Matthew 2:16-18 16Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very angry, and after he sent, he executed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its surround area from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the magi. 17Then the word through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, 18“A voice was heard in Ramah, seeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she did not want to be comforted, because there were none.”
The story takes a sad and unfortunate turn at this point with the paranoid Herod acting in rage and cruelty. When the magi did not return to give him a report, he lashed out against all the young children in Bethlehem and vicinity. One would think that if he was a true believer in God, he should have realized that it does no good to fight God’s plan and the prophetic word. But Herod shows the signs of a selfish despot bent on preserving his reign and dynasty.
The word for children (paidas) is masculine, so some modern translations insert the word “boys” or “males.” The word is used in Matthew as neuter for children in general, masculine for a boy child, and feminine for a female child. There were many families who suffered because of Herod’s jealousy. The grammar clearly places the blame on Herod for this atrocity. Verse 16 gives us the major hint of how much time was involved in the story of the magi’s journey, from the point they first saw the star to the death of the innocent children of Bethlehem. This clue suggests that the boy Jesus was no older than two years.
Matthew as the author links Herod’s extermination of the baby boys to a prophecy from Jeremiah 31:15. Matthew’s apparent strategy in this Gospel was to connect Jesus to prophecy to show that he is fulfillment of God’s plan. This plan was not only for the Jews, from whose Scripture Matthew cites, but to the whole world, as the ending in 28:19-20 indicates. The quote in verse 18 is truly sad. Ramah was the location where those taken into Babylonian exile began their journey (Jeremiah 40:1). It was a sad day for the people of Judah as families were split and deported to a far away land. Raham was also located in the territory of Benjamin. It was an area with deep memory for the people of Israel. The death of these children would bring further painful memories to the people who lived at the turn of the era. The story of Israel is full of grief and pain, but a new day was dawning with the birth of the King of kings.
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