Birth of Jesus
The verse contains the full coverage given in Matthew to the birth of Jesus. Unlike Luke, Matthew pays very little attention to this event, focusing far more on what occurred before and after.
This is the first point in the Gospel that Bethlehem is mentioned. That it is specified as being "in Judea" is ascribed by Albright and Mann to the need to distinguish it from another Bethlehem in Zebulun, likely the modern town of Beit Lahna. Other scholars feel it is also to assert that Jesus was born in the heart of Judaism and also a link to the Old Testament figure Judas or Judah.
Jesus being born in Bethlehem is important to both Matthew and Luke, but it links especially closely to the genealogy in Matthew 1. The genealogy focuses on how Jesus was the heir to King David. David was born in Bethlehem and Jesus being born here cemented his role as the Davidic heir. Having him born in Bethlehem was also important as it is believed critics attacked Jesus' origin in the minor and peripheral town of Nazareth.
"Herod the King" is accepted to refer to Herod the Great who ruled from around 47 BC and most likely died in 4 BC, but maybe lasted until 2 or 1 BC. All of these numbers seem to contradict Luke 2:1 that mentions a Roman census and Luke 2:2 that states Quirinius was governor of Syria. Luke thus seems to place Jesus' birth after 6 AD. That Matthew has Jesus' birth in the years BC is not a Biblical error. Rather it is attributed to Dionysius Exiguus who guessed incorrectly about when to start his calendar.
Read more about this topic: Matthew 2:1
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