Herod Has Innocent Children Murdered

16 Then Herod, when he[a] saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent soldiers[b] and[c] executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region around it from the age of two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, saying,

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
    and she did not want to be comforted,
because they exist no longer[d].”[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 2:16 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
  2. Matthew 2:16 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  3. Matthew 2:16 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sent”) has been translated as a finite verb
  4. Matthew 2:18 Literally “they are not”
  5. Matthew 2:18 A quotation from Jer 31:15

Massacre of the Innocents

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

18 “A (A)voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”

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