NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWO

Part III

Verses 5-6: “They answered, “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea, just as the prophet wrote: ‘Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, although you are not among the rulers of Judah, yet a ruler will come from you, and that ruler will lead Israel, my people.’” Although Matthew is paraphrasing the prophet Micah, or perhaps using an Aramaic text we no longer possess, how accurate God’s prophecy proved to be. There was also a town known as Bethlehem of Zebulun west of Nazareth, but the Scripture specifically said: “In Bethlehem of Judah,” not “Bethlehem of Galilee,” and that is how, with the cooperation of a Roman Caesar wanting a census, it happened as the scripture said it would! One of the earliest Hebrew versions of Matthew reads this way: “You Bethlehem Judah, Ephrathah, land of Judah, behold you are insignificant among the clans of Judah; from you shall come forth to me One who will be a ruler in Israel,”¹ while the Hebrew text of Micah actually reads: “But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat, so small among the clans of Y’hudah, out of you will come forth to me the future ruler of Isra’el, whose origins are far in the past, way back in ancient times.”² Most Jewish scholars take this prophecy to clearly involve the coming Messiah. They note that the term “Bethlehem Ephrathah” is found where David answered king Saul’s question, “Who are you?” by answering: “I am the son of your servant Yishai (Jesse) the Beit-Lachmi (Bethlehemite).”³ Also in Jacob’s talk with Joseph when he told him, “…when I came from Paddan, Rachel died suddenly, as we were traveling through the land of Kena‘an (Canaan), while we were still some distance from Efrat (Ephrath); so I buried her there on the way to Efrat [also known as Beit-Lechem] (Bethlehem).”⁴ This same Rabbi also says that calling Bethlehem “the least important town in Judah,” was due to the stigma attached to Ruth the non-Jew Moabitess whom Boaz married, and who lived there. Furthermore, in a story about the ox we shared in verse 1 above, it should be noted that when an Arab was once asked where his father was from, he stated, “From the royal capital of Bethlehem in Judea.”⁵ Nothing is called a royal capital unless it is home of a monarch. So while some believe he was referring to King David, others take this as a sign of the Messiah. Furthermore, that the term “Ruler of Israel,” is definitely a reference to the Messiah, the son of David, we see that in this statement: “The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone,”⁶ and that his origin is from old, because the Psalmist says: “May the king be famous forever. May people remember his name as long as the sun shines. May all nations be blessed through him, and may they all bless him.”⁷ Also, the great Jewish teacher Rabbi Rashi uses the Jewish Version that reads: “May his name endure forever, his name, Yinnon,⁸ as long as the sun. May people bless themselves in him, may all nations call him happy.” Also, Rabbi David Kimchi comments on the scripture that says: “… out of you will come to me a Judge to be Ruler in Israel, and this is the King Messiah,”⁹ as being correct with that designation. There is also an interesting comment by a medieval Jewish critic on this same scripture:

Proposition – This verse has been designated by the Christians as confirming their faith; and they assert that the prophet was saying that their Messiah would be born at Bethlehem, and their declaration is impossible for Israel to expect that the Messiah will be born there, seeing that the city of Bethlehem has already been destroyed.

Refutation – For three reasons it is impossible to vindicate this prophecy in favor of Jesus, setting aside the numerous other unsubstantial arguments they allege to prove that he was the true Messiah. First,—The above scriptural passage has no special allusion to him. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem does not entitle him to the claim of being the Messiah, for hundreds and thousands of children were born at Bethlehem, and that circumstance did not constitute them being Messiahs. Secondly,—We read there, ‘From you will come for me a ruler.’ Now, as to Jesus of Nazareth, he was by no means a ruler. On the contrary, the people ruled over him, as is evinced by the mode of his death. Thirdly,—It is not said that Bethlehem would be the birth-place of the Messiah, for we find that the prophet adds there, ‘And his going forth shall be of olden times.’ But the sense of the verse is this: Thou Bethlehem, although one of the minor localities among the cities of Judah, from thee a man shall come forth (i. e., trace his descent back to thee), who shall be a ruler in Israel, and that same man will be the King Messiah who will be a descendant of David who came from Bethlehem. See Samuel where he is called ‘The son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem Judah.’¹⁰ The words ‘since olden times,’ relate to the great space of time elapsed between the reign of David and the coming of the Messiah. We must also call the attention of the reader to the chapter preceding and the passages following the verse we are discussing, and it will then be perceived that the whole prophecy is applied to the terrific convulsions predicted to happen at the epoch of the ‘latter days.’ In connection with this prophecy must be read the announcements of Ezekiel 38 and 39, and Zechariah 14.”¹¹

With this type of faulty mindset, it’s no wonder that so many Jewish scholars in Jesus day refused to see the truth of the written Word because they kept their heads in the sand of verbal traditions. They could not see the future because they were fixated on the past. No wonder that Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to understand what the kingdom of heaven was all about he must be born anew.

Nevertheless, on this occasion King Herod’s counselors convinced him enough with these Scriptures that this was indeed a possibility that a unknown Messiah had been born in nearby Bethlehem. That was enough for him to become anxious that his job was in jeopardy, and that he needed to do something quickly in order to prevent this from happening.

Verses 7-8: “Then Herod had a secret meeting with the magi from the east. He learned from them the exact time they first saw the star. Then he sent them on to Bethlehem. He said, ‘Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, come tell me. Then I can go worship him too.’” Herod’s curiosity, fueled by his jealousy and pride, prompted him to gather more information on what these Magi were really up to. His interrogation as to when they saw the star, was instigated by the desire to know how long ago this birth took place so that he would know the estimated age of this so-called king. In astrological terms, the original appearance of the star was the first sign that the birth had taken place. Of course, this meeting had to be in secret, because had it been out in the open then Herod was afraid that friends or family of the parents of this child would immediately notify them so they could either hide or escape. What Herod did not know was that this couple had friends in heavenly places, and these friends were aware of what this meeting was all about. That’s why an angel would be sent to alert them, and the Magi, on what to do before any damage could be done.

Verses 9-10: “After the Magi heard the king, they left. They spotted the same star they had followed since they left their country in the east, and continued following it. The star went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. They were very happy and excited to see that the star had stopped.” It must be duly noted, that Matthew does not say that the magi then went to Bethlehem. Rather, they continued to follow the star. And it does not indicate that the star took them to Bethlehem, only that it took them to the place where the child (not baby) was living. The miracle of the star becomes more and more fascinating. Although several astronomical and astrological explanations have been given to its identification or what caused it to appear, still very little is known of its actual formation and why it shown brightly on this night. All one has to do is look out into the star-bedecked sky at night to see the difficulty in following just one star. But for a star to shine so bright that it could be detected by the natural eye as it came to rest overlooking one small dwelling on earth, is very extraordinary. But so was Christ’s birth!

There is no evidence that the star emitted so much light that it took on the appearance of a spotlight. But it is obvious that the Magi undertook this search at night, while the star could be clearly seen. Here we see the words of the prophecy made more clearly, “Then the nations will come to your light. Kings will come to your bright sunrise.”¹² One particular Rabbi believes that this is a reference to Jerusalem, which was “…destined to become a beacon for the nations of the earth, and they will walk in its light.”¹³ What is interesting is that this Rabbi wrote this long after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. Could it be that they saw this light as part of the Messianic age? That after His death and resurrection, Jerusalem would become the mecca for believers to come and see the empty hill where His cross stood, and the empty grave where His body laid? There has also been some debate on just how the star guided the magi. Some scholars indicate that the star moved, like a lamp in the sky, in front of the Magi and they simply followed it. However, as we know from astronomy, it is not the stars that are moving, but appear to be doing so because of the earth’s rotation. Therefore, they used this star to fix their direction, much like the mariners did on the open seas.

Once they learned during their secret meeting that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, just a few miles away, there would have been no need for such a star. What Matthew seems to be saying is that when they left the palace of Herod, they saw the star was still illuminated, so they charted their course in it’s direction and the path they took led them straight to where Joseph, Mary and Jesus were living at the time. In such a case, the star must have been low on the horizon to get such a course fixture. But after the Magi arrived, and on their way back to Persia, we find no mention of this unusual star again. This was not a foreign concept to astrologers in those days. As a matter of fact, one time Roman poet Virgil followed the star Venus until he came to the field on Laurentum to engage in battle, after which it no longer appeared. And this was written some 37 years before Christ was born.¹⁴ There’s still another factor. These Magi were traveling west, therefore they had to wait for the star that rose in the east to get directly overhead before they started following it until it disappeared on the western horizon, just as dawn began to appear in the east. In any case, God was in control of the star, so we’ll leave it up to Him as to how it really happened. But for sure, there was a star, there were Magi being guided by it, and it led them to where the baby boy Jesus, the new King of the Jews, and King of all the earth was living at that time. Perhaps this was the true star of David we hear the Jews speak of. When you look at the two intertwining triangles you might be able to imagine this: First, the upward pointing triangle represents Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The downward pointing triangle symbolizes mans Body, Mind and Spirit. The upward apex of the star is pointing to God, and the downward antapex of the star is pointing to man. But most of all, it can be seen as the star of the Messiah in that it combines both God and man into one.

Amazing how many people who lived in the darkness of not knowing that much about Jesus as the true Redeemer, once they come to the light and are born anew, have similar stories to tell. They often say: “I don’t know what it was, but I just felt drawn to the truth, it was like a light and I kept walking toward it until I found Jesus and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.”