Matthew 2:15

"He arose and took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt,"

Key Reflection

This passage symbolizes Jesus' journey to Egypt as a foreshadowing of his later triumph over death, mirroring the Exodus narrative that led the Israelites out of slavery. By fleeing to Egypt, Jesus experiences a temporary exile, prefiguring his ultimate victory and resurrection.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 15. The death of Herod. Herod died in the thirty-seventh year of his reign. It is not certainly known in what year he began his reign, and hence it is impossible to determine the time that Joseph remained in Egypt. The best chronologers have supposed that he died somewhere between two and four years after the birth of Christ; but at what particular time cannot now be determined. Nor can it be determined at what age Jesus was taken into Egypt. It seems probable that he was supposed to be a year old, (Mt 2:16) and of course the time that he remained in Egypt was not long. Herod died of a most painful and loathsome disease in Jericho. See Barnes "Mt 2:16; also Josephus, Ant. xvii. 10.

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