Saint Joseph Family Edition of the The New American Bible Revised Edition Translated from the Original Languages with Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources AUTHORIZED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES of the CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE and APPROVED BY THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE of the UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS — WITH MANY HELPS FOR BIBLE READING — Vatican II Constitution on Divine Revelation, Learning about Your Bible, Bible Dictionary, Liturgical Index of Sunday Readings, Doctrinal Bible Index, Inspiring Illustrations, Photographs and Maps of the Holy Land LARGE, READABLE TYPEFACE CATHOLIC BOOK PUBLISHING CORP. NEW JERSEY
Transcript
Saint Joseph Family Edition of the
The New American BibleRevised Edition
Translated from the Original Languageswith Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources
AUTHORIZED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEESof the
CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINEand
APPROVED BY THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEEof the
UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
— WITH MANY HELPS FOR BIBLE READING —Vatican II Constitution on Divine Revelation, Learning about Your Bible,
Bible Dictionary, Liturgical Index of Sunday Readings,Doctrinal Bible Index, Inspiring Illustrations,
Photographs and Maps of the Holy Land
LARGE, READABLE TYPEFACE
CATHOLIC BOOK PUBLISHING CORP.NEW JERSEY
them than any of Saul’s other officers, andhis name was held in great esteem.
CHAPTER 19Persecution of David. 1 Saul dis-
cussed his intention to kill David with hisson Jonathan and with all his servants.But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was veryfond of David, a 2 told him: “My father Saulis trying to kill you. Therefore, please be onyour guard tomorrow morning; stay out ofsight and remain in hiding. 3 I, however,will go out and stand beside my father inthe countryside where you are, and willspeak to him about you. If I learn any-thing, I will let you know.”
4 Jonathan then spoke well of David tohis father Saul, telling him: “The kingshould not harm his servant David. He hasnot harmed you, but has helped you verymuch by his deeds.* 5 When he took his lifein his hands and killed the Philistine, andthe LORD won a great victory for all Israel,you were glad to see it. Why, then, shouldyou become guilty of shedding innocentblood by killing David without cause?” b
6 Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore,“As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed.” 7 So Jonathan summoned David andrepeated the whole conversation to him. Hethen brought David to Saul, and Davidserved him as before.
David Escapes from Saul. 8 Whenwar broke out again, David went out tofight against the Philistines and inflictedsuch a great defeat upon them that theyfled from him. 9 c Then an evil spirit fromthe LORD came upon Saul as he was sittingin his house with spear in hand whileDavid was playing the harp nearby. 10 Saultried to pin David to the wall with thespear, but David eluded Saul, and the spearstruck only the wall, while David got awaysafely.
11 The same night, Saul sent messengersto David’s house to guard it, planning tokill him in the morning. David’s wifeMichal informed him, “Unless you run foryour life tonight, tomorrow you will bekilled.”* 12 Then Michal let David downthrough a window, and he made his escapein safety. d 13 Michal took the teraphim*and laid it in the bed, putting a tangle ofgoat’s hair at its head and covering it with
a blanket. e 14 When Saul sent officers toarrest David, she said, “He is sick.” 15 Saul,however, sent the officers back to see Davidand commanded them, “Bring him up tome in his bed, that I may kill him.” 16 Butwhen the messengers entered, they foundthe teraphim in the bed, with the tangle ofgoat’s hair at its head. 17 Saul askedMichal: “Why did you lie to me like this?You have helped my enemy to get away!”Michal explained to Saul: “He threatenedme, saying ‘Let me go or I will kill you.’ ”
David and Saul in Ramah. 18 WhenDavid got safely away, he went to Samuelin Ramah, informing him of all that Saulhad done to him. Then he and Samuel wentto stay in Naioth.* 19 When Saul was toldthat David was at Naioth in Ramah, 20 hesent officers to arrest David. But whenthey saw the band of prophets presidedover by Samuel in a prophetic state, thespirit of God came upon them and they toofell into the prophetic ecstasy. f 21 Informedof this, Saul sent other messengers, whoalso fell into the prophetic ecstasy. For thethird time Saul sent messengers, but theytoo fell into a prophetic ecstasy.
Saul Among the Prophets. 22 FinallySaul went to Ramah himself. Arriving atthe large cistern in Secu, he asked, “Whereare Samuel and David?” Someone an-swered, “At Naioth in Ramah.” 23 As hewalked from there to Naioth in Ramah, thespirit of God came upon him also, and hecontinued on, acting like a prophet until hereached Naioth in Ramah. 24 Then he, too,stripped himself of his garments andremained in a prophetic state in the pres-ence of Samuel;* all that day and night he
1 SAMUEL 19 384 Persecution of David
a. [19:1] 1 Sm 18:1; 20:1–3.—b. [19:5] 1 Sm 17:55–56; Dt 19:10;Ps 119:109.—c. [19:9–10] 1 Sm 16:14; 18:10–11.—d. [19:12] Jos2:15; Acts 9:25; 2 Cor 11:33.—e. [19:13] Gn 31:19; Jgs 17:5; 18:14, 18,20; Ez 21:26.—f. [19:20] 1 Sm 10:5–6, 10; Nm 11:25.
19:4 Jonathan reminds Saul that David has served him loy-ally and done nothing to earn a traitor’s death. Cf. 24:18–20.
19:11 This story may have originally followed 18:29, plac-ing the episode of David’s escape on the night of his marriagewith Michal.
19:13 Teraphim: a life-sized image of a household god inhuman form; cf. also note on Gn 31:19. Elsewhere in theDeuteronomistic History, use of teraphim is condemned(15:23; 2 Kgs 23:24).
19:18 Naioth: meaning “the pastures.” This place appearsonly in chaps. 19—20 and is associated with Ramah.
19:24 In the presence of Samuel: this verse, which disagrees with 15:35, is further evidence of the diverse originsof these accounts. “Is Saul also among the prophets?”:
CHAPTER 251 In the tenth month of the ninth year of
Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of themonth, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,and his whole army advanced againstJerusalem, encamped around it, and builtsiege walls on every side. 2 The siege of thecity continued until the eleventh year ofZedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the month,*when famine had gripped the city, and thepeople of the land had no more food, 4 thecity walls were breached. That night, allthe soldiers came to the gate between thetwo walls near the king’s garden (theChaldeans had the city surrounded), whilethe king went toward the Arabah.* 5 Butthe Chaldean army pursued the king andovertook him in the desert near Jericho,abandoned by his whole army. 6 The kingwas therefore arrested and brought toRiblah to the king of Babylon, who pro-nounced sentence on him. 7 They slewZedekiah’s sons before his eyes; then theyput out his eyes, bound him with fetters,and brought him to Babylon.
8 On the seventh day of the fifth month(this was in the nineteenth year ofNebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon), Nebu-zaradan, captain of the bodyguard, came toJerusalem as the agent of the king ofBabylon. 9 He burned the house of theLORD, the house of the king, and all thehouses of Jerusalem (every noble house);he destroyed them by fire. a 10 The Chaldeantroops who were with the captain of theguard tore down the walls that surroundedJerusalem, 11 and Nebuzaradan, captain ofthe guard, led into exile the last of thearmy remaining in the city, and those whohad deserted* to the king of Babylon, andthe last of the commoners. 12 But some ofthe country’s poor the captain of the guardleft behind as vinedressers and farmers.
13 The bronze columns that belonged tothe house of the LORD, and the stands andthe bronze sea in the house of the LORD, theChaldeans broke into pieces; they carriedaway the bronze to Babylon. b 14 They tookalso the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, thecups and all the bronze articles used forservice. c 15 The fire pans and the bowlsthat were of solid gold or silver the captainof the guard also carried off. d 16 The twocolumns, the one bronze sea, and the
stands, which Solomon had made for thehouse of the LORD—the weight in bronze ofall these articles was never calculated. e
17 Each of the columns was eighteen cubitshigh; a bronze capital three cubits highsurmounted each column, and a nettingwith pomegranates encircled the capital,all of bronze; and they were duplicated onthe other column, on the netting. f
18 The captain of the guard also tookSeraiah, the chief priest, Zephaniah, anassistant priest, and the three doorkeepers.19 And from the city he took one officer whowas a commander of soldiers, five courtiersin the personal service of the king whowere still in the city, the scribe in charge ofthe army who mustered the people of theland,* and sixty of the people of the landstill remaining in the city. 20 The captain ofthe guard, Nebuzaradan, arrested theseand brought them to the king of Babylon atRiblah, and 21 the king of Babylon struckthem down and put them to death inRiblah, in the land of Hamath. And thusJudah went into exile from their nativesoil.
Governorship of Gedaliah. 22 g As forthe people whom he had allowed to remainin the land of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar,king of Babylon, appointed Gedaliah, sonof Ahikam, son of Shaphan, over them. 23 Hearing that the king of Babylon hadappointed Gedaliah over them, all thearmy commanders and the troops came tohim at Mizpah: Ishmael, son of Nethaniah,Johanan, son of Kareah, Seraiah, son ofTanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaaza-niah, son of the Maakite, each with histroops. 24 Gedaliah gave the commandersand their troops his oath. He said to them,“Do not be afraid of the Chaldean officials.
25:3 Ninth day of the month: the text does not say whichmonth, but Jer 39:2 and 52:6 set the breaching of the citywalls in the fourth month; in later times that was the date of afast commemorating the event (cf. Zec 8:19). People of theland: the influential citizens (see note on 11:14); even they,whose resources went beyond those of the ordinary people,were starving.
25:4 The Hebrew text of this verse is missing some words.The present translation is based on a likely reconstruction.
25:11 Those who had deserted: perhaps on the advice ofJeremiah; cf. Jer 38:2–3.
25:19 People of the land: see note on 11:14.
Remain in the country and serve the kingof Babylon, so that all will be well withyou.”
25 But in the seventh month Ishmael, sonof Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of royaldescent, came with ten others, attackedGedaliah and killed him, along with theJudahites and Chaldeans who were inMizpah with him. 26 Then all the people,great and small, left with the army com-manders and went to Egypt for fear of theChaldeans.
Release of Jehoiachin. 27 In the thir-ty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin,
king of Judah, on the twenty-seventh dayof the twelfth month, Evil-merodach, kingof Babylon, in the inaugural year of hisown reign, raised up Jehoiachin, king ofJudah, from prison. 28 He spoke kindly tohim and gave him a throne higher thanthat of the other kings who were with himin Babylon. 29 Jehoiachin took off hisprison garb; he ate regularly in the king’spresence as long as he lived; 30 and for hisallowance the king granted him a regularallowance, in fixed daily amounts, for aslong as he lived.
Introduction 491 1 CHRONICLES
THE FIRST BOOK OF CHRONICLESThe Greek title, paraleipomena, means “things omitted,” or “passed over” (i.e., in the
accounts found in Samuel and Kings). The Books of Chronicles, however, are much more than asupplement to Samuel and Kings; a comparison of the two histories discloses striking differencesof scope and purpose. The Books of Chronicles record in some detail the lengthy span (some fivehundred fifty years) from the death of King Saul to the return from the exile. Unlike today’s historywriting, wherein factual accuracy and impartiality of judgment are the norm, biblical history, withrare exceptions, was less concerned with reporting in precise detail all the facts of a situation thanwith drawing out the meaning of those facts. Biblical history was thus primarily interpretative, andits purpose was to disclose the action of the living God in human affairs. For this reason we speakof it as “sacred history.”
These characteristics are apparent when we examine the primary objective of the Chronicler(the conventional designation for the anonymous author) in compiling his work. Given the situa-tion which confronted the Jewish people at this time (the end of the fifth century B.C.), theChronicler realized that Israel’s political greatness was a thing of the past. Yet, for the Chronicler,Israel’s past held the key to the people’s future. In particular, the Chronicler aimed to establish anddefend the legitimate claims of the Davidic monarchy in Israel’s history, and to underscore the sta-tus of Jerusalem and its divinely established Temple worship as the center of religious life for theJewish people. If Judaism was to survive and prosper, it would have to heed the lessons of the pastand devoutly serve its God in the place where he had chosen to dwell, the Temple in Jerusalem.From the Chronicler’s point of view, the reigns of David and Solomon were the ideal to which allsubsequent rule in Judah must aspire. The Chronicler was much more interested in David’s religiousand cultic influence than in his political power, however. He saw David’s (and Solomon’s) primaryimportance as deriving rather from their roles in the establishment of Jerusalem and its Temple asthe center of the true worship of the Lord. Furthermore, he presents David as the one who pre-scribed the Temple’s elaborate ritual (which, in point of fact, only gradually evolved in the SecondTemple period) and who appointed the Levites to supervise the liturgical services there.
The Chronicler used a variety of sources in writing his history. Besides the canonical Books ofGenesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, and Ruth, and especially the Books of Samuel and Kings (specif-ically 1 Sm 31—2 Kgs 25), he cites the titles of many other works which have not come down tous, e.g., “The Books of the Kings of Israel,” or “The Books of the Kings of Israel and Judah,” and
PSALMS 23 746 The Lord, Shepherd and Host
PSALM 23*The Lord, Shepherd and Host
1 A psalm of David.
IThe LORD is my shepherd;*
there is nothing I lack. a
2 In green pastures he makes me lie down;to still waters he leads me;
3 b he restores my soul.He guides me along right paths*
for the sake of his name.4 Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, c
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;your rod and your staff comfort me.
II5*You set a table before me
in front of my enemies;*You anoint my head with oil;* d
my cup overflows. e
6 Indeed, goodness and mercy* will pursue me
all the days of my life;I will dwell in the house of the LORD f
for endless days.
PSALM 24*The Glory of God in Procession
to Zion1 A psalm of David.
IThe earth is the LORD’s and all it holds, a
the world and those who dwell in it.2 For he founded it on the seas,
established it over the rivers. b
II3 Who may go up the mountain of the
LORD? c
Who can stand in his holy place?4*“The clean of hand and pure of heart,
who has not given his soul to uselessthings,
what is vain.5 He will receive blessings from the LORD,
and justice from his saving God.6 Such is the generation that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God ofJacob.” Selah
III7 Lift up your heads, O gates;*
be lifted, you ancient portals,that the king of glory may enter. d
8 Who is this king of glory?The LORD, strong and mighty,the LORD, mighty in war.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;rise up, you ancient portals,that the king of glory may enter.
10 Who is this king of glory?The LORD of hosts, he is the king of
glory. Selah
PSALM 25*
Confident Prayer for Forgiveness and Guidance
1 Of David.
ITo you, O LORD, I lift up my soul,
2 a my God, in you I trust;do not let me be disgraced; b
Psalm 23 God’s loving care for the psalmist is portrayedunder the figures of a shepherd for the flock (Ps 23:1–4) and ahost’s generosity toward a guest (Ps 23:5–6). The imagery ofboth sections is drawn from traditions of the exodus (Is 40:11;49:10; Jer 31:10).
23:1 My shepherd: God as good shepherd is common inboth the Old Testament and the New Testament (Ez 34:11–16;Jn 10:11–18).
23:3 Right paths: connotes “right way” and “way of righ-teousness.”
23:5 You set a table before me: this expression occurs inan exodus context in Ps 78:19. In front of my enemies: myenemies see that I am God’s friend and guest. Oil: a perfumedointment made from olive oil, used especially at banquets (Ps104:15; Mt 26:7; Lk 7:37, 46; Jn 12:2).
23:6 Goodness and mercy: the blessings of God’scovenant with Israel.
Psalm 24 The Psalm apparently accompanied a ceremonyof the entry of God (invisibly enthroned upon the ark), fol-lowed by the people, into the Temple. The Temple commemo-rated the creation of the world (Ps 24:1–2). The people had toaffirm their fidelity before being admitted into the sanctuary(Ps 24:3–6; cf. Ps 15). A choir identifies the approaching Godand invites the very Temple gates to bow down in obeisance(Ps 24:7–10).
24:4–5 Lit., “the one whose hands are clean.” The singularis used for the entire class of worshipers.
24:7, 9 Lift up your heads, O gates . . . you ancient por-tals: the literal meaning would involve disassembly of thegates, since the portcullis (a gate that moves up and down)was unknown in the ancient world. Extra-biblical parallelsmight also suggest a full personification of the circle of gatetowers: they are like a council of elders, bowed down and anx-ious, awaiting the return of the army and the great warriorgone to battle.
Psalm 25 A lament. Each verse begins with a successive let-ter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic Psalms are often aseries of statements only loosely connected. The psalmistmixes ardent pleas (Ps 25:1–2, 16–22) with expressions ofconfidence in God who forgives and guides.
Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. Forthe husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church,he himself the savior of the body. —Ephesians 5:22-23
I. THE INFANCY NARRATIVE*
CHAPTER 1
The Genealogy of Jesus. 1 a Thebook of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, theson of David, the son of Abraham.*
2 b Abraham became the father of Isaac,Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the fatherof Judah and his brothers. c 3 Judahbecame the father of Perez and Zerah,whose mother was Tamar. d Perez becamethe father of Hezron, Hezron the father ofRam, 4 e Ram the father of Amminadab.Amminadab became the father of Nah-shon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 f Salmon the father of Boaz, whose moth-er was Rahab. Boaz became the father ofObed, whose mother was Ruth. Obedbecame the father of Jesse, 6 g Jesse thefather of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon,whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. 7 * h Solomon became the father of Reho-boam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah,Abijah the father of Asaph. 8 Asaph be-came the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehosh-
aphat the father of Joram, Joram thefather of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah became thefather of Jotham, Jotham the father ofAhaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah became the father of Man-asseh, Manasseh the father of Amos,*Amos the father of Josiah. 11 Josiahbecame the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylon-ian exile.
12 i After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniahbecame the father of Shealtiel, Shealtielthe father of Zerubbabel, 13 Zerubbabel thefather of Abiud. Abiud became the fatherof Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok becamethe father of Achim, Achim the father ofEliud, 15 Eliud the father of Eleazar.Eleazar became the father of Matthan,Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 Jacob thefather of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Ofher was born Jesus who is called theMessiah.
17 Thus the total number of generationsfrom Abraham to David is fourteen gener-ations; from David to the Babylonianexile, fourteen generations; from theBabylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteengenerations.*
1:1—2:23 The infancy narrative forms the prologue of thegospel. Consisting of a genealogy and five stories, it presentsthe coming of Jesus as the climax of Israel’s history, and theevents of his conception, birth, and early childhood as the ful-fillment of Old Testament prophecy. The genealogy is proba-bly traditional material that Matthew edited. In its first twosections (1:2–11) it was drawn from Ru 4:18–22; 1 Chr 1—3.Except for Jechoniah, Shealtiel, and Zerubbabel, none of thenames in the third section (1:12–16) is found in any OldTestament genealogy. While the genealogy shows the conti-nuity of God’s providential plan from Abraham on, discontinu-ity is also present. The women Tamar (1:3), Rahab and Ruth(1:5), and the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba (1:6), bore their sonsthrough unions that were in varying degrees strange andunexpected. These “irregularities” culminate in the supreme“irregularity” of the Messiah’s birth of a virgin mother; the ageof fulfillment is inaugurated by a creative act of God.
Drawing upon both biblical tradition and Jewish stories,Matthew portrays Jesus as reliving the Exodus experience ofIsrael and the persecutions of Moses. His rejection by his ownpeople and his passion are foreshadowed by the troubled reac-tion of “all Jerusalem” to the question of the magi who areseeking the “newborn king of the Jews” (2:2–3), and byHerod’s attempt to have him killed. The magi who do himhomage prefigure the Gentiles who will accept the preachingof the gospel. The infancy narrative proclaims who Jesus is,the savior of his people from their sins (1:21), Emmanuel inwhom “God is with us” (1:23), and the Son of God (2:15).
1:1 The Son of David, the son of Abraham: two linksof the genealogical chain are singled out. Although the later,David is placed first in order to emphasize that Jesus is theroyal Messiah. The mention of Abraham may be due notonly to his being the father of the nation Israel but toMatthew’s interest in the universal scope of Jesus’ mission;cf. Gn 22:18 “. . . . in your descendants all the nations of theearth shall find blessing.”
1:7 The successor of Abijah was not Asaph but Asa (see 1 Chr 3:10). Some textual witnesses read the latter name;however, Asaph is better attested. Matthew may havedeliberately introduced the psalmist Asaph into the geneal-ogy (and in v. 10 the prophet Amos) in order to show thatJesus is the fulfillment not only of the promises made toDavid (see 2 Sm 7) but of all the Old Testament.
1:10 Amos: some textual witnesses read Amon, whowas the actual successor of Manasseh (see 1 Chr 3:14).
1:17 Matthew is concerned with fourteen generations,probably because fourteen is the numerical value of theHebrew letters forming the name of David. In the secondsection of the genealogy (vv. 6b–11), three kings of Judah,Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, have been omitted (see 1 Chr3:11–12), so that there are fourteen generations in that sec-tion. Yet the third (vv. 12–16) apparently has only thirteen.Since Matthew here emphasizes that each section has four-teen, it is unlikely that the thirteen of the last was due to hisoversight. Some scholars suggest that Jesus who is calledthe Messiah (v. 16b) doubles the final member of thechain: Jesus, born within the family of David, opens up thenew age as Messiah, so that in fact there are fourteen gen-erations in the third section. This is perhaps too subtle, andthe hypothesis of a slip not on the part of Matthew but of alater scribe seems likely. On Messiah, see note on Lk 2:11.
The Birth of Jesus.* 18 Now this ishow the birth of Jesus Christ came about.When his mother Mary was betrothed toJoseph,* but before they lived together, shewas found with child through the holySpirit. 19 Joseph her husband, since he wasa righteous man,* yet unwilling to exposeher to shame, decided to divorce her quiet-ly. 20 j Such was his intention when, be-hold, the angel of the Lord* appeared tohim in a dream and said, “Joseph, son ofDavid, do not be afraid to take Mary yourwife into your home. For it is through theholy Spirit that this child has been con-ceived in her. 21 She will bear a son and youare to name him Jesus,* because he willsave his people from their sins.” 22 All thistook place to fulfill what the Lord had saidthrough the prophet:23*k “Behold, the virgin shall be with child
and bear a son,and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means “God is with us.” 24 WhenJoseph awoke, he did as the angel of theLord had commanded him and took hiswife into his home. 25 He had no relationswith her until she bore a son,* and henamed him Jesus. l
CHAPTER 2The Visit of the Magi.* 1 When Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in thedays of King Herod,* behold, magi fromthe east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying,“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?We saw his star* at its rising and havecome to do him homage.” a 3 When KingHerod heard this, he was greatly troubled,and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Assemblingall the chief priests and the scribes of thepeople, he inquired of them where theMessiah was to be born.* 5 b They said tohim, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus ithas been written through the prophet:6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among therulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,who is to shepherd my people
Israel.’ ”7 Then Herod called the magi secretly andascertained from them the time of thestar’s appearance. 8 He sent them toBethlehem and said, “Go and search dili-gently for the child. When you have foundhim, bring me word, that I too may go anddo him homage.” 9 After their audiencewith the king they set out. And behold, thestar that they had seen at its rising preced-ed them, until it came and stopped over
The Visit of the Magi 17 MATTHEW 2
j. [1:20] 2:13, 19; Lk 1:35.—k. [1:23] Is 7:14 LXX.—l. [1:25] Lk2:7.—a. [2:2] Nm 24:17.—b. [2:5–6] Mi 5:1 / 2 Sm 5:2.
1:18–25 This first story of the infancy narrative spells outwhat is summarily indicated in v. 16. The virginal conceptionof Jesus is the work of the Spirit of God. Joseph’s decision todivorce Mary is overcome by the heavenly command that hetake her into his home and accept the child as his own. Thenatural genealogical line is broken but the promises to Davidare fulfilled; through Joseph’s adoption the child belongs tothe family of David. Matthew sees the virginal conception asthe fulfillment of Is 7:14.
1:18 Betrothed to Joseph: betrothal was the first part ofthe marriage, constituting a man and woman as husband andwife. Subsequent infidelity was considered adultery. Thebetrothal was followed some months later by the husband’staking his wife into his home, at which time normal marriedlife began.
1:19 A righteous man: as a devout observer of the Mosaiclaw, Joseph wished to break his union with someone whom hesuspected of gross violation of the law. It is commonly saidthat the law required him to do so, but the texts usually givenin support of that view, e.g., Dt 22:20–21 do not clearly per-tain to Joseph’s situation. Unwilling to expose her toshame: the penalty for proved adultery was death by stoning;cf. Dt 22:21–23.
1:20 The angel of the Lord: in the Old Testament a com-mon designation of God in communication with a humanbeing. In a dream: see 2:13, 19, 22. These dreams may bemeant to recall the dreams of Joseph, son of Jacob the patri-arch (Gn 37:5–11, 19). A closer parallel is the dream ofAmram, father of Moses, related by Josephus (Antiquities2:212, 215–16).
1:21 Jesus: in first-century Judaism the Hebrew nameJoshua (Greek Iesous) meaning “Yahweh helps” was inter-preted as “Yahweh saves.”
1:23 God is with us: God’s promise of deliverance to Judahin Isaiah’s time is seen by Matthew as fulfilled in the birth ofJesus, in whom God is with his people. The name Emmanuel isalluded to at the end of the gospel where the risen Jesusassures his disciples of his continued presence, “. . . I am withyou always, until the end of the age” (28:20).
1:25 Until she bore a son: the evangelist is concerned toemphasize that Joseph was not responsible for the conceptionof Jesus. The Greek word translated “until” does not imply nor-mal marital conduct after Jesus’ birth, nor does it exclude it.
2:1–12 The future rejection of Jesus by Israel and his accept-ance by the Gentiles are retrojected into this scene of the nar-rative.
2:1 In the days of King Herod: Herod reigned from 37 to4 B.C. Magi: originally a designation of the Persian priestlycaste, the word became used of those who were regarded ashaving more than human knowledge. Matthew’s magi areastrologers.
2:2 We saw his star: it was a common ancient belief that anew star appeared at the time of a ruler’s birth. Matthew alsodraws upon the Old Testament story of Balaam, who hadprophesied that “A star shall advance from Jacob” (Nm 24:17),though there the star means not an astral phenomenon but theking himself.
2:4 Herod’s consultation with the chief priests and scribeshas some similarity to a Jewish legend about the child Mosesin which the “sacred scribes” warn Pharaoh about the immi-nent birth of one who will deliver Israel from Egypt and the kingmakes plans to destroy him.
