UTN uW Translation Notes:

Matthew 2 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

1. The birth of Jesus Christ and the beginning of his ministry (1:1-4:25) * The visit of the learned men (2:1–12) * Joseph, Mary, and Jesus escape to Egypt (2:13–15) * Herod kills the baby boys in Bethlehem (2:16–18) * Joseph, Mary, and Jesus settle in Nazareth (2:19–23)Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with the poetry in verses 6 and 18, which are quotations from the Old Testament.

Special Concepts in this Chapter

“Learned men”

In this chapter, Matthew tells about how “learned men” from countries to the east of Judea visited Jesus in order to worship him. These were educated men who studied dreams and stars in the sky to try to learn about what was happening and what would happen in the future. Matthew does not present them as if they are evil. Consider how you might naturally refer to this kind of educated man. The ULT provides a general translation (“learned men”), and the UST illustrates how to use a descriptive phrase (“scholars who studied the stars”).

The star

The learned men journey to Jerusalem because they see a specific star. Matthew further describes how this star moved in the sky until it was directly above where Jesus was living. It is not clear exactly what this star was. Scholars have suggested that it was one of the planets, a shooting star, a comet, or a bright angel. If possible, use a word or phrase that refers generally to a natural source of light in the sky. If you need to be more specific, you could use a word or phrase that refers to stars, especially the kinds of stars that move or appear to move in the sky.

The journeys of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus

In this chapter, Matthew narrates several journeys that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus took. At first, they are in Bethlehem, which is a city near the capital city of Judea, Jerusalem. After the learned men visit, God warns Joseph to journey to Egypt, a country to the southwest of Judea, in order to escape from Herod, the king of Judea. After Herod dies, God tells Joseph that he can take his family back to Israel. However, he does not take his family back to Judea, because Herod’s son is now reigning in Herod’s place. Instead, he and his family travel to Nazareth, a city in the region of Galilee, which is north of Judea. When Matthew uses movement words, make sure that your translation fits with these journeys.

Other Possible Translation Difficulties in this Chapter

Singular and plural forms of “you”

Most of the forms of “you” in this chapter appear in direct speech to individuals. Because of this, most forms of “you” in this chapter are singular. You should assume forms of “you” are singular unless a note specifies that the form is plural. (See: figs-yousingular)