John Calvin Commentary Matthew 2:16

"Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Wise-men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had exactly learned of the Wise-men." — Matthew 2:16 (ASV)

Then Herod when he saw Matthew speaks according to what Herod felt and thought about the matter. He believed that the Magi had deceived him because they did not choose to take part in his wicked cruelty. He was, rather, caught in his own trickery—in his base pretense that he too intended to pay homage to the new King.

Josephus makes no mention of this event. The only writer who mentions it is Macrobius, in the Second Book of his Saturnalia, where, relating the jokes and taunts of Augustus, he says: “When he heard that, by Herod’s command, the children in Syria under two years of age had been slain, and that his own son had been slain among the crowd, ‘I would rather,’ said he, ‘have been Herod’s hog than his son.’” But the authority of Matthew alone is abundantly sufficient for us.

Josephus certainly should not have passed over a crime so worthy of being recorded. But it is less surprising that he says nothing about the infants, for he passes over lightly, and expresses in obscure language, an instance of Herod’s cruelty not less shocking, which took place about the same time, when he put to death all the Judges, who were called the Sanhedrin, so that hardly a remnant might remain of the lineage of David. It was the same dread, I have no doubt, that impelled him to both of these murders.

There is some uncertainty about the date.²¹¹ Matthew says that they were slain from two years old and under, according to the time which he had inquired of the Magi; from which we may infer that Christ had then reached that age, or at least was not far from being two years old. Some go further and conclude that Christ was about that age at the time when the Magi came. But I contend that the one does not follow from the other.

We have recently seen with what terror Herod was seized when the report was widely spread about a new king who had been born.²¹² Fear prevented him at that time from employing a traitor secretly to make an investigation.²¹³ It is not surprising that he was restrained for some time from committing a butchery so hateful and shocking, particularly while the report about the arrival of the Magi was still recent. It is certainly probable that he contemplated the crime, but delayed it until a convenient opportunity arose. It is even possible that he first murdered the Judges, to deprive the people of their leaders, and thus to compel them to look upon the crime as one for which there was no remedy.²¹⁴

We may now conclude that the argument is frivolous, on which those persons rely who argue that Christ was two years old when He was worshipped by the Magi because, according to the time when the star appeared, Herod slew the children who were a little under two years old. Such persons assume, without any proper basis, that the star did not appear until after the Virgin had given birth to her child. It is far more probable that they had been warned early, and that they undertook the journey very near the time of Christ’s birth, so that they might see the child when recently born, in the cradle, or in his mother’s lap. It is a very childish imagination that, because they came from an unknown country, and almost from another world, they had spent about two years on the road. The conjectures proposed by Osiander²¹⁵ are too absurd to require refutation.

But there is no inconsistency in the sequence of the story I propose—that the Magi came when the birth was still a very recent event, and inquired about a king who had been born, not about one who was already two years old; that, after they had returned to their own country, Joseph fled by night, but still, in passing, fulfilled a pious duty at Jerusalem (for in such a populous city, where there was a constant influx of strangers from all directions, he could be safe from danger); that, after he had departed for Egypt, Herod began to think seriously about his own danger, and the ulcer of revenge, which he had nourished in his heart for more than a year and a half, finally broke out. The adverb then (τότε) does not always indicate uninterrupted time in Scripture,²¹⁶ but frequently occurs when there is a significant interval between the events.

²¹¹ “Toutefois on ne sait pas certainement si ce fut en mesme temps.” — “However, it is not known certainly if it was at the same time.”.” — “However, it is not known certainly if it was at the same time.”

²¹² “Quand les premieres nouvelles vindrent de la naissance du nouveau Roy, et que le bruit en commenca a courir;” — “when the first news arrived of the birth of the new King, and when the noise about it began to spread.”;” — “when the first news arrived of the birth of the new King, and when the noise about it began to spread.”

²¹³ “La crainte l'empescha lors d'envoyer secretement quelque traistre pour espier comme tout alloit;” — “fear prevented him at that time from employing some traitor to spy how all went.”;” — “fear prevented him at that time from employing some traitor to spy how all went.”

²¹⁴ “Et pent estre qu'il a premierement mis a mort les Juges, afin qu'apres avoir oste au poure peuple ses conducteurs, il peust sans contredit luy tenir le pie sui la gorge, et en faire a son plaisir.” — “And perhaps he first put the Judges to death, that, after having deprived the wretched people of their leaders, he might without opposition, set his foot on their throat, and do with them at his pleasure.”.” — “And perhaps he first put the Judges to death, that, after having deprived the wretched people of their leaders, he might without opposition, set his foot on their throat, and do with them at his pleasure.”

²¹⁵ Andrew Osiander, (grandfather of Dr Andrew Osiander, a Lutheran divine,) author of several works which gained him not a little celebrity, among which is (grandfather of Dr Andrew Osiander, a Lutheran divine,) author of several works which gained him not a little celebrity, among which is Harmonia Evangelica — — Ed.

²¹⁶ “Sans qu'il y ait rien entre-deux;” — “without there being anything between the two,”;” — “without there being anything between the two,”