matthew 2:16 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. - Free Bible Online
matthew 2:16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its environs, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the magi.
16. Then Herod, &c.--As Deborah sang of the mother of Sisera: "She
looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his
chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? Have
they not sped?" so Herod wonders that his messengers, with pious zeal,
are not hastening with the news that all is ready to receive him as a
worshipper. What can be keeping them? Have they missed their way? Has
any disaster befallen them? At length his patience is exhausted. He
makes his inquiries and finds they are already far beyond his reach on
their way home.
when he saw that he was mocked--was trifled with.
of the wise men--No, Herod, thou art not mocked of the wise men, but
of a Higher than they. He that sitteth in the heavens doth laugh at
thee; the Lord hath thee in derision. He disappointeth the devices of
the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He
taketh the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward
is carried headlong
(Ps 2:4;
Job 5:12, 13).
That blessed Babe shall die indeed, but not by thy hand. As He
afterwards told that son of thine--as cunning and as unscrupulous as
thyself--when the Pharisees warned Him to depart, for Herod would
seek to kill Him--"Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast
out devils, and I do cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I
shall be perfected. Nevertheless I must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and
the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of
Jerusalem"
(Lu 13:32, 33).
Bitter satire!
was exceeding wroth--To be made a fool of is what none like, and proud
kings cannot stand. Herod burns with rage and is like a wild bull in a
net. So he
sent forth--a band of hired murderers.
and slew all the children--male children.
that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof--environs.
from two years old and under, according to the time which he had
diligently--carefully.
inquired of the wise men--In this ferocious step Herod was like
himself--as crafty as cruel. He takes a large sweep, not to miss his
mark. He thinks this will surely embrace his victim. And so it had, if
He had been there. But He is gone. Heaven and earth shall sooner pass
away than thou shalt have that Babe into thy hands. Therefore, Herod,
thou must be content to want Him: to fill up the cup of thy bitter
mortifications, already full enough--until thou die not less of a broken
heart than of a loathsome and excruciating disease. Why, ask skeptics
and skeptical critics, is not this massacre, if it really occurred,
recorded by JOSEPHUS, who is minute enough in detailing the cruelties of
Herod? To this the answer is not difficult. If we consider how small a
town Bethlehem was, it is not likely there would be many male children
in it from two years old and under; and when we think of the number of
fouler atrocities which JOSEPHUS
has recorded of him, it is unreasonable
to make anything of his silence on this.
JFB.
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