Matthew 2:7-8 7Then after Herod secretly called the magi, he determined precisely from them the time the star appeared, 8and sending them to Bethlehem he said, “After going, inquire carefully about the child; and when you have found him, report to me, so that I may also after coming worship Him.”
Herod wanted to keep news of the birth of the king quiet. He must have recognized some truth in what the magi said about the birth of this new king and immediately started making plans. He had to do this carefully, lest word get out among the people. News of the birth of the Messiah could have created a revolution. Herod knew where the child was born but did not know when. The child could have been grown up and a direct threat to his reign. So he did a little investigation to determine exactly when the child was born to rule out an immediate threat. The appearance of the star marked the exact time of the child’s birth. It would have taken some time for the magi to determine what to do, where to go, and then to travel from the east. This would have taken several months at least. Jesus came at just the right time in history, when many roads came together religiously, politically, and socially.
Matthew’s style of writing is to use adverbial participles related in sense to the main verb. Most of these participles are in the aorist tense, showing prior action to the verb, indicated in my translation with the word “after.” This has the effect of moving the plot along sequentially. The participial grammar is not always clear and smooth, which suggests that Greek may not have been Matthew’s first language.
The plot moves along as Herod directs the magi to go and investigate the birth of this child and report back to him what they found. His purpose in this lacks sincerity and shows his trickery and ulterior motives. The magi already mentioned their goal of worship, and so Herod joins in that purpose. He was not interested in worshiping the king but destroying the king. No one would rival his power. By this time in his reign, he was advanced in years and did not have much time left. Was he wanting to destroy the king for the sake of his sons? People come to Jesus with different motives. People may give lip service, like Herod, but lack true heart sincerity. Their worship is in words only but lacks genuine fear of the Lord.
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