Vv. 13-15. Flight to Egypt. Ver. 13. φαίνεται: assuming that this ων cor- rect reading, the flight to pt is represented as following close on the departure of the Magi; the historic present, vividly introducing one scene
an . A_ subjective state of anxiety is here also to be presumed. Whence arising we can only conjecture. Did the Magi give a hint, mentioning Herod’s name in a significant manner ? Be that as it may, Joseph also gets the necessary direction.—'Eyep@els . . . dls Alyvrrov: Egypt—near, friendly, and the refuge of Israel’s ancestors in days of old, if also their house of bon — Be, take with a view to taking
care of (cf. John i. 11, ‘‘ His own re- ceived Him not,” παρέλαβον); benigne, Fritzsche—twg . . . σοί: either gene- rally, till I give thee further orders (Fritzsche) : or till I tell thee to return
12---17.
τῆς Στελευτῆς Ηρώδου"
διὰ τοῦ προφήτου, μας “Εξ Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν pov.”
16. Τότε Ἡρώδης, ἰδὼν ὅτι
λίαν, καὶ ἀποστείλας ”
καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς °
τὸν χρόνον ὃν ἠκρίβωσε παρὰ τῶν μάγων.
Gen. xxx. 2. only. Cf. Acts xxiv. 27.
1 SSBCD, etc., omit τον.
(Meyer, Schanz); sense the same; the time of such new direction is left vague (ἂν with sub.).—péAdeu γὰρ: gives reason of the command.—rod απολέσαι αὐτό: Herod’s first purpose was to kill Mary’s child alone. He afterwards killed many to make sure of the one. The genitive of the infinitive to express purpose belongs to comparatively late Greek. It occurs constantly in the Sept. and in N. T.—Ver. 14. 6 δὲ ἐγερθεὶς: Joseph promptly executes the command, νυκτός, before the day, indicating alarm as well as obedience. The words of the com- mand in ver. 13 are repeated by the evangelist in ver. 14 to emphasise the obedient spirit of Joseph.—Ver. 15. kal ἣν ἐκεῖ, etc.: the stay in Egypt cannot have been long, only a few months, probably, before the death of Herod (Νδεσεπ).- ἵνα πληρωθῃ: another pro- phetic reference, this time proceeding directly from the evangelist; Hosea xi. I, given after the Hebrew, not the Sept.,
which for555) has τέκνα αὐτοῦ. The oracle
states a historical fact, and can therefore only be a typical prophecy. The event in the life of the infant Jesus may seem an insignificant fulfilment. Not so did it appear to the evangelist. For him all events in the life of the Christ possessed transcendent significance. Was it an event at all? criticism asks. Did the fact suggest the prophetic reference, or did the prophecy create the fact? In reply, be it said that the narratives in this chapter of the Infancy all hang together. If any one of them occurred, all might occur. The main question is, is Herod’s solicitude credible? If so, then the caution of the Magi, the flight to Egypt, the massacre at Bethlehem, the return at the tyrant’s death to Nazareth, are all equally credible.
Vv. 16-18. The massacre. Τότε: ominous then. When he was certain that the Magi were not going to come back to report what they had found at