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MATTHEW 2:19 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 2:18Matt 2:20
“But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying. The death of Herod and the third dream-revelation to Joseph signal the transition from exile to return. The herod who threatened the child is dead; the threat has passed; the way is open. Genesis 2:21–23 records the death of those who threatened the original Joseph before his return to his homeland — the pattern of threat-then-return runs through both Joseph stories. The angel's appearance in a dream to Joseph in Egypt is the narrative pivot of the chapter: the protective exile is over, and the call to return is given.

Church Fathers on Matthew 2:19

For the sacrilege which Herod had committed against the Saviour, and his wicked sl aug hter of the infants of the same age, the Divine vengeance hastened his end; and his body, as Josephus relates, was attacked by a strange disease; so that the prophets declared that they were not human ailments, but visitations of Divine vengeance. Filled with mad fury, he gives command to seize and imprison the heads and nobles out of all parts of Judaea; ordering that as soon as ever he…

Euseb · · Eccles. Hist., 1, 8

Many here err from ignorance of history, supposing the Herod who mocked our Lord on the day of His passion, and the Herod whose death is here related, were the same. But the Herod who was then made friends with Pilate was son of this Herod and brother to Archelaus; for Archelaus was banished to Lyons in Gaul, and his father Herod made king in his room, as we read in Josephus.

Jerome · 4th century

See how Jesus Himself, though far above all celestial beings, and coming unchanged to our nature, shunned not that ordinance of humanity which He had taken on Him, but was obedient to the dispositions of His Father made known by Angels. For even by Angels is declared to Joseph the retreat of the Son into Egypt, so ordained of the Father, and His return again to Judaea.

Pseudo- · · Dionysius, Dion. De Cael. Hierarch. 4
Read all 10 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 2:19 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy