this respect Jerusalem was one with Herod. (Joh_1:11)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, That when Christ came into the world to save men, it cast the world into a consternation, and caused wonderful disturbances. Herod is first concerned, and next all Jerusalem with him; Herod for fear of losing his kingdom, Jerusalem for fear of new commotions. Thus Christ, who was the angel’s song, the wise men’s joy, Israel’s consolation, becomes Herod’s fear and Jerusalem’s terror.

But why was Herod thus disturbed? It is true a king is born, but one whose kingdom is not of this world; it was Herod’s false apprehension that was the cause of this perturbation.

Hence we see, that the greatest enmities and bitterest animosities have arisen from causeless fears and groundless jealousies.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. Herod … was troubled. The trouble of Herod is easily accounted for. He was a usurper. This news seemed to portend a legitimate king, a rival for the throne, around whom the Jewish nation would rally. All Jerusalem with him. The capital was in commotion. It was the seat of Herod's power, and his staunchest supporters were there.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

3. ἐταράχθη. Herod, with the instincts of a tyrant, would be alarmed for his throne. His subjects (πᾶσα Ἱεροσόλυμα) had learnt to dread his outbreaks of passion. μετʼ αὐτοῦ not σὺν αὐτῷ, they did not sympathise in his alarm.

πᾶσα Ἱεροσόλυμα. The feminine form which occurs here and possibly ch. Mat 3:5, is remarkable. Elsewhere Ἱεροσόλυμα is a neuter plural. St Matthew uses this form in preference to Ἱερουσαλήμ, except in one passage, ch. Mat 23:37, where see note. St Luke, both in his Gospel and in the Acts and St Paul, each with few exceptions, adopt the Hebraic form in -ήμ. St John has the Greek termination only in his Gospel, the Hebrew only in the Apocalypse.

For a similar variety of gender in the name of a town, cp. Verg. Æn. VII. 682 altum Præneste, with Æn. VIII. 511 Præneste sub alta, and Thuc. II. 99 τόν τε Ἀνθεμοῦντα, with Dem. Phil. II. 20 Ἀνθεμοῦντα ἧς ἀντεποιοῦντο.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. ἐταράχθη] Josephus, Antt. xvii. 2. 4, represents these troubles as raised by the Pharisees, who prophesied a revolution. Ἡρώδῃ μὲν καταπαύσεως ἀρχῆς ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ἐψηφισμένης αὐτῷ τε καὶ γένει τῷ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ. Herod, as a foreigner and usurper, feared one who was born King of the Jews: the people, worn away by seditions and slaughters, feared fresh tumults and wars. There may also be a trace of the popular notion that the times of the Messiah would be ushered in by great tribulations: so Schöttgen, ii. p. 512, from the book Sohar, “quo tempore Sol redemptionis ipsis illucescet, tribulatio post tribulationem et tenebræ post tenebras venient ipsis: dum vero in his versantur, illucescet ipsis Lux Dei S. B.”

πᾶσα Ἱεροσόλυμα] Here and apparently at ch. 3:5, used as a feminine singular. Joseph. Bell. Jud 1:6.10.1, uses ἑάλω Ἱεροσ.… ἁλοῦσα …, but none of these instances are decisive: an ellipsis of ἡ πόλις being possible.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. And Herod the king having heard it, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.]—πᾶσα Ἰεροσόλυμα] see on v. 1. For the feminine, cf. To 14:4.

(P)

3. The stories of the supernatural birth might therefore very well have originated in Palestine1 in the first half of the first century a.d.; the idea of the authors being to explain the divine nature of the Messiah in terms of physical Sonship without any conscious borrowing from non-Jewish sources of speculation. The universal belief in the supernatural birth of gods and heroes, as represented in Judaism by, e.g., Isa 7:14 LXX., would have been quite sufficient to supply the central idea, without any recourse to non-Jewish forms of this speculation.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.