Flight into Egypt

Biblical Text

This event is recorded in Matthew 2:13-23. After the Magi had departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. The angel warned him that Herod would seek the young child to destroy him and told him to take the child and his mother, Mary, and flee into Egypt. Joseph set out by night and remained in Egypt until the death of Herod.

Meanwhile, Herod, realizing that he had been deceived by the Magi, had all the male children two years old and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity put to death (Matthew 2:16). After Herod died, the angel appeared to Joseph again in a dream and told him to return to the land of Israel. When Joseph heard that Archelaus, Herod's son, was reigning over Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then, warned in a dream, he settled in Nazareth in the region of Galilee. The account does not appear in the other Gospels.

Background

At the time, Egypt was a Roman province. Large Jewish communities lived in Alexandria and elsewhere, making it a plausible place of refuge for someone fleeing Judea. In the Old Testament, too, Egypt is the land to which Jacob's family went down to escape famine.

The death of Herod the Great is commonly dated to around 4 BC, though other views exist. Archelaus inherited Judea, Samaria, and Idumea from his father but was deposed by Rome in AD 6. The form Aegup (애굽), used in the Korean title of this article, is the name for Egypt in Korean Bibles of the Revised Version (Gaeyeok) tradition. The text does not state how long the family stayed in Egypt or what route they took.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In this passage Matthew states three times that words of the Old Testament were fulfilled.

• Hosea 11:1: God calls his son out of Egypt—"Out of Egypt have I called my son" (Matthew 2:15).
• Jeremiah 31:15: Rachel weeps in Ramah for her lost children (2:17-18).
• "He shall be called a Nazarene": applied to Jesus' settling in Nazareth (2:23).

Hosea 11:1 originally refers to the people of Israel brought out of Egypt in the Exodus. Matthew's application of the verse to Jesus is commonly interpreted as showing that Jesus is the true Son who relives the history of Israel.

Many interpreters also read Jesus in parallel with Moses, because the structure of this event resembles the story of Moses, who survived when Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew male infants killed. In addition, the wording of Exodus 4:19 ("for all the men are dead which sought thy life") closely resembles that of Matthew 2:20 ("for they are dead which sought the young child's life"). Some also note that Joseph, guided by dreams and going down to Egypt, recalls Joseph of Genesis. The episode is often cited as a classic example of how the New Testament reads the Old Testament's messianic prophecies.

Interpretation and Issues

• Historicity: The massacre of the infants of Bethlehem is not mentioned in extrabiblical sources such as Josephus. Some scholars regard it as a narrative composed for theological purposes. Others argue that, because Bethlehem was a small village, the number of children killed would not have been large, and that the account is consistent with Herod's cruelty as reported in the historical sources.
• Relationship to Luke: Luke 2:39 records that after the rites of purification the family soon returned to Nazareth, so how the two accounts fit together is debated. Many harmonizations hold that the visit of the Magi and the flight took place while the family was still staying in Bethlehem after presenting the child at the Temple.
• The quotation in 2:23: No Old Testament verse contains these exact words. Various explanations have therefore been proposed, including one that links the saying to the "Branch" (Hebrew netzer) of Isaiah 11:1.
• Later traditions: The apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew contains stories such as that of a palm tree bending down to offer its fruit to Mary during the journey. In Egypt, the Coptic Church maintains sites where the Holy Family is said to have stayed. These are later traditions not found in the biblical text.
• Church calendar: Western churches such as the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion observe December 28 as a feast commemorating the infants killed in the massacre.

In the Korean Church

In churches that follow a lectionary based on the church year, this passage is read as the Gospel lesson for the First Sunday after Christmas in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary. In sermons around Christmas it is frequently treated under the theme of God's protection in the midst of danger. Because Jesus began his life as a refugee, the passage is also used to encourage concern for refugees and migrants.