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Matthew 2:17-19
New Catholic Bible
Matthew 2:17-19
New Catholic Bible
17 [a]Thus were fulfilled the words that had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
lamenting and sobbing bitterly:
Rachel weeping for her children,
and refusing to be consoled,
because they were no more.”
19 The Return to the Land of Israel.[b] After the death of Herod, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Matthew 2:17 The citation of Jer 31:15 originally referred to Rachel, the wife of Jacob, weeping for her children taken into exile in 721 B.C. Matthew applies it to the mourning for the Holy Innocents.
- Matthew 2:19 Herod died in 4 B.C. We do not know for sure to which prophecies (note the plural “Prophets”) v. 23 is alluding. Some believe Matthew is here thinking of the Old Testament declarations that the Messiah would be despised (e.g., Ps 22:6; Isa 53:3), for “Nazorean” was a synonym for “despised” (see Jn 1:45f). Or he may be saying that according to the plan of God Jesus was to live his childhood and youth in Nazareth and begin his ministry there. Some think “Nazorean” fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah (11:1): Jesus is the “shoot” (nezer in Hebrew) of the race of Abraham and David.
