Herod Meets the Magi

December 25th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Matthew 2:3-8 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

In 40 BC the Parthians invaded Palestine, and Herod, being governor of Galilee at the time, fled to Rome. The next year Herod himself, after being declared king of the Jews by Octavian and Antony, invaded Palestine and drove the Parthians out to establish his reign. Thus, when the magi appeared in Jerusalem—the king-makers of Parthia—Herod “and all Jerusalem with him,” became “troubled.” After all, Herod was a paranoid madman who killed anyone, including his own sons and wives, whom he believed were a threat to his position of power. Because of his history with the Parthians, the people of Jerusalem were likely troubled by the magi throwing Herod into another furor that would lead to more senseless killing.

Now though the number of magi is traditionally three, the text is not specific as to their actual number. It is possible that their entourage included both soldiers and servants, making it a much larger group. If so, Herod’s paranoia was justified, for the magi were the king-makers of Parthia—a nation he driven out of Palestine thirty years prior. He therefore called the Jewish religious leaders together in order to find out if they knew where the prophesied Messiah was to be born. He would only have done this if he knew there was a prophesied King coming, and he was no doubt aware of the Jews’ messianic expectations. He also knew that the Jews did not recognize him as their legitimate king given that he was a descendant of Esau, not Jacob.

When the religious leaders pointed out Bethlehem as the birthplace of the promised Messiah from Micah 5:2, 4, Herod set his wicked plan in motion. When quoting Micah’s prophecy, however, Matthew does not report it as a word-for-word quote of Micah 5:2. The last eight words in fact echo the words of the Israelites spoken to David in 2 Samuel 5:2: “…And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.’ ” Also, instead of quoting Micah as saying, “Bethlehem Ephrathah,” Matthew says, “Bethlehem, land of Judah.” It is certain that he did this to specify Jesus’ Judaic origins, as he did previously in the genealogy of 1:1-17. To justify Matthew’s liberal use of the OT, R.T. France says, “This relatively free and creative handling of the text (not unlike that found in contemporary Aramaic targums) differs little from the practice of many modern preachers who, if not reading directly out of the Bible, will often (probably quite unconsciously) quote a text in an adapted form which helps the audience to see how the text relates to the argument. No-one is misled, and the hermeneutical procedure is well understood. Micah’s words have been applied appropriately, even if not with the literalistic precision which the age of the printed Bible makes possible.”

Though seemingly insignificant, Bethlehem was already legendary in that it was Rachel’s burial site (Gen. 35:19), where Ruth met and married Boaz (Ruth 1:22; 2:4), and the hometown of King David (1 Sam. 17:12, 15). Most importantly, it was the specific location where the Messiah was to be born according to the eighth century BC prophet Micah.
Now after the religious leaders revealed Bethlehem as the place of the Messiah’s birth, Herod realized that a Ruler was prophesied to come from there who would shepherd (i.e., pastor; lead) God’s people Israel. So he went to work weaving together his sinister plan. He called the magi to him in secret, first to find out when exactly the star appeared to them, for this would indicate how old the Child was. Next, he revealed Bethlehem, five miles away, as the Messiah’s birthplace. Then he lied and told them he too desired to find and worship the Child. For his plan was not to worship but to murder the Child. Later, he would instruct his soldiers to go through Bethlehem and kill every child under the age of two (2:16), apparently believing that he could squelch God’s sovereign plan of establishing His prophesied King who would shepherd Israel.

Food For Thought
Herod’s attitude resembles all unbelievers. He was so frightened by the prospect of God, or anyone else, ruling over his life that he went to extremes to ensure his own supposed control. That, and that alone, is why people reject Jesus even today. The prospect of submitting to God is so repulsive to them that they will forfeit that which is eternal for that which is fleeting.