Matthew 2:17
in Matthew 2Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
KJV
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
⋯
This verse in Matthew 2
Commentary
5 notes on this verseon Matthew 2:17-18
(In Hierem. 31:15.) This passage of Jeremiah has been quoted by Matthew neither according to the Hebrew nor the LXX version. This shows that the Evangelists and Apostles did not follow any one's translation, but according to the Hebrew manner expressed in their own words what they had read in Hebrew. By Ramah we need not suppose that the town of that name near Gibeah is meant; but take it as signifying 'high.' A voice was heard 'aloft,' that is, spread far and wide.' Rachel's son was Benjamin, in which tribe Bethlehem is not situated.
This site's exposition
slew all the children
on Matthew 2:16-18
Herod slew all the children in Bethlehem from two years old and under, and the bench sets two honest notes side by side: the village's size puts the number likely between ten and thirty, not the thousands of later legend, and the deed is entirely in character for the man Josephus records murdering his own sons, so that Augustus reportedly quipped it was safer to be Herod's pig than his son. Matthew hears Jeremiah 31:15, Rachel weeping for her children, Ramah's lament when the exiles were marshalled past her tomb; the formula here is then was fulfilled, not that it might be, the bench noting Matthew's care never to make God the purposer of the crime. In Jeremiah the weeping verse opens into refrain thy voice from weeping, and the exposition leaves that door where Matthew left it, ajar.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken,.... By the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem was literally accomplished what had been predicted by Jeremy the prophet, in Jer 31:15. in Rama was there a voice heard, &c. That this prophecy belongs not to the Babylonish captivity, but the times of the Messiah, appears from the whole context; which manifestly speaks of the miraculous conception of Christ, of the blessings of his kingdom to be enjoyed by his people, and of the new covenant to be made with them, as I have shown in another place (r).
Then was fulfilled - A passage of Scripture, whether prophetic, historical, or poetical, is in the language of the New Testament fulfilled, when an event happens to which it may with great propriety be accommodated.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Then was fulfilled - The word “fulfilled,” here. is used evidently in the sense that the words in Jeremiah aptly express the event which Matthew was recording. Compare the notes at Mat 1:22. That which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet - Jeremiah. This quotation is taken from Jer 31:15. The original design of the prophecy was to describe the sorrowful departure of the people of Israel into captivity after the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuzaradan.
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Τότε | tote | Then | G5119 → | 160 times |
| ἐπληρώθη | eplerothe | was fulfilled | G4137 → | 86 times |
| τὸ | to | that | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ῥηθὲν | rhethen | having been spoken | G2046 → | 47 times |
| διὰ | dia | through | G1223 → | 664 times |
| Ἰερεμίου | ieremiou | Jeremiah | G2408 → | 3 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| προφήτου | prophetou | prophet | G4396 → | 144 times |
| λέγοντος· | legontos | saying; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
ΤότεThen
toteG5119 →160 times
ἐπληρώθηwas fulfilled
eplerotheG4137 →86 times
τὸthat
toG3588 →19766 times
ῥηθὲνhaving been spoken
rhethenG2046 →47 times
διὰthrough
diaG1223 →664 times
ἸερεμίουJeremiah
ieremiouG2408 →3 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
προφήτουprophet
prophetouG4396 →144 times
λέγοντος·saying;
legontosG3004 →1325 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Matthew
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Books XVI-XVII; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament.