SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:16
¶ Herodes entonces, vindose burlado de los sabios, se enoj mucho, y envi, y mat a todos los nios que había en Beln y en todos sus trminos, de edad de dos aos abajo, conforme al tiempo que había entendido de los sabios.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 2:16
Verse 16. Slew all the children] This cruelty of Herod seems alluded to in very decisive terms by Macrobius, who flourished toward the conclusion of the fourth Century. In his chapter Deuteronomy jocis Augusti in alios, et aliorum rursus in ipsum, he says, Cum audisset inter pueros, quos in Syria Herodes, rex Judeorum, intra bimatum jussit interfici, filium quoque ejus occisum, ait, Melius est Herodis PORCUM esse, quam FILIUM. "When he heard that among those male infants about two years old, which Herod, the king of the Jews, ordered to be slain in Syria, one of his sons was also murdered, he said: 'It is better to be Herod's HOG than his SON.'" Saturn. lib. ii. c. 4. The point of this saying consists in this, that Herod, professing Judaism, his religion forbade his killing swine, or having any thing to do with their flesh; therefore his hog would have been safe, where his son lost his life.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 16. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked , etc.] Herod, having waited a proper time for the return of the wise men, and they not coming, concluded he was tricked by them; though, no doubt, when they promised to return, and bring him word how things were, they seriously meant and designed a performance; but having met with a divine oracle, which ordered them another way, they thought it most advisable to obey God rather than man. Upon this, Herod was exceeding wroth ; partly at the usage he met with from the wise men, who according to his apprehension had put a trick upon him; and chiefly because his scheme was broke, which was by them to come at the knowledge and sight of the young child, and privately dispatch him: and now he might fear, which increased his wrath, that the child would escape his hands, and in time be set up for king, to the prejudice of him and his family; wherefore, to prevent this, if possible, he sent forth his officers and soldiers, of his own will, without any show of law or justice, acting herein as an absolute and tyrannical prince, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under . A most cruel and barbarous action, and agrees with the character given of him, that he was in the beginning of his reign, and it seems too in the latter end of it, hmrmw ymd ya , a bloody and deceitful man f109 : he slew, or ordered to be slain, children, infants who had done him no injury, nor were capable of doing any, and whose parents also had not disobliged him; he slew the infants at Bethlehem, because this was the place of the Messiahs birth, the knowledge of which he had got from the chief priests and scribes; he slew all of them, that there might be no possibility of the young childs escaping: and lest it should by any means escape to a neighbouring town or village, he slew all the children in all the coasts thereof , in all the territories of Bethlehem, in all the towns and villages around it, as many as were from two years old and under : for of such an age he supposed the newborn king to be; he knew he must be near that age, but could not exceed it, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men ; of the appearing of the star to them, and when they concluded this great and famous prince was born. This cruel murder of the infants seems to be hinted at by Josephus f110 , where he says, that many slaughters followed the prediction of a new king; and is more manifestly referred to by Macrobins, a Heathen author, though the story is mixed and confounded with other things; who reports f111 , that when Augustus heard, that among the children under two years of age, whom Herod king of the Jews ordered to be slain in Syria, that his son was also killed, said, it was better to be Herods hog than his son. Killing of infants as soon as born, or while in their cradles, is by the Jews ascribed to one Lilith, which, R. Elias says, is the name of a devil, which kills children; and indeed such an action is truly a diabolical one.
Ver. 17, 18. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken , etc.] By the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem was literally accomplished what had been predicted by Jeremy the prophet , in ( Jeremiah 31:15). in Rama was there a voice heard , etc. That this prophecy belongs not to the Babylonish captivity, but the times of the Messiah, appears from the whole context; which manifestly speaks of the miraculous conception of Christ, of the blessings of his kingdom to be enjoyed by his people, and of the new covenant to be made with them, as I have shown in another place f113 . Rama was not in Arabia, as Justin Martyr says f114 , but a town in the tribe of Benjamin, ( Joshua 18:25) and very near to Bethlehem in the tribe of Juda: between these two places, and near to both of them, was the grave of Rachel, ( Genesis 35:19) for which reason, and also because Rama belonged to Benjamin, a son of hers, and where, no doubt, many children were destroyed in this massacre, as well as at Bethlehem, Rachel is introduced in the prophecy representing the sorrowful mothers of those parts, weeping for their children ; whose distress and grief are signified by several words, lamentation, weeping and great mourning, to express the excessiveness thereof, for they would not be comforted ; they refused to hear anything that might be suggested to them for their relief, because their children were not , i.e. were dead, were not in the land of the living, and no more to be enjoyed by them in this world. I cannot forbear transcribing a remark made by a noted Jew upon that passage in ( Genesis 35:20). And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave; to show, says he, that Jacob saw that this thing was of the Lord, and that it would be an help to her children, as it is written, a voice was heard in Rama, etc. wherefore he set a pillar upon her; and to show that the affair of her grave, that this dyt[l htyh belonged to the time to come, he says, that is the pillar of Rachels grave unto this day: he means, hlwagh wy , the day of redemption.
And Rachel, in the passage of Jeremy, the Jews themselves own, means the congregation of Israel. (See Gill on Matthew 2:17) Ver. 19. But when Herod was dead , etc.] Who died, as before observed, a few months after this tragedy was acted; and, according to the Jewish writers, on the seventh day of the month Cisleu, and which answers to the twenty fifth of our November: and was afterwards observed as a day of rejoicing by the Jews. The account which Josephus f118 , and from him Eusebius f119 , gives of his miserable death, is as follows; a burning fever seized him, with an intolerable itching all over his body, and continual pains of the colic; his feet swelled with a dropsy; he had an inflammation in the lower part of his belly: a putrefaction in his privy parts, which bred worms; a frequency and difficulty of breathing, and convulsions in all his members; he had a voracious appetite, a stinking breath, and his intestines abounded with ulcers; when he found that all means made use of were ineffectual, and that he must die, he attempted to lay violent hands upon himself, but was prevented, and soon after expired in a very miserable manner. Now some time after his death, behold an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt . It may be the same angel who appeared in the same manner, and ordered him to go into Egypt, with the young child and his mother; and who now brings him news of the death of Herod, and bids him return to the land of Israel; which shows the watchful providence of God, and the useful ministry of angels, concerned in the preservation of the infant Jesus.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 16-18 - Herod killed all the male children, not only in Bethlehem, but in all the villages of that city. Unbridled wrath, armed with an unlawfu power, often carries men to absurd cruelties. It was no unrighteou thing with God to permit this; every life is forfeited to his justic as soon as it begins. The diseases and deaths of little children ar proofs of original sin. But the murder of these infants was their martyrdom. How early did persecution against Christ and his kingdo begin! Herod now thought that he had baffled the Old Testamen prophecies, and the efforts of the wise men in finding Christ; but whatever crafty, cruel devices are in men's hearts, the counsel of the Lord shall stand.
Greek Textus Receptus
τοτε 5119 ADV ηρωδης 2264 N-NSM ιδων 1492 5631 V-2AAP-NSM οτι 3754 CONJ ενεπαιχθη 1702 5681 V-API-3S υπο 5259 PREP των 3588 T-GPM μαγων 3097 N-GPM εθυμωθη 2373 5681 V-API-3S λιαν 3029 ADV και 2532 CONJ αποστειλας 649 5660 V-AAP-NSM ανειλεν 337 5627 V-2AAI-3S παντας 3956 A-APM τους 3588 T-APM παιδας 3816 N-APM τους 3588 T-APM εν 1722 PREP βηθλεεμ 965 N-PRI και 2532 CONJ εν 1722 PREP πασιν 3956 A-DPN τοις 3588 T-DPN οριοις 3725 N-DPN αυτης 846 P-GSF απο 575 PREP διετους 1332 A-GSM και 2532 CONJ κατωτερω 2736 ADV κατα 2596 PREP τον 3588 T-ASM χρονον 5550 N-ASM ον 3739 R-ASM ηκριβωσεν 198 5656 V-AAI-3S παρα 3844 PREP των 3588 T-GPM μαγων 3097 N-GPM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
16. The children (touv paidav). Male children, as is indicated by the masculine form of the article, and so Rev.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
2:16 {Slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem} (aneilen pantas tous paidas tous en beqleem). The flight of Joseph was justified, for Herod was violently enraged (ethum"th lian) that he had been mocked by the Magi, deluded in fact (enepaichth). Vulgate _illusus esset_. Herod did not know, of course, how old the child was, but he took no chances and included all the little boys (tous paidas, masculine article) in Bethlehem two years old and under, perhaps fifteen or twenty. It is no surprise that Josephus makes no note of this small item in Herod's chamber of horrors. It was another fulfilment of the prophecy in #Jer 31:15. The quotation (#2:18) seems to be from the Septuagint. It was originally written of the Babylonian captivity but it has a striking illustration in this case also. Macrobius (_Sat_. II. iv. II) notes that Augustus said that it was better to be Herod's sow (hus) than his son (huios), for the sow had a better chance of life.
