MATTHEW IN SLOW MOTION 23

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He will be called a Nazorean.’ (Matthew 2.19-23)

Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἡρῴδου ἰδού, ἄγγελος κυρίου κατ᾽ ὄναρ φαίνεται τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ
λέγων, Ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πορεύου εἰς γῆν Ἰσραήλ· τεθνήκασιν γὰρ οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου
ὁ δὲ ἐγερθεὶς παρέλαβεν τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς γῆν Ἰσραήλ
ἀκούσας δὲ ὅτι Ἀρχέλαος βασιλεύει ἐπὶ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἀντὶ Ἡρῴδου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐφοβήθη ἐκεῖ ἀπελθεῖν· χρηματισθεὶς δὲ κατ᾽ ὄναρ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς Γαλιλαίας
καὶ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς πόλιν λεγομένην Ναζαρέτ· ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται

As this year the Sunday Gospel readings’ focus is on St Matthew’s Gospel, I thought I’d continue some of my personal study and Lectio Divina with that Gospel. [NB. I am using ‘Matthew’ as a convenient term for the author of the first Gospel in the order of the Christian canon].

We are back with the dreaming Joseph motif. [I remind those who need reminding that Joseph, son of Jacob, in the First Testament is a man associated with dreams – here we have Joseph, son of Jacob, in the New Testament dreaming and interpreting dreams. And to stress the connection – Joseph, here, is also in Egypt.]

And also, clearly, we have Matthew’s presentation of Jesus as the new Moses, here coming out of Egypt.

Herod Archelaus (23 BC – c. 18 AD) was ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, c. 4 BC to 6 AD. Archelaus was removed by Roman Emperor Augustus when Judaea province was formed under direct Roman rule, at the time of the Census of Quirinius.

In the First Century CE, the “town (πόλιν – the Hellenistic term for a city) called Nazareth” had about a hundred people. Nazareth was about an hour’s walk from Sepphoris (never mentioned in the Bible) – the regional capital with, under Herod Antipas, a massive building programme.

Good luck finding the First Testament prophecy: “He will be called a Nazorean”! I can’t. Umm – and nowhere is Jesus actually called “a Nazorean” or “a Nazarene”.

This is the twenty-third post in a series – you can begin here:
Matthew in Slow Motion 1
Matthew in Slow Motion 2
Matthew in Slow Motion 3
Matthew in Slow Motion 4
Matthew in Slow Motion 5
Matthew in Slow Motion 6
Matthew in Slow Motion 7
Matthew in Slow Motion 8
Matthew in Slow Motion 9
Matthew in Slow Motion 10
Matthew in Slow Motion 11
Matthew in Slow Motion 12
Matthew in Slow Motion 13
Matthew in Slow Motion 14
Matthew in Slow Motion 15
Matthew in Slow Motion 16
Matthew in Slow Motion 17
Matthew in Slow Motion 18
Matthew in Slow Motion 19
Matthew in Slow Motion 20
Matthew in Slow Motion 21
Matthew in Slow Motion 22

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