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What objection, after this account, can there be to the account of his murdering the infants at Bethlehem? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
Heinrich Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New TestamentJohann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomon of the New TestamentMatthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bibleand sent forth, and slew all the children in Bethlehem, and in the coasts thereof, from two years old and under:according to the time he had diligently inquired of the wise men, Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New TestamentsCommentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged"She looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming?
to Bethlehem with the command to kill all children that were to be found in the village proper and in its entire vicinity, the rural district surrounding the town.
Herod would not be too scrupulous: from one hour to two years old, it mattered not; if anything, it insured him an ample margin either wayObserve here, How Herod, having played the fox before, acts the lion now; his secret policy not succeeding, he breaks out into open and inhuman cruelty. We may use the terms, “lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning;” but we cannot affix to them any adequate ideas, or realize, in any just degree, that awful scene — — —][Scarcely was he born, before his life was sought, and he was forced to be carried an exile to the country which of all others had been most hostile to his progenitors. The order was probably given in secret, and might not have been known to Josephus. Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the region thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. That word is from PAIS which Thayer defines is this place by the following: Finding the new version too difficult to understand? The master-passions of that able but wicked prince were an unbounded ambition and an excruciating jealousy. Besides, the crime was executed with secrecy, the number of children slain was probably very inconsiderable, for Bethlehem was but a small town; and though it was possibly crowded at the time (The whole scene must have been very different from that which is presented to us on the canvas of the great mediæval artists. His beloved and beautiful wife, Mariamne, had a public execution, and her mother Alexandra followed soon after - Alexander and Aristobulus, his two sons by Mariamne, were strangled in prison by his orders upon groundless suspicions, as it seems, when they were at man‘s estate, were married, and had children.In his last sickness, a little before he died, he sent orders throughout Judea requiring the presence of all the chief men of the nation at Jericho. But a further thought needs to be born in mind.
‘Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the Magi, was extremely angry, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had exactly learned of the Magi.’Meanwhile Herod was livid with anger. Go to Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. The beginning of the persecutions which culminated in the crucifixion. Not one was spared, not even, according to an ancient report, his own son. And in accordance with his command all male children within his definition were sought out, and were put to death. Matthew 2:16. (16) The fact of the slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem is not mentioned by Josephus, or by any other writer, and has on that ground been called in question.
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked 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 …
hence the passage says that all the children were ordered slain. Well may it be said, that “jealousy is cruel as the grave [Note: Happy would it have been for the world, if such dispositions and conduct had been altogether banished by the Gospel of Christ: but the human heart is the same in every age and place: we still see that the love of power is a predominant principle in the mind of man; that where it is suffered to gain an ascendency, it will leave no means untried for the accomplishment of its ends; and that, if the more lenient methods of deceit and treachery will not succeed, it will wade through seas of blood to the attainment of its object: the cries of thousands and tens of thousands will not divert it from its purpose: nor will any thing but the utter extinction of a rival satisfy its blood-thirsty appetite [Note: Written in Feb. 1809, when the British army had been forced to leave Spain under the merciless dominion of Buonaparte. Some affirm that Herod did not spare his own child, then at nurse in the coasts of Bethlehem; which made Augustus say he had rather be Herod's hog, than herod's child; because the Jews, did never ear swine's flesh. As soon as the breath is out of my body, and before my death can be known, do you let in the soldiers upon them and kill them. Aristobulus, brother of his wife Mariamne, was murdered by his direction at eighteen years of age, because the people of Jerusalem had shown some affection for his person. These suffering Innocents suffered because of another’s Sin:—because of a Sin they could have no share in.