“And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him. The second of four dream-revelations in this chapter (verses 12, 13, 19, 22). Joseph again receives the divine communication through dreams — the same vehicle as the patriarch Joseph in Genesis 37–41, whose dreams also led to Egypt and whose story of exile and return Matthew is consciously echoing. The command to flee to Egypt with the child and his mother is urgent: Herod is about to act. The one who will save his people from their sins must first be saved from the paranoia of a client king. Isaiah 49:24–25 asks who can rescue the prey from the powerful — the answer is the God who sends angels to warn in dreams.
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