Born in Bethlehem
Matthew begins chapter 2 unassumingly: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea.” Readers are prone to speed past this statement and get to the aftermath of Jesus’s birth, but Matthew has chosen his words carefully. That Jesus was born in Bethlehem was a sign that a king like David was appearing on the scene. “David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judea, named Jesse, who had eight sons,” says 1 Sam. 17:12. Anticipation lingered in the hearts of the prophets that a new David would come and hail from the same town in which David was born.15 Matthew releases the Davidic king into the world with place-names, saluting Jesus as the promised king.
Although Matthew does not stop and give us a theology of Bethlehem in 2:1, he assumes that his readers’ ears will perk up when they hear Bethlehem. And in case their ears are stopped up, he makes the link explicit in 2:6. By saying that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, Matthew indicates that the new king is entering the scene. Yet Matthew’s point is not only that. Jesus is born in the city of the king, but the narrative makes clear that there is another king, the king of Jerusalem, who opposes him. Jesus comes as a second king, and second kings are never welcome. Tension will inevitably come. Two kingdoms cannot coexist. Matthew launches the outworking of the Davidic kingship of Jesus by thrusting him immediately into conflict. The echoes of the Davidic nature of Jesus’s infancy set up the struggle and describe how the king becomes not only the anointed king but also the exiled and deported king. The king is here, but he is not going to stroll into his kingdom; he will have to toil to crawl back to his city and throne.
A Ruler Shall Come from Judah
The conflict becomes explicit with the second Davidic resonance. In 2:6 Matthew quotes Mic. 5:2. However, notice who speaks these words in Matthew’s context. It is the “scribes of the people” (γραμματεῖς τοῦ λαοῦ) who report where the Christ is to be born. Herod, the rival king, seeks to destroy Jesus and therefore asks the scribes where he might find this king. Matthew provides another early clue of his scribal theme. The scribes of the people have been corrupted and lured in by political power. Although one might be tempted to read this more innocently, the rest of Matthew’s narrative confirms the depravity of the Jerusalem scribes. Jesus says he will be delivered and suffer at the hands of the chief priests and scribes (16:21; 20:18). He pronounces woes on them in chapter 23, and it is the scribes and elders who gather together against Jesus (26:57)16 and mock him (27:41).17 Jesus will therefore need to form an alternative wise scribal school.
The corrupted scribes provide the following quote from Mic. 5:2: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel’” (Matt. 2:5–6). Ironically, through the words of these shameful scribes, Matthew indicates that the messiah is the ruler from Bethlehem who shepherds his people. Messiahship, kingship, and shepherding are all brought together to define and enlighten messianic hopes. Yet despite the thematic clarity, the citation differs from the LXX and the MT. A number of changes have been introduced to the LXX text, as seen below.
Micah 5:1 LXX Matthew 2:6
Καὶ σύ, Βηθλεεμ
οἶκος τοῦ Εφραθα,
ὀλιγοστὸς εἶ τοῦ εἶναι ἐν χιλιάσιν Ιουδα·
ἐκ σοῦ μοι ἐξελεύσεται
τοῦ εἶναι εἰς ἄρχοντα
ἐν τῷ Ισραηλ,
καὶ αἱ ἔξοδοι αὐτοῦ ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς
ἐξ ἡμερῶν αἰῶνος.
καὶ σὺ Βηθλέεμ,
γῆ Ἰούδα,
οὐδαμῶς ἐλαχίστη εἶ ἐν τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν Ἰούδα·
ἐκ σοῦ γὰρ ἐξελεύσεται
ἡγούμενος,
ὅστις ποιμανεῖ τὸν λαόν μου τὸν Ἰσραήλ.
And you, O Bethleem,
house of Ephratha,
are very few in number to be among the thousands of Ioudas;
one from you shall come forth for me
to become a ruler
in Israel,
and his goings forth are from of old,
from days of yore. (NETS)
And you, O Bethlehem,
in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come
a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel. (ESV)
Note: Targum Mic. 5:1 attaches messianic import to the quotation.
Each substitution Matthew introduces further clarifies the kingly nature of Jesus. In other words, Matthew adjusts this text to make the kingly notes resound.
France suggests that the substitution of Judah for Ephrathah may reinforce the christological point already stressed in the genealogy, that Jesus really did derive from the royal tribe from which the Davidic messiah would come.18 Genesis 49:10 says, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet.” A second change occurs when Matthew adjusts the phrase “who are too little to be among the clans of Judah” (ESV) to “who are by no means least among the rulers of Judah.” Here Matthew promotes a small role for Bethlehem into a significant position as the birthplace of the king.
I find this a fascinating move. Matthew felt free to adapt the text with a simple adverb οὐδαμῶς.19 The passing of time and the fullness of revelation caused him to be comfortable with altering the significance of Bethlehem: from insignificant to significant.20 Interpreters need to be careful not to pose false dichotomies here. Matthew is not playing fast and loose with the text, but he is also not performing the typical grammatical-historical exegesis. To try to argue either one does not respect Matthew’s careful but intentional playfulness with the text. He looks at a former text in light of current circumstances and adapts it based on the birth of Jesus. Bethlehem was insignificant, and now it is significant because of the coming of the apocalyptic messiah.
The third change in this text comes at the end, where Matthew substitutes the description of the ruler “whose coming forth is from of old” (ESV) with words from 2 Sam. 5:2, “who will shepherd my people Israel.” Many times Matthew uses combined double quotations. This specific change further imports an echo of King David. “The words from 2 Samuel 5:2 would only convey a special meaning if recognized as an intrusion. But to those who had the necessary detailed knowledge of Scripture, these variations of wording would powerfully reinforce the message of the Davidic character of the Messiah which has already been so strongly stressed in chapter 1.”21
Matthew is already pointing to what type of king this new David will be. The surface meaning of the text is plain, but for those who have eyes to see, extra gems reveal that this child born in Bethlehem is the ruler in the line of King David. As France says in conclusion, “All these three alterations, . . . while not at all necessary for the surface meaning of the text, combine to convey a deliberate Christological message to those who can recognize them.”22 So the scribe shapes the text of the scribes in a Davidic way.23 If he does this molding with a quotation from the OT, then he surely constructs the narrative of Jesus in a similar way. In his explicit quotation from Micah, Matthew, the true scribe, portrays Jesus as the ruler who comes from Judah, thus linking promises of the OT to Jesus’s life.
While these changes by Matthew are interesting and certainly highlight the Davidic nature of Jesus’s kingship, the point is one of contrast in two ways. First, Matthew places this quote in the mouths of those who inform Jesus’s nemesis. Matthew himself stands as the fulfillment of Jesus’s new discipleship group, who knows to whom these texts point. Second, the thrust of the passage (and the Davidic nature of the quote) centers on the competing nature of the earthly kingdom with the heavenly sourced
kingdom. Herod massacres the children of Israel, while Jesus comes to shepherd and protect the children of Israel. Herod is the king of Jerusalem, while Jesus is the king from Bethlehem. Bethlehem previously was of small significance, but now it is of great significance.
The Davidic resonances prove to heighten the conflict, not subdue it. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, so he holds the scepter. However, he will not wield the scepter in the expected way. Instead, his family flees from the danger threatening this king. The king and his family must run for their lives and wait for the scepter to be revealed. The true Davidic king is on the scene, but he must go on a journey to be enthroned. He must show the people what it means to be the wise shepherd (Ps. 1). The text leaves readers with a question: Which scribe will you listen to, and which king will you follow?
Magi and Star in the East
Matthew not only alters the way one is to think about how Jesus wields the scepter; he also reverses the expected reverence paid to Jesus. It is not Jerusalem who bows before Jesus but the wise men from the east. Jerusalem is “troubled” by Jesus’s birth, and the scribes tell Herod where the king is to be born; the wise men bring gifts. Only Matthew includes the magi as the first worshipers of the son of David: “Behold wise men [μάγοι] from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star [τὸν ἀστέρα] when it rose and have come to worship him’” (Matt. 2:1b–2).24 Readers should note that the “wise” are the first to worship the newly arrived sage-king.25 Tertullian said that while the magi were astrologers by profession, they were also considered kings.26 The medieval church preferred this designation, but the Reformers were dismayed with this conclusion.27
Two OT texts give some support for associating the magi with kings and therefore sages as well. First, in the book of Daniel the “wise men” and Daniel battle for an interpretation of the king’s dreams. Then after Daniel rightly interprets the dreams and visions, he is promoted to a kingly status. Second, an older story tells of Joseph, who also interpreted the dreams of a king and proved himself to be better than the wise men of Pharaoh, and he too was raised up to the right hand of the throne.28 Although these two texts don’t conflate kings and wise men, it does bring them into close association.29 Tertullian saw the text concerning the magi bringing gifts to Jesus as fulfilling Ps. 72, as in verse 10 (NIV): “May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts.”30 But he also saw an allusion to Isa. 60:3, 6 (NIV): “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn; . . . and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD.” Jesus is the new wise Solomon to whom the wise men come (1 Kings 4:34; 2 Chron. 9:23). Therefore, both early patristic literature and OT witnesses support viewing the magi as associated with kings. While we may never know if they were literal kings, Matthew seems to be presenting these magi through the OT witness as both wise men and kings of the earth.31 The sage-kings from the east are coming to worship the son of David.
The magi come not only to worship but also to offer their gifts. These gifts are an important part of the narrative and complete at least two open-ended stories from the Hebrew Scriptures. The first comes from the story of the queen of Sheba, who visits Solomon.
When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. (1 Kings 10:1–2 NIV)
During her visit, the depth of Solomon’s wisdom took her breath away: “In wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard” (1 Kings 10:7 NIV, emphasis added). Laying her gifts of gold, spice, and precious stones before him, she blessed the Lord for making Solomon king. Martin Luther read the story of the magi in light of David’s son Solomon and the story of the queen of Sheba. Just as the queen of Sheba bowed before Solomon the king, so too the sage-kings from the East bow before Jesus. The wisdom of God is found in the city of David, to whose son those from the east come with reverence. Matthew’s first story after the birth of Jesus declares that wise men came to worship the new sage-king just as the queen of Sheba came bearing gifts to Solomon.
The second story comes from the days of Hezekiah, long after Kings David and Solomon lived.32 In the days of Isaiah, King Hezekiah let an envoy from Babylon come and view Jerusalem’s “silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil” (Isa. 39:2 NIV). Isaiah warns Hezekiah that because he has done this the Babylonians will come and take it all away. “Nothing shall be left” (Isa. 39:6). In 587 BCE the Babylonians came and plundered Judah and took all of its silver and gold. Daniel himself recounts that the Babylonian king used the golden cups from the Lord’s temple (Dan. 5:1–4). Matthew may be indicating that the gifts the magi bring are the true homecoming of Jerusalem’s treasures from exile.33 Thus, with the coming of the magi, the treasures of the temple are returning. The three kings travel from the East and bring with them the gold, frankincense, and myrrh that was stolen from David’s and Solomon’s house. This child is restoring David’s house, which Isaiah promised would happen (Isa. 60).
The appearance of the star and its connection with Num. 24 also confirms the point about Jesus as the son of David being revered by those outside Israel.34 Stars were frequently associated with kings, and the star the magi see is commonly linked to Balaam’s prophecy in Num. 24:17: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel” (NIV).35 In Balaam’s (the magus) prophecy, he sees someone, but his sight is foggy. He is coming, but not now; he is not near. Because of this forward-looking statement, all four Pentateuch Targums paraphrase the passage in messianic terms. The word for “star” is replaced in Aramaic by “king.” In the Dead Sea Scrolls the long-awaited messiah is sometimes referred to as the “scepter.”36 Messianic interpretation of Num. 24:17 is widely attested in traditions dating to the first century and earlier. In Numbers, Balaam speaks of a star coming out of Jacob, a scepter rising out of Israel that will “crush the foreheads of Moab.”
Matthew includes a few striking parallels with the passage in Num. 24. First, in both texts we have outsiders who bless God’s people. Matthew 2:2 is the only utterance of the magi that Matthew records, and the magi search for a way to worship Jesus and pay him honor. Second, Balaam is also a magus in Num. 22–24, like the wise men.37 Matthew not only has the scribes of the people read a text, but a sorcerer’s prophecy about the wise king fulfilled. Finally, both Balaam and the magi are kept from acting in a manner that would be destructive to God’s purposes. Balaam can’t curse Israel, and the magi are told in a dream not to return to tell Herod about the child.38 Already Matthew shows his readers that the truly wise are those who follow the son of David. The star both signals the ruler in Matthew and is the ruler in Numbers.39
Therefore, Matthew presents Jesus as the star to whom the sage-kings from the east bring their treasures and to whom all kings of the earth pay tribute, while the scribes of Jerusalem look for prestige in another kingdom. In the genealogy, Matthew indicates that Jesus will fulfill the kingdom promises to David, but he does not say how. Here readers begin to get more specificity. Jesus activates reversal of the exile and the curse by being the prophesied wise king. Just as in David’s day the Moabites and the surrounding regions are defeated and bring tribute/offering to David (2 Sam. 8), so too the magi come from the east, bringing tribute. As Isaiah foretold, there will be a redeemer to whom the nations will stream, and he will reestablish the house of the Lord. The magi bring the treasures back to Jerusalem because the Davidic messiah rebuilds the walls of the city and the temple of Jerusalem.40 This is precisely what the Jews hoped for from their messiah.
Jesus also establishes the city and brings back the treasures from exile, but as the scepter rises, only those outside the city perceive this. As Keener
says, “Whatever these Magi’s religious commitments, Matthew’s audience would probably recall the Magi of their Greek translation of the OT: they were Daniel’s enemies, whom Daniel’s narratives portray in a negative light as selfish, incompetent, and brutal pagans (cf. Dan. 2:2, 10). This is even clearer in some later Greek versions of the Old Testament.”41
The magi have come to worship Jesus, but Jerusalem, the scribes, and Herod the king are troubled when they hear that a new king has appeared on the scene. The narrative reverses the symbolism of the place of exile. The place that was far from God is now the place of true obeisance. Matthew confirms that the king is on the scene, but his own people don’t recognize him. As in the Wisdom literature, wisdom demands a choice between two ways. As Matthew indicated in the genealogy, Jesus is not only the king of the Jews but now also the king of the whole world. Jesus both fulfills the old covenant and inaugurates the new. The star is in the east because the king has come to welcome those “east of Eden” (cf. Gen. 3:24; 4:16) who were cast out so long ago.
Nazarene
The story so far has indicated that Jesus is the son of David (like Solomon), who is born in the city of the king (but there is another king), will act like David (unlike Herod), and to whom the magi bring their gifts (but Jerusalem and the scribes work against him). Now Matthew indicates that, like David, Jesus must be deported and exiled to be spared. At this point in the narrative, the king is not to square off with the kings of the earth but to flee. We have become so comfortable with the story that we forget what a shock this would be to those who first heard it.
Matthew, Disciple and Scribe Page 12
