Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 2:3

"And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." — Matthew 2:3 (ASV)

Herod the king—When the Magi reached Jerusalem, the atmosphere was thick with fear and rumors. The old king, whose title had been given by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C., was nearing the end of his long and blood-stained reign.

Two years earlier, on a charge of treason, he had executed his two sons by Mariamne, his most beloved wife. He acted out of sheer jealousy for the favor the people showed them. At the time this history opens, his eldest son, Antipater, was also under condemnation.

Several factors contributed to the unrest before the Magi even arrived. The priests and the people were eagerly looking for the “consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25, 38), and whispers were spreading that this consolation had finally come. Furthermore, the people felt uneasy about the “taxing” that Herod had been forced to accept. All these things turned the last days of the Idumean prince—for his subjects never forgot his foreign origin—into a time of frenzied and cruel suspicion.

This excitement naturally spread throughout the entire city.