Matthew 2:2 Commentary and Bible Study

They make enquiries and they begin their search among the elite ones of the nation. But Herod was troubled. The Greek indicates that he was seriously afraid, even the word ‘terrified’ would not be too strong a word to use. Why would he be so afraid? Possibly he feared insurrection. If the Jews thought that a real Jewish king had come and this king was the predicted Messiah then maybe Herod would be overthrown, and if he were not overthrown then maybe his successors would be, or perhaps there would be at least sufficient trouble for the Roman Caesar to throw him out and impose order itself, so he was terrified and alarmed, and there may have been other reasons. He could only think in terms of a political Messiah. ‘And all of Jerusalem with him’ – this travelling group of wise men made quite a stir.How many wise men were there? People years ago assumed there must be three because of the three types of gift mentioned – gold, frankincense and myrrh – but it is possible that there were rather more of these scholar priests; maybe five, six, ten or more. There are reasons to think this was quite a large group. It was very dangerous to move on the road in those times making such a long journey of a thousand miles or more, there and back; they would surely have travelled with their companions, with a bodyguard. And they were very wealthy people to bring such treasures as they brought, so they must have had a retinue of servants with them. Such a large group would attract attention in Jerusalem, although only three might not, and especially with the message they bought. We can understand Herod, the great, being terrified, but why were the Jews in Jerusalem terrified? Would they not have welcomed the possibility that the Messiah was coming? Oh no. The chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees did not want their money-making racket disturbed. They were the establishment. Things were going well for them. They did not want a Messiah to come in, and bring upheaval. Maybe many of the people in Jerusalem also feared that if somebody came who was a king of the Jews, or rose up in their midst, then the Romans would move and there would be severe punishment for them all. But anyway they did not have any faith. They did not have any expectation that the old prophecies would be fulfilled, and that Messiah would come, so they were all terrified.