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least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. • Or feed.

of Juda, &c.-This quotation agrees neither with the Hebrew, nor the Septuagint; for which difference, it has been remarked, the council of priests and not the evangelist was responsible. If indeed the quotation was given by St. Matthew in these exact words, this view is sufficiently satisfactory; and as they no doubt rendered the passage from the Hebrew to Herod, either in Greek or the Palestinian dialect, it is to be regarded as their extemporaneous translation, and gives the sense of the Hebrew with sufficient accuracy. But if St. Matthew quotes the passage from the prophet, his variations stand on the same ground as all others which occur in his Gospel, and in those of the following evangelists. With respect to these variations, they are not always important; for it may be generally observed, says Bishop Randolph, that, on comparing them, "it will appear how nearly the citations in the New Testament agree with the original Hebrew, though they sometimes quote from the Septuagint, and perhaps other translations or paraphrases."

The passage, as

it stands in Micah v. 2, is, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." For "Bethlehem Ephratah" St. Matthew has, "Bethlehem in the land of Juda," which is but another designation of the same town. In the Old Testament it has the name of Bethlehem Judah; Judges xvii. 7. The principal variation is in the negative, ovdaμws, "by no means the least," whereas our translation makes the prophet Micah to say, "Though thou be little." Though, however, is not in the Hebrew, which may

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be read interrogatively," Art thou little?" Thus, in the Syriac translation, we have, num parva es?" whilst the Arabic uses the negative, "nequaquam es minima," and so agrees with the sense of the Hebrew, which manifestly is, that Bethlehem, although an obscure town, was to be dignified by the birth of Messiah. "The thousands of Judah," is rendered in Matthew the princes of Judah, which is only another mode of expressing the same thing; for the tribes were divided into thousands, over every one of which was placed a PRINCE, or chief. Thus the real agreement of St. Matthew with the Hebrew is manifest. It is, however, here to be notcied, that the whole prophecy in Micah is not adduced; for it was the custom of the Jews, when quoting their scriptures for argument or illustration, to cite only the introductory parts of a section to which they made reference, supposing those to whom they spoke or wrote to be familiar with the whole, as indeed they generally were. Though therefore the quotation does not give the complete prophecy, we are referred by it to the whole section in which it stands, which extends through several verses, and is an illustrious revelation of the divinity and official glory of that Prince of Judah who was indeed to be born in Bethlehem, but whose "goings forth were of old, even from everlasting."

"This prophecy of Micah," says Dr. Hales, "is perhaps the most important single prophecy in the Old Testament, and the most comprehensive, respecting the personal character of the Messiah, and his successive manifestation to the world. It crowns the whole chain of prophecies descriptive of the several limita

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures,

tions of the blessed Seed of the woman, to the line of Shem, to the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the tribe of Judah, and to the royal house of David, here terminating in his birth at Bethlehem, 'the city of David.' It carefully distinguishes his human nativity from his eternal generation; foretels the rejection of the Israelites and Jews for a season, their final restoration, and the universal peace destined to prevail throughout the earth in the regeneration.' It forms, therefore, the basis of the New Testament; which begins with his human birth at Bethlehem, the miraculous circumstances of which are recorded in the introductions of Matthew's and Luke's Gospels; his eternal generation, as the ORACLE, or WISDOM, in the sublime introduction of John's Gospel; his prophetic character and second coming, illustrated in the four Gospels and the Epistles; ending with a prediction of the speedy approach of the latter, in the Apocalypse, Rev. xxii. 20."

Verse 9. And, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, &c.-If the star guided them the whole way to Judea, which is not to be inferred from the history, it disappeared upon their entrance into Judea, and left them to their own judgment; and, as they were in search of him who was born "King of the Jews," they naturally directed their course to the metropolis. It was upon their departure from Jerusalem to Bethlehem that the star again appeared; and at this, according to our version, " they rejoiced with exceeding great joy," which is an excellent translation of εχάρησαν χαραν μεγάλην σφοδρα, where, as in passages which sometimes occur in Greek and Latin authors, similar

words are used to denote emphasis and

excess.

Verse 11. And fell down and worshipped him.—The same Greek word is used to express both divine worship and the prostrate homage which the people of the east paid to their kings. Thus Xenophon, describing the respect paid to Cyrus by his subjects, says, "When the people saw him, παντες προσεκύνησαν, they all worshipped him." Our own word worship, as formerly used, had this double sense. In this case the Magi paid our Lord ROYAL homage; but whether with any reference also to his divinity does not so clearly appear as some of the fathers would have it understood. And yet, as the fact of Messiah having been born was made known to them by a divine revelation, intimations of his divinity might also be given, and their worship be paid to him under his highest character. character. As for the gifts presented, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, it may be remarked, that no person in ancient times in those countries appeared before a superior without a present. These were of the most costly kind, and such only as were presented to the greatest personages. That these Magi were men of rank as well as philosophers, is the voice of tradition. Thus in their lower sense and earliest application were those prophecies fulfilled,—

"Nations shall come to thy light,

And princes to the brightness of thy rising:
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts."

Opened their treasures.-That is, the packages and vessels which contained them; the word being applied, not to the contents, but to the containing receptacle.

they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

• Or offered.

Thus Cicero calls memory "the treasure of all things;" and Virgil, the vessels in which honey is preserved,

servataque mell thesauris.

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Several very important ends were answered by the visit of the Magi. It showed that the expectation of the appearance of Messiah about that time was not only entertained by Jews, but by Gentiles; and therefore that the prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures were not the only sources of information on that interesting subject. Either several of the same prophecies had been transmitted by the heads of those families which had branched off from the common Abrahamic stock, or the relics of the ten tribes in different eastern countries had communicated those annunciations of Messiah contained in the Pentateuch; or the proselytes, "the strangers who occasionally went up to worship God at Jerusalem, circulated the leading doctrines and hopes of the Jewish church; or revelations were occasionally made on the subject of "the great salvation of God" to pious Gentiles in different places and at different times. How else shall we account for so general an expectation of the appearance of the great Restorer, which certainly existed? "For," says Suetonius," an ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the east, that the fates had decreed some one to proceed from Judea, who would attain universal empire." How also shall we account for the Sibylline prophecies which Virgil has embodied in his Pollio, and

which bear so striking a resemblance to some of the predictions of Isaiah, as to the glorious and peaceful reign of Messiah, and the great changes to be wrought in his days in the state of society? And, finally, how are we to account for the journey of these Magi from the east? The simple circumstance of the appearance of an extraordinary meteor could not alone indicate that the Messiah, the King of the Jews, was already born; a direct verbal revelation must be supposed, answering no doubt to the general information previously existing among them, and communicating the intelligence that he whom they expected was in fact born, and that he was born in Judea. Of this revelation the appearance of the star was the supernatural sign, which became still more indubitable when it went before them and directed their steps to Bethlehem. Another end answered by this event was, that the public inquiry made by these strangers for "the King of the Jews," whom they knew to have been recently born, turned the attention of the inhabitants of the Jewish metropolis to the fact of his birth, which probably they then for the first time heard; the annunciation of the shepherds being probably as yet confined to the neighbourhood in which it took place. But a still higher purpose was, to bring forth a public testimony from the highest ecclesiastical and theological authority among the Jews, as to the birth-place of Messiah having been previously recorded by one of their own prophets to be Bethlehem of Judah, and

14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

15 And was there until the death of Herod that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

c Hosea xi. 1.

to show that it was a matter of universal agreement among them, that that illustrious prophecy, in all its parts, belonged to Messiah, and consequently that the Christ of prophecy stood in opposition to those low conceptions which they afterwards indulged as to the simple humanity of the Messiah, and were contradicted by a passage which attributes positive divinity as well as real humanity to him, and which, in full council, and in answer to the question of Herod their king, they declared to be a prophecy of the Christ. To the Messiah, as described by Micah, the Messiah which the Jews have ever expected does not answer; but to the Messiah of this prophecy our blessed Lord is the exact counterpart; he was born in Bethlehem, and yet his "goings forth have been from the days of eternity." The whole history is also beautifully instructive, as one of those numerous instances with which the scriptures abound of the manner in which an unseen, but ever-watchful, ever-active power overrules the purposes of men, even when they are opposed to that issue which is evolved by unanticipated circumstances, and frustrates equally their subtilty and their power. Herod, in his own true character of malignant cunning, wishes to make the Magi the instruments of conveying to him the intelligence of this new-born heir of the throne of David, and affects to partake of their joy, and to be ready to do him homage; but, warned of God, they depart home by another route, and thus their safety is provided for, which might have been compromised by an act of constructive treason, in acknowledging another king beside him; whilst his sanguinary purpose was delayed, to give the holy family time to hasten down to Egypt, beyond the reach of his power; for which

journey the gifts of the wise men afforded a seasonable, and, as it appears, an abundant supply. "There is no counsel against the Lord."

Verse 14. And departed into Egypt.— From the time of the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, the Jews were settled in great numbers in its principal cities, and especially in Alexandria. There they established their own worship, and maintained a constant intercourse with their own countrymen in Judea. Joseph would therefore naturally reside among his own people, during his stay in Egypt, and, being out of Herod's jurisdiction, was safe.

Verse 15. Out of Egypt have I called my Son. This is cited from Hosea xi. 1; and has been often adduced, by those who consider the quotations from the Old Testament in the evangelists as mere accommodated allusions, founded upon some vague and undesigned resemblances, as a pregnant proof of their theory. But it is here to be recollected, that the evangelist introduces the quotation with the formula, "that it might be fulfilled," as in chap. i. 22, 23, on which see the note. Now this formula is just as appropriate when a type is referred to, as a prophecy; for when the type is not one of human fancy, but of divine appointment, in each case there is an accomplishment, or completion; because a type is predictive, and differs only from a prophecy in form. The passage, as it stands in Hosea, is, When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my Son out of Egypt;" and, as these words were spoken of the people Israel, the question is, whether, in any respects, the people Israel bore a typical character? This must be granted, because nothing is more certain, both from the style of the Hebrew prophets, and from

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Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew

the writings of St. Paul, than that Israel "after the flesh" is often made the type of "the Israel of God," or of the Christian church; and the deliverance of the former from Egypt the type of our redemption by Christ. It will be pertinent next to inquire, whether by the prophet Hosea the term Israel is not sometimes used in a sense not literal, and under which, therefore, some religious mystery is contained. Of this we have an instance in chap. xii. 3-6 "By his strength he had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him.-Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually." Here, indeed, there is not a typical use of the real Jacob or Israel; but the people Israel are personated and identified with their progenitor, and under that character, as Israel, a prince which had power with God," they are exhorted, as though they had been Jacob or Israel himself, to "turn to God,” and to “wait on him continually," in order to prevail. This is sufficient to prove, that this prophet does not always confine himself to one simple view in the use of the term Israel. But it will throw still greater light upon the subject, if we consider that the people Israel are sometimes spoken of as one person, and called God's "son," and his "first-born," which indicates that Israel was intended to be in some particulars the type of some individual: and who could this be but "the Son," and "the First-born" of God, the Messiah? To which we may add this strong confirmation, that the Messiah himself is by the prophets called Israel, doubtless for this reason, for no other can be assigned, that he was, in some respects or other, typified by the people Israel. Thus, in Isaiah xlix. 3, where Jehovah is introduced speaking to Messiah, he says, "Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified; and Isaiah xlii. 1,-" Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth," is, in the Septuagint,

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"Jacob my servant,-and Israel mine elect." Here too the Jewish uninspired writers afford a proof that they understood the Messiah to be typified by Israel. Thus Dr. Allix remarks, that the author of Midrash Tehillim on Psalm ii. 7, says, "The mysteries of the King Messiah are declared in the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa." In the Law it is written, (Exodus iv. 22,)" Israel is my son, even my first-born." Hence Rabbi Nathan in Schemoth Rabba on those words speaks thus : As I made Jacob my firstborn, (Exodus iv. 22,) so have I made Messiah my first-born, as it is said, Psalm lxxxix. 27, I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth."" Thus then, as we find Messiah called Jacob and Israel, and no other reason can be assigned for this but that something in the case and history of the people of Israel was realized in him, in the sense of correspondence with an instituted type, the words of Hosea were intended to indicate, at least in one respect, in what the type consisted, and those of the evangelist how the type was "fulfilled in him.” Israel was in Egypt subject to a foreign power, and in a lowly state; but was brought out from thence, and, after various trials and wanderings in the desert, was raised to dominion and glory among the nations. So our Lord was for a time in Egypt, in subjection to a foreign dominion, and in a lowly condition; but was called from thence, that, after his season of trial and humiliation, he might be exalted to glory and universal dominion. It is in these particulars that the type was fulfilled. Israel the typical son, and Jesus the true Son, were each called out of Egypt, by special interposition of God, to accomplish his great purposes, and to be raised to honour, and invested with dominion. We may therefore conclude, that the Holy Spirit first dictated the passage quoted to Hosea, and then directed St. Matthew to refer the call of Christ out of Egypt to the same passage, as an accomplishment of it, in order to explain in

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