Matius 2:11-15

2:11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down ¹  and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, ²  and myrrh. ³  2:12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, ⁴  they went back by another route to their own country.

The Escape to Egypt

2:13 After they had gone, an ⁵  angel of the Lord ⁶  appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod ⁷  is going to look for the child to kill him.” 2:14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during ⁸  the night, and went to Egypt. 2:15 He stayed there until Herod ⁹  died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ¹⁰ 

[2:11]  ¹ tn Grk “they fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[2:11]  ² sn Frankincense refers to the aromatic resin of certain trees, used as a sweet-smelling incense (L&N 6.212).

[2:11]  ³ sn Myrrh consisted of the aromatic resin of certain shrubs (L&N 6.208). It was used in preparing a corpse for burial.

[2:12]  ⁴ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[2:13]  ⁶ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.

[2:13]  ⁷ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Herod the Great was particularly ruthless regarding the succession to his throne.

[2:14]  ⁸ tn The feminine singular genitive noun νυκτός (nuktos, “night”) indicates the time during which the action of the main verb takes place (ExSyn 124).

[2:15]  ⁹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:15]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.