Category:Massacre of the Innocents (subject)

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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.

In Depth

• Massacre of the Innocents (sources) -- survey of ancient sources

• 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