Matthew · 23 verses

Matthew 2

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

The star leads the Magi to the very house, while Herod sends them on with worship in his mouth and murder in his mind. It is an unusually efficient piece of celestial navigation, and a remarkably poor royal secret.

A star over the housevv. 1–12

Jesus is born in Bethlehem in Judea, and Magi from the east arrive in Jerusalem asking for the King of the Jews. Herod is disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him; the chapter gives no reason for the city's shared alarm. The chief priests and scribes name Bethlehem, and Herod privately asks the Magi when the star appeared before sending them to search for the Child. He says he too wishes to worship Him. The star goes ahead of the Magi and stands over the place where the Child is, at which the Magi rejoice greatly. They find Jesus with Mary, worship Him, and present gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Warned in a dream, they return to their country by another route, leaving Herod with a plan that has not gone according to plan.

Egypt by nightvv. 13–18

After the Magi leave, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and orders him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt, because Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him. Joseph gets up at night and goes. Herod, discovering that the Magi have outwitted him, responds with rage and orders the death of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who are two years old and under. The chapter then turns to Jeremiah and to Rachel in Ramah: a voice of weeping, with no comfort offered because the children are no more.

The safer districtvv. 19–23

After Herod dies, the angel appears again to Joseph in Egypt, sending him with Jesus and Mary to the land of Israel. Joseph goes, but learns that Archelaus is reigning in Judea in place of Herod and is afraid to go there. Another dream redirects him to Galilee, where he settles in Nazareth. The chapter ends with a town becoming the destination and a name becoming the description: Jesus will be called a Nazarene.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

Matt 2:1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
Matt 2:2asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Matt 2:3When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
Matt 2:4And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
Matt 2:5“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
Matt 2:6‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”
Matt 2:7Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.
Matt 2:8And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”
Matt 2:9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was.
Matt 2:10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight.
Matt 2:11On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Matt 2:12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.
Matt 2:13When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”
Matt 2:14So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt,
Matt 2:15where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Matt 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
Matt 2:17Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
Matt 2:18“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Matt 2:19After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.
Matt 2:20“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”
Matt 2:21So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel.
Matt 2:22But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
Matt 2:23and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

01 — Also here

Who else the chapter reaches

Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

Judahperson

Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 311 passages were voted onto 22 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

6 Ezekiel 34:23–25I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.
6 Micah 5:2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
18 Jeremiah 31:15This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
15 Hosea 11:1When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.
2 Numbers 24:17I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.
11 Isaiah 60:6Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
2 Jeremiah 23:5Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
11 Psalms 72:10May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
6 John 7:42Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
6 Isaiah 9:6–7For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
2 Revelation 22:16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
6 Genesis 49:10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
10 Psalms 105:3Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
6 Revelation 11:15Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
1 Luke 2:4–7So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.
11 Luke 2:16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.

Onward

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