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MATTHEW 2:22 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 2:21Matt 2:23
“But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:”
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. The fourth and final dream of the chapter redirects Joseph from Judea (where Archelaus, the most brutal of Herod's sons, was now ruling) to Galilee. The fear of Archelaus was historically well-founded — he was deposed and exiled by Rome within a decade for his violence. The divine guidance through dreams has been consistent throughout the chapter: not merely directing the family toward safety but directing them toward the geography that will shape Jesus' entire ministry. Galilee, with its mixed Jewish-Gentile population and its reputation for being the far end of the Jewish world, is where the light to the nations (Isaiah 9:1–2) will first shine.

Church Fathers on Matthew 2:22

Joseph was not disobedient to the angelic warning, but 'he arose, and took the young Child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.'

Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation

patra of Jerusalem, Herod, who was afterwards tetrarch, and Philip. The three first were put to death by Herod; and after his death, Archelaus seized the throne by occasion of his father’s will, and the question of the succession was carried before Aug ustus Caesar. After some delay, he made a distribution of the whole of Herod’s dominions in accordance with the Senate’s advice. To Archelaus he assigned one half, consisting of Idumaea and Judaea, with the title of tetrarch,…

Leo the Great · 5th century

Here is may be asked, How then could his parents go up every year of Christ’s childhood to Jerusalem, as Luke relates, if fear of Archelaus now prevented them from approaching it? This difficulty is easily solved. At the festival they might escape notice in the crowd, and by returning soon, where in ordinary times they might be afraid to live. So they neither became irreligious by neglecting the festival, nor notorious by dwelling continually in Jerusalem.

Augustine · 4th century · De Con. Evan. ii. 10
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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