Matthew 2:2

King James Version

Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
They asked people, "Where is the child who has been born to be the king of the Jews? We saw the star that shows he was born. We saw it rise in the sky in the east and have come to worship him."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
saynge: Where is he yt is borne kynge of ye Iues? We have sene his starre in ye eest and are come to worship him.

International Standard Version
and asked, "Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the eastat its rising">[fn] and have come to worship him."Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 60:3; Luke 2:11;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

New Century Version
They asked, "Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Update Bible Version
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.

Amplified Bible
"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

English Standard Version
saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

World English Bible
"Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him.

Weymouth's New Testament
inquiring, "Where is the newly born king of the Jews? For we have seen his Star in the east, and have come here to do him homage."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and seiden, Where is he, that is borun king of Jewis? for we han seyn his sterre in the eest, and we comen to worschipe him.

English Revised Version
saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Berean Standard Bible
asking, "Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Contemporary English Version
and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

American Standard Version
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Bible in Basic English
Saying, Where is the King of the Jews whose birth has now taken place? We have seen his star in the east and have come to give him worship.

Complete Jewish Bible
and asked, "Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Darby Translation
Where is the king of the Jews that has been born? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to do him homage.

Etheridge Translation
and they said, Where is the king of the Jews [fn] who is born ? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.

Murdock Translation
saying: Where is the king of the Jews that is born? For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.

King James Version (1611)
Saying, Where is he that is borne King of the Iewes? for we haue seene his Starre in the East, and are come to worship him.

New Living Translation
"Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

New Life Bible
They asked, "Where is the King of the Jews Who has been born? We have seen His star in the East. We have come to worship Him."

New Revised Standard
asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

Geneva Bible (1587)
Saying, Where is that King of the Iewes that is borne? for wee haue seene his starre in the East, and are come to worship him.

George Lamsa Translation
And they were saying, Where is the King of the Jews, who has been born? For we have seen his star in the East, so we have come to worship him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
saying - Where is he that hath been born king of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and have come to bow down to him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Saying: Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to adore him.

Revised Standard Version
"Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Saying: Where is he that is borne kyng of Iewes? For we haue seene his starre in the east, and are come to worship hym.

Good News Translation
and asked, "Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him."

Christian Standard Bible®
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”

Hebrew Names Version
"Where is he who is born King of the Yehudim? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him."

Lexham English Bible
saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising and have come to worship him."

Literal Translation
saying, Where is He born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.

Young's Literal Translation
saying, `Where is he who was born king of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and we came to bow to him.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
saynge: Where is the new borne kynge of the Iues? We haue sene his starre in the east, and are come to worship him.

Mace New Testament (1729)
Where is this king of the Jews who is now born? for we have seen his rising star, and are come to pay him homage.

New English Translation
saying, "Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

New King James Version
saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."

Simplified Cowboy Version
and asked, "Where's the little one that's meant to be the King of the Jews? We seen a bright light from way over yonder and we have come to hit a knee before him."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Legacy Standard Bible
"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

Contextual Overview

¹ Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, ² Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. ³ When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. ⁵ And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, ⁶ And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. ⁷ Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

born: Matthew 21:5, Psalms 2:6, Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 9:7, Isaiah 32:1, Isaiah 32:2, Jeremiah 23:5, Zechariah 9:9, Luke 2:11, Luke 19:38, Luke 23:3, Luke 23:38, John 1:49, John 12:13, John 18:37, John 19:12-15, John 19:19

his: Numbers 24:17, Isaiah 60:3, Luke 1:78, Luke 1:79, Revelation 22:16

worship: Matthew 2:10, Matthew 2:11, Psalms 45:11, John 5:23, John 9:38, John 20:28, Hebrews 1:6

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:14 - and let Genesis 37:20 - and we 2 Samuel 4:1 - and all Job 36:3 - fetch Psalms 21:1 - The king Isaiah 11:10 - to it shall Jeremiah 30:21 - governor Matthew 2:9 - the star Matthew 11:3 - Art Matthew 27:42 - the King Mark 15:2 - General Mark 15:12 - whom Mark 15:26 - The King of the Jews Luke 2:15 - Let Luke 20:14 - the heir John 12:15 - Fear John 12:21 - we would Acts 8:34 - of whom

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

Exodus 23:12
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

Exodus 31:17
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

Deuteronomy 5:14
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.

Isaiah 58:13
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord , honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

John 5:17
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Hebrews 4:4
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews?.... These words were spoken to the Jews, or rather to Herod the king, or his ministers and courtiers, or to each of them, as the wise men had the opportunity of speaking to them; who make no scruple of his being born, of this they were fully assured; nor did they in the least hesitate about his being king of the Jews, who was born; but only inquire where he was, in what city, town, village, house, or family. The reason of their asking this question is,

for we have seen his star in the east. By the star they saw, some understand an angel, which is not likely. The learned Lightfoot i is of opinion that it was the light or glory of the Lord, which shone about the shepherds, when the angel brought them the news of Christ's birth, and which at so great a distance appeared as a star to these wise men; others, that it was a comet, such as has been thought to portend the birth or death of some illustrious person: but it seems to be properly a star, a new and an unusual one, such as had never been seen, nor observed before; and is called his star, the star of the king born, because it appeared on his account, and was the sign of his birth, who is "the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star", Revelation 22:16. This they saw "in the east"; not in the eastern part of the heavens, but they saw it when they were in the east, that is, in their own country; and according to the best observations they were able to make, it was in that part of the heavens right over the land of Judea; from whence they concluded that the king of the Jews was born; but the question is how they should hereby know and be assured that such a person was born? To this it maybe replied, that there is a prophecy of Balaam's which is thus expressed, "there shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel", Numbers 24:17 which is owned by some Jewish writers k to be a prophecy of the Messiah; though the star there mentioned is considered by them as one of the Messiah's titles; hence one who set up himself, and for a while was by some received as the Messiah, was called by them בר כוכבא "the son of a star"; but when he was discovered to be an impostor, they called him בר כוזיבא "the son of a lie": but I rather take it to be a sign of the Messiah's coming, and the meaning is, when a star shall דרך "walk" or steer its course from Jacob, or above, or over the land of Israel, then a sceptre, or sceptre bearer, that is, a king, shall rise out of Israel. Now this prophecy of Balaam, who lived in the east, might be traditionally handed down to this time, and be well known by these men; and who, observing such a star appear over the land of Judea, might conclude that now the sceptre bearer or king was born l. Besides, Zerdusht or Zoroastres, the author of the sect of the Magi or wise men, and who appears to be a Jew by birth, and to be acquainted with the writings of the Old Testament, and with this prophecy, spoke of the birth of Christ to his followers; and told them when he should be born, a star would appear, and shine in the day, and ordered them to go where that directed, and offer gifts, and worship him. An Eastern writer, who affirms m what I have now mentioned, relates n the following speech as spoke by the wise men to Herod, when in conversation with him, about this matter:

"A certain person, say they, of great note with us, in a book which he composed, warned us in it, mentioning these things; a child that shall descend from heaven, will be born in Palestine, whom the greatest part of the world shall serve, and the sign of his appearance shall be this; ye shall see a strange star, which shall direct you where he is; when ye shall see this, take gold, myrrh and frankincense, and go and offer them to him, and worship him, and then return, lest a great calamity befall you. Now the star has appeared unto us, and we are come to perform what was commanded us.''

If this be true, we are not at a loss how they come by their knowledge, nor for a reason of their conduct. That the Jews have expected that a star should appear at the time of the Messiah's coming, is certain, from some passages in a book of theirs of great value and esteem among them, in which are the following things: in one place it is said o

"The king Messiah shall be revealed in the land of Galilee, and lo a star in the east shall swallow up seven stars in the north, and a flame of red fire shall be in the firmament six days;''

and in another place, p

"When the Messiah shall be revealed, there shall rise up in the east a certain Star, flaming with all sorts of colours--and all men shall see it:''

once more it is affirmed as a tradition q that

"The holy blessed God hath determined to build Jerusalem, and to make a certain (fixed) star appear sparkling with seven blazing tails shining from it in the midst of the firmament--and then shall the king Messiah be revealed in all the world.''

Now this expectation of the appearing of such a star at the coming of the Messiah takes its rise from and is founded upon the above mentioned prophecy. It is said r that Seth the son of Adam gave out a prophecy, that a star should appear at the birth of the Messiah; and that a star did appear at the birth of Christ is certain from the testimony of the Evangelist, and seems to have some confirmation from the writings of the Heathens themselves. Some have thought that the star which Virgil speaks of, and calls s "Caesaris Astrum", "Caesar's star", is this very star, which he in complaisance to that monarch ascribes to him. Pliny t makes mention

"of a bright comet with a silver beard, which was so refulgent that it could scarce be looked upon, showing in itself the effigies of God in human form.''

If the testimony of Chalcidius, a Platonic philosopher, taken notice of by many learned men, is genuine, and he not a Christian, u it is much to the purpose, and is as follows:

"There is also a more venerable and sacred history, which speaks of the rising of a certain unusual star; not foretelling diseases and deaths, but the descent of a venerable God, born for the sake of human conversation, and the affairs of mortals; which star truly, when the wise men of the Chaldeans saw in their journey by night, and being very expert in the consideration of celestial things, are said to inquire after the birth of the new Deity, and having found the infant majesty, to worship him, and pay their vows worthy of such a God.''

The end proposed by them in taking such a journey is expressed,

and are come to worship him; that is, either to pay adoration to him as God, of which they might be convinced by the extraordinary appearance of the star, or be assured of by divine revelation or rather to give him civil homage and respect, as an illustrious person, as being king of the Jews.

i Harmony, p. 205, 437, 438, Vol. I. Hor. Heb. p. 109. Vol. II. k Targum Onk. Jon. & Aben Ezra in loc. Zohar. in Exod. fol. 4. 1. Abarbinel Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 4. 3. Tzeror Hamor, fol. 126. 3. l See my book of the "Prophecies of the Messiah", c. 7. p. 119, &c. m Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 54. n lb. p. 70. o Zohar. in Gen. fol. 74. 3. p Zohar. in Exod. fol. 3. 3, 4. q lb. in Numb. fol 85. 4. and 86. 1. r Vid. Wolf. Bibl. Heb. p. 1156. s Eclog. 9. v. 47. t Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 25. u Vid. Fabricii Bibliothec. Latin. p. 142-146.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Where is he ... - There was at that time a prevalent expectation that some remarkable personage was about to appear in Judea. The Jews were anxiously looking for the coming of the Messiah. By computing the time mentioned by Daniel Daniel 9:25-27, they knew that the period was approaching when he would appear. This personage, they supposed would be a temporal prince, and they were expecting that he would deliver them from Roman bondage. It was natural that this expectation should spread into other countries. Many Jews at that time lived in Egypt, in Rome, and in Greece; many, also, had gone to Eastern countries, and in every place they carried their sacred writings, and diffused the expectation that some remarkable person was about to appear. Suetonius, a Roman historian, speaking of this rumor. says: “An ancient and settled persuasion prevailed throughout the East that the Fates had decreed some one to proceed from Judea who should attain universal empire.” Tacitus, another Roman historian, says: “Many were persuaded that it was contained in the ancient books of their priests, that at that very time the East should prevail, and that some one should proceed from Judea and possess the dominion.” Josephus also, and Philo, two Jewish historians, make mention of the same expectation. The fact that such a person was expected is clearly attested. Under this expectation these wise men came to do him homage, and inquired anxiously where he was born?

His star - Among the ancients the appearance of a new star or comet was regarded as an omen of some remarkable event. Many such appearances are recorded by the Roman historians at the birth or death of distinguished men. Thus they say that at the death of Julius Caesar a comet appeared in the heavens and shone seven days. These wise men also considered this as an evidence that the long-expected Prince was born. It is possible that they had been led to this belief by the prophecy of Balaam, Numbers 24:17, “There shall come a star out of Jacob,” etc. What this star was is not known. There have been many conjectures respecting it, but nothing is revealed concerning it. We are not to suppose that it was what we commonly mean by a star. The stars are vast bodies fixed in the heavens, and it is absurd to suppose that one of them was sent to guide the wise men. It is most probable that it was a luminous appearance, or meteor, such as we now see sometimes shoot from the sky, which the wise men saw, and which directed them to Jerusalem. It is possible that the same thing is meant which is mentioned by Luke 2:9; “The glory of the Lord shone round about them;” i. e., (see the note on this place), a great light appeared shining around them. That light might have been visible from afar, and might have been seen by the wise men in the East.

In the East - This does not mean that they had seen the star to the east of themselves, but that, when they were in the East, they had seen this star. As this star was in the direction of Jerusalem. it must have been west of them. It might be translated, “We, being in the East, have seen his star.” It is called his star, because they supposed it to be intended to indicate the time and place of his birth.

To worship him - This does not mean that they had come to pay him religious homage, or to adore him They regarded him as the King of the Jews, but there is no evidence that they supposed that he was divine. They came to honor him as a Prince, or a king, not as God. The original word implies no more than this. It means to prostrate oneself before another; to fall down and pay homage to another. This was the mode in which homage was paid to earthly kings, and this they wished to pay to the new-born King of the Jews. See the same meaning of the word in Matthew 20:20; Matthew 18:26; Acts 10:25; Luke 14:10. The English word “worship” also meant formerly “to respect, to honor, to treat with civil reverence’” (Webster).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 2:2. We have seen his star — Having discovered an unusual luminous appearance or meteor in the heavens, supposing these persons to have been Jews, and knowing the prophecies relative to the redemption of Israel, they probably considered this to be the star mentioned by Balaam, Numbers 24:17. See the note there.

In the east — εν τη ανατολη, At its rise. ανατολη and δυσην are used in the New Testament for east and west.

To worship him. — Or, To do him homage; προσκυνησαι αυτω. The word προσκυνεω, which is compounded of προς, to, and κυων, a dog, signifies to crouch and fawn like a dog at his master's feet. It means, to prostrate oneself to another, according to the eastern custom, which is still in use. In this act, the person kneels, and puts his head between his knees, his forehead at the same time touching the ground. It was used to express both civil and religious reverence. In Hindostan, religious homage is paid by prostrating the body at full length, so that the two knees, the two hands, forehead, nose, and cheeks all touch the earth at the same time. This kind of homage is paid also to great men. AYEEN AKBERY, vol. iii. p. 227.

As to what is here called a star, some make it a meteor, others a luminous appearance like an Aurora Borealis; others a comet! There is no doubt, the appearance was very striking: but it seems to have been a simple meteor provided for the occasion. Matthew 2:9.