Matthew 2:19-23

¹⁹ Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰ saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Commentary

Now with Herod’s death an angel of the Lord again appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ^{Vs. 20} Joseph then arises and takes the Child and His mother and returns to the land of Israel (vs. 21). However upon arriving there Joseph hears that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, and he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee (vs. 22). And so with Joseph’s fears God again directs Joseph, this time into the region of Galilee, to what was then an obscure city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (vs. 23)
Now unlike Judea which was located in the south, which was considered the epicenter of the Jews religion and national life; Jerusalem and the Temple being there; Galilee was a land in the northern most territory in Israel, historically being a land of Jews and Gentiles, with Nazareth itself being a rather obscure “frontier town” with a certain “reputation”. And so Jews from Galilee not only bore their own easily recognizable accent (consider Mark 14:70), but also the “reputation” that came with being from that place (1 Kings 9:10-14; John 1:46). Thus Galilee was a land generally not thought of as being “clean” by the “devout” Jews of Judea in the south, and yet it would serve as the Childhood home of our Lord and Savior. Now it should be stated that both the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples whom He called would be from that very region, and in spite of its “reputation” they were in fact very devout men, the Apostle Peters own testimony reveals that (see Acts 10:9-15). And so in spite of its “reputation” it would be in Nazareth of Galilee that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself would not only choose to grow up in; far away from the institutionalized religion of the Jews with all of its traditions and trappings; but also He would call all of His disciples from Galilee, *the sole exception being Judas Iscariot, Nazareth being then a perfect local to not only fulfill the Word of God, but also keep the Lord Jesus Christ in a low profile until the time of His Manifestation.

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Additional Resources Consulted
*Gleaned from Nelsons Bible Dictionary