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The Massacre of the Innocents refers to an episode in the lives of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary of Nazareth and Herod the Great, narrated only in the Gospel of Matthew (Mt 2:16-18).

Overview

According to the Gospel of Matthew, when the Magi failed to report the identity of the "newborn king of the Jews" (see Adoration of the Magi), Herod the Great ordered the killing of all of all young male children at Bethlehem. The incident is interpreted as the fulfillment of a passage from Jeremiah (31:15). Jesus and his family, alerted by an angel, escaped the massacre (see Flight into Egypt).

The mid-2th century Protoevangelium of James provides a different account of the miraculous salvation of the infant Jesus and involves John the Baptist also in the story. At the beginning of the 5th century the non-Christian writer Macrobius shows how by that time the story had penetrated the culture at large; the reference to Herod killing his own son betrays the actual origins of the legend.

The historicity of the literary episode is denied by contemporary scholars. The event was inspired by Herod's notorious brutality against all those whom he perceived as a threat to his throne, including his own children (see Josephus). In the Matthew narrative, which aims to present Jesus as the new Moses, the episode is patterned on the Exodus story of the killing of the Hebrew firstborn by Pharaoh.

The Massacre of the Innocents in ancient sources

Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 2:16-18 (NRSV) -- [16] When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. [17] Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: [18] "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

Cf. Protoevangelium of James (2nd cent. CE)

And when Herod knew that he had been mocked by the Magi, in a rage he sent murderers, saying to them: Slay the children from two years old and under. And Mary, having heard that the children were being killed, was afraid, and took the infant and swaddled Him, and put Him into an ox-stall. And Elizabeth, having heard that they were searching for John, took him and went up into the hill-country, and kept looking where to conceal him. And there was no place of concealment. And Elizabeth, groaning with a loud voice, says: O mountain of God, receive mother and child. And immediately the mountain was cleft, and received her. And a light shone about them, for an angel of the Lord was with them, watching over them.

Cf. Macrobius, Saturnalia (early 5th cent. CE)

When he (i.e. Emperor Augustus) heard that among the boys in Syria under two years old whom Herod, king of the Jews, had ordered to kill, his own son was also killed, he said: it is better to be Herod's pig, than his son.

The Massacre of the Innocents in literature & the arts

• Massacre of the Innocents (arts) -- survey of fictional works

Related categories

• Jesus of Nazareth / Nativity of Jesus / Adoration of the Magi / Flight into Egypt
• Mary of Nazareth / Joseph of Nazareth
• Herod the Great / Magi
• Bethlehem

External links

• Wikipedia