more or less long interval was supposed to intervene, during which the Messiah would be
'hidden,' either in the literal sense, or perhaps as to His power, or else in both respects.13
This enables us to understand the question of the disciples, as to the sign of His coming
and the end of the world, and the answer of the Master.14 But the people of Jerusalem had
far other reason to fear. They knew only too well the character of Herod, and what the
consequences would be to them, or to any one who might be suspected, however
unjustly, of sympathy with any claimant to the royal throne of David.15
9. This is the correct rendering, and not, as in A.V., 'in the East,' the latter being
expressed by the plural of ανατολη , in v. 1, while in vv. 2 and 9 the word is used in the
singular.
10. Schleusner has abundantly proved that the word αστηρ , though primarily meaning a
star, is also used of constellations, meteors, and comets - in short, has the widest
application: 'omne designare, quod aliquem splendorem habet et emitit' (Lex. in N.T., t. i.
pp. 390, 391).
11. Not, as in the A.V., 'to worship,' which at this stage of the history would seem most
incongruous, but as an equivalent of the Hebrew ηωητ#η , as in Gen. xix. 1. So often in
the LXX. and by profane writers (comp. Scheleusner, u. s., t. ii. pp. 749, 750, and
Vorstius, De Hebraismis N.T. pp. 637-641).
12. This is the view generally, but as I think erroneously, entertained. Any Jew would
have told them, that the Messiah was not to be born in Jerusalem. Besides, the question of
the Magi imp lies their ignorance of the 'where' of the Messiah.
13. Christian writers on these subjects have generally conjoined the so-called 'woes of the
Messiah' with His first appearance. It seems not to have occurred to them, that, if such
had been the Jewish ex ectation, a preliminary objection would have lain against the
p
claims of Jesus from their absence.
14. As reported in St. Matt. xxiv. 3 -29.
15. Their feelings on this matter would be represented, mutatis mutandis, by the
expressions in the Sanhedrin, recorded in St. John xi. 47-50.
Herod took immediate measures, characterised by his usual cunning. He called together
all the High-Priests - past and present - and all the learned Rabbis,16 and, without
committing himself as to whether the Messiah was alread y born, or only expected,17
simply propounded to them the question of His birthplace. This would show him where
Jewish expectancy looked for the appearance of his rival, and thus enable him to watch
alike that place and the people generally, while it might possibly bring to light the
feelings of the leaders of Israel. At the same time he took care diligently to inquire the
precise time, when the sidereal appearance had first attracted the attention of the Magi. 18
This would enable him to judge, how far back he would have to make his own inquiries,
since the birth of the Pretender might be made to synchronise with the earliest appearance
of the sidereal phenomenon. So long as any one lived, who was born in Bethlehem
between the earliest appearance of this 'star' and the time of the arrival of the Magi, he
was not safe. The subsequent conduct of Herod19 shows, that the Magi must have told