Matthew 2:21

21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to Israel.

Matthew 2:21 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 2:21

And he arose and took the young child and his mother
He exactly conformed in every circumstance to the orders given him, with respect to the persons he took, the place he went to, and the expeditiousness of doing it; and is an example of ready and cheerful obedience to the commands of God, worthy of imitation. We may learn from hence, as well as from some other instances already met with, a reason among others, why, though Mary was a virgin, and even if she was to continue so, yet she must be espoused to Joseph as her husband; that she might have one to take care of her and her young child, and be a means, under God, of preserving, protecting, and providing for them.

Matthew 2:21 In-Context

19 After Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.
20 The angel said to him, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to Israel. Those who tried to kill the child are dead."
21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, Joseph was afraid to go there. Warned in a dream, he left for Galilee
23 and made his home in a city called Nazareth. So what the prophets had said came true: "He will be called a Nazarene."
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