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The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the
Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...
( Matthew 2:1323) and in
New Testament apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...
. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to
Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...
in a dream telling him to flee to
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
with Mary and the infant
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
since King Herod would seek the child to kill him. The episode is frequently shown in art, as the final episode of the Nativity of Jesus in art, and was a common component in cycles of the ''
Life of the Virgin The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the ...
'' as well as the '' Life of Christ''. Within the narrative tradition, iconic representation of the " Rest on the Flight into Egypt" developed after the 14th century.


Matthew's gospel account


The flight from Herod

When the Magi came in search of Jesus, they went to
Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...
in Jerusalem to ask where to find the newborn "King of the Jews". Herod became paranoid that the child would threaten his throne, and sought to kill him (). Herod initiated the Massacre of the Innocents in hopes of killing the child ( Matthew 2:16Matthew 2:18). But an
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...
appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to take Jesus and his mother into Egypt ( Matthew 2:13). Egypt was a logical place to find refuge, as it was outside the dominions of King Herod, but both Egypt and Judea were part of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, linked by a coastal road known as " the way of the sea", making travel between them easy and relatively safe.


Return from Egypt

After a time, the holy family returned from Egypt. The text states that Herod had died. Herod is believed to have died in 4 BC, and while Matthew does not mention how, the Jewish historian
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
vividly relates a gory death. The land that the holy family return to is identified as ''Judah'', the only place in the entire New Testament where ''Judah'' acts as a geographic description of the whole of Judah and
Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...
( Matthew 2:20), rather than referring to a collection of religious people or the Jewish people in general. It is, however, to Judah that they are described as initially returning, although upon discovering that Archelaus had become the new king, they went instead to Galilee. Historically, Archelaus was such a violent and aggressive king that in the year 6 AD he was
deposed Deposition by political means concerns the removal of a politician or monarch.
ORB: The Online Reference for Med ...
by the Romans, in response to complaints from the population.


Prophecy of Hosea

Matthew 2:15 cites
Hosea In the Hebrew Bible, Hosea ( or ; he, הוֹשֵׁעַ – ''Hōšēaʿ'', 'Salvation'; gr, Ὡσηέ – ''Hōsēé''), son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BCE prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea. He is t ...
as prophetically fulfilled in the return of Joseph, Mary and Jesus from Egypt:
"... and out of Egypt I called My son".
Matthew's use of Hosea 11:1 has been explained in several ways. A sensus plenior approach states that the text in
Hosea In the Hebrew Bible, Hosea ( or ; he, הוֹשֵׁעַ – ''Hōšēaʿ'', 'Salvation'; gr, Ὡσηέ – ''Hōsēé''), son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BCE prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea. He is t ...
contains a meaning intended by God and acknowledged by Matthew, but unknown to Hosea. A typological reading interprets the fulfillment as found in the national history of Israel and the antitypical fulfillment as found in the personal history of Jesus. Matthew's use of typological interpretation may also be seen in his use of
Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
and , and
Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern:   , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning "Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewis ...
. Thus according to the ''Ignatius Catholic Study Bible'', "Hosea 11.1 points back to the Exodus, where God's 'first-born son' (Ex 4:22), Israel, was delivered from slavery under the oppressive Pharaoh. Matthew sees this text also pointing forward, when Jesus, the eternal first-born Son (Rom 8:29), is delivered from the tyrant Herod and later brought out of Egypt (2:21)." Likewise, ''The Orthodox Study Bible'' states that the citation of Hosea 11.1 "refers first to Israel being brought out of captivity. In the Old Testament 'son' can refer to the whole nation of Israel. Here Jesus fulfills this calling as the true Son of God by coming out of Egypt. The Anglican scholar N. T. Wright has pointed out that "The narrative exhibits several points of contact with exodus and exile traditions where Jesus' infancy recapitulates a ''new exodus'' and the ''end of exile'', marking him out further as the true representative of Israel." Another reading of Hosea's prophetic declaration is that it only recounts God summoning of the nation of Israel out of Egypt during
the Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...
, referring to Israel as God's ''son'' in accordance with
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
' declaration to Pharaoh:
"Israel is my first-born son; let my son go, that he may serve me" ().
The
Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
reads ''my son'', whereas the
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...
reads ''his sons'' or ''his children''; the Masoretic Text is to be preferred, the singular being both consonant with the other words which are in the singular in Hosea 11:1 and with the reference to Exodus 4:22–23. The Septuagint reading may be explained as having been made to conform to the
plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...
s of , ''they'' and ''them''.


Historicity

The
Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascensi ...
does not recount this story, relating instead that the Holy Family went to the Temple in Jerusalem, and then home to Nazareth. Followers of the
Jesus Seminar The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 critical biblical scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute.''Making Sense of the New Testament'' by Craig Blomberg (Mar 1, 2004) ...
thus conclude that both Luke's and Matthew's birth and infancy accounts are fabrications. Funk, Robert W. and the
Jesus Seminar The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 critical biblical scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute.''Making Sense of the New Testament'' by Craig Blomberg (Mar 1, 2004) ...
. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' Harper, San Francisco, 1998. "Matthew," pp. 129–270
Funk, Robert W. and the
Jesus Seminar The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 critical biblical scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute.''Making Sense of the New Testament'' by Craig Blomberg (Mar 1, 2004) ...
. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' Harper, San Francisco. 1998. "Luke", pp. 267–364
A theme of Matthew is likening Jesus to Moses for a Judean audience, and the Flight into Egypt illustrates just that theme. Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "Matthew" pp. 272–285 Regarding Matthew's infancy narrative, the 20th-century British scholar William Neil has said that "when we look beneath the engaging poetic decor, we come face to face with highly probable history. ... The flight of the Holy Family to nearby Egypt until after Herod's death, and the reason for their settling in Galilee on their return, apart altogether from Luke's information that Nazareth was their home, are also circumstantially probable." In their commentary on Matthew in the Anchor Bible Series, W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann state that "there is no reason to doubt the historicity of the story of the family's flight into Egypt. The Old Testament abounds in references to individuals and families taking refuge in Egypt, in flight either from persecution or revenge, or in the face of economic pressure." British scholar
R. T. France Richard Thomas France (1938–2012), known as R. T. France or Dick France, was a New Testament scholar and Anglican cleric. He was Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He also worked for the London School of Theology. ...
has also argued in support of the historicity of the narrative. " oseph'schoice of Egypt as a place of exile ... was in line with the practice of other Palestinians who feared reprisals from the government; as a neighbouring country with a sizeable Jewish population it was an obvious refuge. And his subsequent avoidance of Judea under Archelaus, and expectation of safety in Galilee, accords with the political circumstances as we know them."


Extra-Biblical accounts


Christian

The story was much elaborated in the "Infancy Gospels" of the
New Testament apocrypha The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...
with, for example,
palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm tr ...
s bowing before the infant Jesus, Jesus taming dragons, the beasts of the desert paying him homage, and an encounter with the two thieves who would later be crucified alongside Jesus.First Infancy Gospel of Jesus. chapter VIII
/ref> In these later tales the family was joined by
Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, a ...
as Jesus' nurse. These stories of the time in Egypt have been especially important to the Coptic Church, which is based in Egypt, and throughout Egypt there are a number of churches and shrines marking places where the family stayed. The most important of these is the church of Abu Serghis, which claims to be built on the place the family had its home. One of the most extensive and, in Eastern Christianity, influential accounts of the Flight appears in the perhaps seventh-century ''
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (or The Infancy Gospel of Matthew) is a part of the New Testament apocrypha. In antiquity the text was called The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior. Pseudo-Matthew is one of a ...
'', in which Mary, tired by the heat of the sun, rested beneath a palm tree. The infant Jesus then miraculously has the palm tree bend down to provide Mary with its fruit, and release from its roots a spring to provide her with water.


Muslim

The
Qur'ān The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...
does not include the tradition of the Flight into Egypt, though sūra XXIII, 50 could conceivably allude to it: “And we made the
son of Maryam ''Son of Maryam'' ( fa, ﭕﺴﺮ مريم ), (1998) is an Iranian drama film directed by Hamid Jebelli and starring Rafik Dergabrilian, Mohsen Falsafin, Hadi Nainizadeh. The movie is about a young Persian boy who befriends an Assyrian priest a ...
and his
mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ...
a sign; and we made them abide in an elevated place, full of quiet and watered with springs”. However, its account of the
birth of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...
is very similar to the account of the Flight in the ''
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (or The Infancy Gospel of Matthew) is a part of the New Testament apocrypha. In antiquity the text was called The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior. Pseudo-Matthew is one of a ...
'': Mary gives birth leaning against the trunk of a date-palm, which miraculously provides her with dates and a stream. It is therefore thought that one tradition owes something to the other. Numerous later Muslim writers on the life of Jesus did transmit stories about the Flight into Egypt. Prominent examples include Abū Isḥāḳ al-Thaʿlabī, whose ''ʿArāʾis al-madjālis fī ḳiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ'', an account of the lives of the prophets, reports the Flight, followed by a stay in Egypt of twelve years; and
al-Ṭabarī ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
's ''
History of the Prophets and Kings The ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' ( ar, تاريخ الرسل والملوك ''Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk''), more commonly known as ''Tarikh al-Tabari'' () or ''Tarikh-i Tabari'' or ''The History of al-Tabari '' ( fa, تاریخ طب� ...
''.


In art

The Flight into Egypt was a popular subject in art, showing Mary with the baby on a donkey, led by Joseph, borrowing the older
iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
of the rare Byzantine ''Journey to Bethlehem''. Nevertheless, Joseph is sometimes holding the child on his shoulders. Before about 1525, it usually formed part of a larger cycle, whether of the Nativity, or the ''Life of Christ'' or ''Life of the Virgin''. From the 15th century in the Netherlands onwards, the non-Biblical subject of the
Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the fir ...
resting on the journey, the '' Rest on the Flight into Egypt'' became popular, by the late 16th century perhaps more common than the original traveling family. The family were often accompanied by angels, and in earlier images sometimes an older boy who may represent
James the Brother of the Lord James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord ( la, Iacobus from he, יעקב, and grc-gre, Ἰάκωβος, , can also be Anglicized as "Jacob"), was "a brother of Jesus", according to the New Testament. He was an early lead ...
, interpreted as a son of Joseph, by a previous marriage. The background to these scenes usually (until the
Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...
tightened up on such additions to scripture) included a number of apocryphal
miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s, and gave an opportunity for the emerging genre of
landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compo ...
. In the ''Miracle of the corn'', the pursuing soldiers interrogated peasants, asking when the Holy Family passed by. The peasants truthfully said it was when they were sowing their
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
seed; however the wheat has miraculously grown to full height. In the ''Miracle of the idol'' a pagan statue fell from its plinth as the infant Jesus passed by, and a spring gushed up from the desert (originally separate, these are often combined). In other less commonly seen legends, a group of robbers abandoned their plan to rob the travelers, and a
date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across northern Africa, the Middle Eas ...
tree bent down to allow them to pluck the fruit. During the 16th century, as interest in
landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent compo ...
grew, the subject became popular as an individual subject for paintings, often with the figures small in a large landscape. The subject was especially popular with German Romantic painters, and later in the 19th century was one of a number of New Testament subjects which lent themselves to Orientalist treatment. Unusually, the 18th century artist
Gianbattista Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...
produced a whole series of etchings with 24 scenes from the flight, most just showing different views of the Holy Family travelling. A subject taking place after the arrival in Egypt is the meeting of the infant Jesus with his cousin, the infant
John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
, who, according to legend was rescued from
Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...
before the massacre by the Archangel Uriel, and joined the Holy Family in Egypt. This meeting of the two Holy Children was to be painted by many artists during the Renaissance period, after being popularized by
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...
and then
Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...
with works like Leonardo's
Virgin of the Rocks The ''Virgin of the Rocks'' ( it, Vergine delle rocce), sometimes the ''Madonna of the Rocks'', is the name of two paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, of the same subject, with a composition which is identical except ...
. The "Flight into Egypt" was a favorite theme of
Henry Ossawa Tanner Henry Ossawa Tanner (June 21, 1859 – May 25, 1937) was an American artist and the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim. Tanner moved to Paris, France, in 1891 to study at the Académie Julian and gained acclaim in Fren ...
, depicting the Holy Family's clandestine evasion of King Herod's assassins (Matthew 2:12–14). In it Tanner expresses his sensitivity to issues of personal freedom, escape from persecution, and migrations of African-Americans from the South to the North. Two plays of the medieval '' Ordo Rachelis'' cycle contain an account of the flight into Egypt, and the one found in the Fleury Playbook contains the only dramatic representation of the return from Egypt.


In music

The oratorio ''
L'enfance du Christ ''L'enfance du Christ'' (''The Childhood of Christ''), Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt (see Gospel of Matthew 2:13). Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of i ...
'' (1854) by French composer
Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
relates the events from Herod's dream and his meeting with the Magi through the angels' warning and the flight into Egypt until the Holy Family arrive at Sais. Two choral works by the German composer Max Bruch take the flight into Egypt as their theme - ''The Flight of the Holy Family'' (1863) and ''The Flight into Egypt'' (1871). The German composer Valentin Ruckebier wrote an opera called ''The Flight To Egypt'' which was produced and performed in 2021/22 at
Teatro Comunale Modena The Teatro Comunale di Modena (Community Theatre of Modena, but renamed in October 2007 as Teatro Comunale Luciano Pavarotti) is an opera house in the town of Modena, (Emilia-Romagna province), Italy. The idea for the creation of the present theat ...
,
Linz State Theatre The Linz State Theatre (german: Landestheater Linz) is a theatre in Linz, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a ...
and Serbian National Theatre Novi Sad. File:Bochum Stiepel - Stiepeler Dorfkirche 18 ies.jpg, Simple medieval wall painting in a German church in Bochum-Stiepel Image:Melchior Broederlam 003.jpg, ''
Presentation at the Temple The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (or ''in the temple'') is an early episode in the life of Jesus Christ, describing his presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem, that is celebrated by many churches 40 days after Christmas on Candlemas, o ...
'' and Flight, with legends of the idol and spring,
Melchior Broederlam Melchior Broederlam (born Ypres, perhaps 1350; died Ypres?, after 1409) was one of the earliest Early Netherlandish painters to whom surviving works can be confidently attributed. He worked mostly for Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and is do ...
,
Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...
, c. 1400 Image:Folio 57r - The Flight into Egypt.jpg, The miracles of the palm tree and corn on the Flight, from a
book of hours The book of hours is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours. The use of a book of hours was especially popular in the Middle Ages and as a result, they are the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscri ...
, ca. 1400 Image:Joachim Patinir - Landscape with the Flight into Egypt.jpg, Joachim Patinir, 1510s (?), the inventor of the world landscape, painted several versions of the subject. At right the miracle of the corn, at top left the falling idol Image:Adam Elsheimer - Die Flucht nach Ägypten (Alte Pinakothek) 2.jpg, '' The Flight into Egypt'', Adam Elsheimer, c. 1605, as a night scene File:Rubens, Peter Paul - Flight into Egypt - 1614.jpg,
Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
, 1614 File:Asselijn Jan - Flight into Egypt.jpg, Jan Asselyn, c. 1640 Image:Philipp Otto Runge 004.jpg, Romantic ''Rest on the Flight'' by
Philipp Otto Runge Philipp Otto Runge (; 1777–1810) was a German artist, a draftsman, painter, and color theorist. Runge and Caspar David Friedrich are often regarded as the leading painters of the German Romantic movement.Koerner, Joseph Leo. 1990. ''Caspar Dav ...
, 1806 Image:Edwin Longsden Long - Anno Domini.jpg, British Orientalist artist Edwin Long, ''Anno Domini'', 1883, shows the arrival in Egypt; the idols seem intact. File:Flight into Egypt (12 Sinai).jpg,
Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( ar, دير القدّيسة كاترين; grc-gre, Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Katherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, ...
, 12th century File:Vitrail Notre-Dame de Paris 191208 04 Fuite en Egypte.jpg, ''The Flight into Egypt'', stained glass in a choir chapel,
Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
cathedral,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
File:Merson Rest on the Flight into Egypt.jpg, ''Rest on the Flight into Egypt'' by Luc-Olivier Merson, 1879,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
NIND MuseeL-fuite ISO200.jpg, Statue by Legs F. van Hamme, 17th century


Nazarenes, Nazareth, and Nazirites

While Luke places Jesus' family as being originally from the town of
Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
, Matthew has the family moving there, fearing Archelaus who was ruling in Judea in place of his father Herod.
Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
, now a town, is not mentioned by the Old Testament,
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
or rabbinical sources, though many Christian Bible archaeologists, such as the evangelical and
egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...
Kenneth Kitchen Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (born 1932) is a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Univ ...
, state that they are fairly sure that a village existed in the area at the time of Jesus.Galilee
.
Clarke notes that the location of Nazareth is just to the north of where the large town Sepphoris was located. At the time, Sepphoris had been largely destroyed in the violence following the death of
Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...
, and was being rebuilt by
Herod Antipas Herod Antipas ( el, Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπας, ''Hērǭdēs Antipas''; born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both ...
, hence Clarke speculates that this could have been seen as a good source of employment by Joseph, a carpenter. The difficulty with the brief quote ''he will be called a Nazarene'' is that it occurs nowhere in the Old Testament, or any other extant source. The most similar known passage is
Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
where of
Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...
it says ''the child shall be a Nazirite'', where a
nazirite In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or a nazarite ( he, נָזִיר ''Nāzīr'') is one who voluntarily took a vow which is described in . "Nazarite" comes from the Hebrew word ''nazir'' meaning "consecrated" or "separated". Those who put themselves ...
was a specific type of religious ascetic. That the Nazirite and Nazareth are so similar in name, while Nazareth isn't mentioned in any other source until after the Gospels have been written, and that the passage almost parallels one about the birth of a hero who was a Nazirite, has led many to propose that Matthew originally had Jesus being a Nazirite, but it was changed to Nazarene, inventing a location named ''Nazareth'', when the ascetic requirements fell foul of later religious practices. Biblical scholar
R. T. France Richard Thomas France (1938–2012), known as R. T. France or Dick France, was a New Testament scholar and Anglican cleric. He was Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, from 1989 to 1995. He also worked for the London School of Theology. ...
rejects this explanation, stating that Jesus was not a Nazirite and claiming that he is never described as one. Another theory is that it is based on a prophecy at , which states ''there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:'' — the
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
for branch is ''נצר (netzer)''. The priestly clan of the "netzerites" possibly settled in the place which became known as Netzereth/ Nazareth. Bargil Pixner in his work "With Jesus Through Galilee" says that the title Nazarene, given to Jesus, alludes not so much to his town of origin as to his royal descent. While this piece of wordplay is meaningless when translated into
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, Hebrew wordplay is not unknown in Matthew, underlining the opinion that some parts of this gospel were originally written in Hebrew.


Christian traditions associated with the Flight into Egypt

The Flight into Egypt is one of the listed Seven Sorrows of Mary. A local French tradition states that
Saint Aphrodisius Aphrodisius (french: Saint Aphrodise, Afrodise, Aphrodyse, Aphrodite) is a saint associated with the diocese of Béziers, in Languedoc, Southern France. According to Gregory of Tours, Aphrodisius was an Egyptian who was martyred in Languedoc ...
, an Egyptian saint who was venerated as the first bishop of Béziers, was the man who sheltered the Holy Family when they fled into Egypt. In
Coptic Christianity Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts ar ...
, it is also held that the Holy family visited many areas in Egypt, including Musturud (where there is now the Church of the Virgin Mary),
Wadi El Natrun Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt ...
(which has four large monasteries), and Old Cairo, along with Farama, Tel Basta, Samanoud, Bilbais, Samalout,
Maadi Maadi ( ar, المعادي / transliterated:   ) is a leafy suburban district south of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The Nile at Maadi is parallelled by the Corniche, a waterfront promenade a ...
, Al-Maṭariyyah, Arganus and
Asiut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut'' ( ar, أسيوط ' , from ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at ...
among others. It is likewise tradition that the
Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the fir ...
visited
Coptic Cairo Coptic Cairo is a part of Old Cairo which encompasses the Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George and many other Coptic churches and historical sites. It is believed in Christian tradition that th ...
and stayed at the site of Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga)Coptic Cairo
and the place where the
Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag) The Church of the Holy Virgin in Babylon El-Darag (Babylon of the Steps) is a Coptic Orthodox church in Coptic Cairo built in the 11th century AD. History The Church of the Holy Virgin in Babylon El-Darag was occupied from the 11th to the 15th ce ...
stands now. At Al-Maṭariyyah, then in Heliopolis and now part of Cairo, there is a
sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...
tree (and adjacent chapel) that is a 1672 planting replacing an earlier tree under which Mary was said to have rested, or in some versions hidden from pursuers in the hollow trunk, while pious spiders covered the entrance with dense webs.


Commentary

Cornelius a Lapide, commenting on the flight into Egypt wrote that, " tropologically, Christ fled into Egypt that He might teach us to despise
exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
, and that we, as pilgrims and exiles on the earth, might pant after and strive for heaven as our true country. Whence
Peter Chrysologus Peter Chrysologus ( el, Ἅγιος Πέτρος ὁ Χρυσολόγος, ''Petros Chrysologos'', "Peter the Golden-worded"; c. 380 – c. 450) was Bishop of Ravenna from about 433 until his death. He is known as the “Doctor of Homilies” for ...
says (Serm. 115), “Christ fled that He might make it more tolerable for us, when we have to flee in persecution.” S. Gregory Nazian. (Orat. 28) says—“Every land, and no land is my country.” No land was Gregory’s country, because heaven was his country. Again, every land was his country, because he looked upon the whole world as his country. Thus
Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...
, when he was asked what countryman he was, replied, “A citizen of the world.” Justus Knecht notes that the flight shows ''The Omniscience of God'', writing, "God knew that in the morning Herod would send soldiers to Bethlehem, to slay the little boys under two years old; therefore He ordered St. Joseph to flee in the middle of the night. The Lord God knew also the moment of Herod’s death, as well as the evil disposition of his son and successor, Archelaus. He therefore warned St. Joseph not to return to Judaea, but to take up his abode at Nazareth in Galilee." Roger Baxter reflects on the flight in his ''Meditations'' writing, "How different are the thoughts of God from the thoughts of men! Christ was no sooner born, than sent into banishment. The Almighty could easily have rid the world of Herod, or have appeased his anger, or have rendered His divine Son invisible; but He adopted the ordinary means of safety, and His Son must fly. Reflect how derogatory this was to the dignity of the Redeemer, and how full of inconveniences. Thus God always treats those whom He loves best. Are you greater or better than the Son of God? Why, then, do you complain when His providence prepares crosses for you?"


See also

*
Chapel of the Milk Grotto he, מערת החלב , native_name_lang = , image = A Churches in Bethlehem3.jpg , imagesize = 250px , imagelink= , imagealt= , caption = Chapel of the Milk Grotto , pushpin map= West Bank#Palestinian territories ...
* '' Exsul Familia'' * ''
L'enfance du Christ ''L'enfance du Christ'' (''The Childhood of Christ''), Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt (see Gospel of Matthew 2:13). Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of i ...
'' * Massacre of the Innocents * ''Rest on the Flight into Egypt'' (Caravaggio) *
Saint Joseph's dreams Saint Joseph's dreams are four dreams described in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament in which Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, is visited by an angel of the Lord and receives specific instructions and warnings of impending danger. ...
*
Biblical Egypt Biblical Egypt (; ''Mīṣrāyīm''), or Mizraim, is a theological term used by historians and scholars to differentiate between Ancient Egypt as it is portrayed in Judeo-Christian texts and what is known about the region based on archaeological ...


References


Further reading

* Albright, W.F. and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." ''
The Anchor Bible Series The Anchor Bible Series, which consists of a commentary series, a Bible dictionary, and a reference library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture which was begun in 1956, with the publication of individual volumes in the commentary series. Ove ...
.'' New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971. * Brown, Raymond E. ''The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke''. New York: Doubleday; London: G. Chapman, 1977. Updated ed. 1993. *Clarke, Howard W. ''The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. *France, R.T. ''The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary.'' Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985. *France, R.T. "The Formula Quotations of Matthew 2 and the Problem of Communications." ''New Testament Studies.'' Vol. 27, 1981. * Gabra, Gawdat (ed.). ''Be Thou There: The Holy Family's Journey in Egypt.'' Cairo and New York: The American University in Cairo Press, 2001. *Goulder, M.D. ''Midrash and Lection in Matthew''. London: SPCK, 1974. * Gundry, Robert H. ''Matthew a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art.'' Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. *Jones, Alexander. ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew.'' London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1965. * Schweizer, Eduard. ''The Good News According to Matthew.'' Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975


External links


Further reading on the Flight into Egypt in art
on Matthew 2:19
Orthodox Wiki article on the Flight into Egypt
Includes map, info and links to various articles and videos on the subject. {{DEFAULTSORT:Flight Into Egypt Christian iconography Coptic Orthodox Church Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament * Angelic apparitions in the Bible Gospel of Matthew Saint Joseph (husband of Mary)