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When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
Matthew 2:3 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
  • KJV When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
  • ESV When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
  • NKJV When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
  • NASB When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
  • NLT King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.

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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

Herod is troubled by the news, and all Jerusalem with him. The arrival of the true King unsettles those clinging to earthly power.

Overview

Herod, a paranoid and ruthless ruler, sees a rival in any newborn "King of the Jews." That all Jerusalem is troubled reveals a city more anxious about political upheaval than joyful at the Messiah's coming. The verse exposes how the human heart often resists rather than welcomes God's reign.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Acts 17:6–7But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,
  • John 11:47–48Then the chief priests and Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.
  • Matt 23:37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
  • Acts 4:2greatly disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
  • Matt 8:29“What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
  • Acts 5:24–28When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this account, they were perplexed as to what was happening.
  • Acts 16:20–21They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil
  • 1 Kgs 18:17–18When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
  • Acts 4:24–27When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Pastoral

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 2:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 2:3 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.