When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
Parallel translations
- WEB Being warned in a dream that they shouldn’t return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.
- KJV And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
- BSB And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.
- NKJV Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
- NASB And after being warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Warned in a dream, the wise men return home by another route, avoiding Herod. God protects the child through their obedience.
Overview
A divine dream redirects the magi, frustrating Herod's plot to use them. Their obedience to God's warning shields the infant Jesus from immediate danger. The verse shows God sovereignly guarding his Son until his appointed hour.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Matt 2:22But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there. Being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the region of Galilee,
- Matt 2:19But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
- Matt 2:13Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
- Matt 27:19While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.”
- Gen 20:6–7God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her.
- Gen 31:24God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Be careful that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.”
- Matt 1:20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 5:29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
- Dan 2:19Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
- Exod 1:17But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
- Acts 4:19But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,
- Heb 11:7By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
- Job 33:15–17In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, in slumbering on the bed;
- 1 Cor 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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On the genealogy and the name Immanuel.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 2:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.