instead of ψπ∋λι)αβ≅: as in our Hebrew text. Perhaps he rendered the word more
correctly than we do, since Πλε)ε means not only a 'thousand' but also a part of a tribe
(Is. lx. 22), a clan, or Beth Abh (Judg. vi. 15); comp. also Numb. i. 16; x. 4, 36; Deut.
xxxiii. 17; Josh. xxii. 21, 30; i Sam. x. 19; xxiii. 23; in which case the personification of
these 'thousands' (=our 'hundreds') by their chieftains or 'princes' would be a very apt
Targumic rendering. Two other of the divergences are more important, viz., (1) 'Art not
the least,' instead of 'though thou be little.' But the Hebrew words have also been
otherwise rendered: in the Syriac interrogatively ('art thou little?'), which suggests the
rendering of St. Matthew; and in the Arabic just as by St. Matthew (vide Pocock , Porta
Mosis, Notæ, c. ii.; but Pocock does not give the Targum accurately). Credner
ingeniously suggested, that the rendering of St. Matthew may have been caus ed by a
Targumic rendering of the Hebrew ρψ(ιχι by ρψ(ζβ; but he does not seem to have
noticed, that this is the actual rendering in the Targum Jon. on the passage. As for the
second and more serious divergence in the latter part of the verse, it may be best here
simply to give for comparison the rendering of the passage in the Targum Jonathan: 'Out
of thee shall come forth before Me Messiah to exercise rule over Israel.'
The further conduct of Herod was in keeping with his plans. He sent for the Magi - for
various reasons, secretly. After ascertaining the precise time, when they had first
observed the 'star,' he directed them to Bethlehem, with the request to inform him when
they had found the Child; on pretence, that he was equally desirous with them to pay Him
homage. As they left Jerusalem24 for the goal of their pilgrimage, to their surprise and
joy, the 'star,' which had attracted their attention at its 'rising,'25 and which, as seems
implied in the narrative, they had not seen of late, once more appeared on the horizon,
and seemed to move before them, till 'it stood over where the young child was' - that is,
of course, over Bethlehem, not over any special house in it. Whether at a turn of the road,
close to Bethlehem, they lost sight of it, or they no longer heeded its position, since it had
seemed to go before them to the goal that had been pointed out - for, surely, they needed
not the star to guide them to Bethlehem - or whether the celestial phenomenon now
disappeared, is neither stated in the Gospel- narrative, nor is indeed of any importance.
Sufficient for them, and for us: they had been authoritatively directed to Bethlehem; as
they had set out for it, the sidereal phenomenon had once more appeared; and it had
seemed to go before them, till it actually stood over Bethlehem. And, since in ancient
times such extraordinary 'guidance' by a 'star' was matter of belief and expectancy, 26 the
Magi would, from their standpoint, regard it as the fullest confirmation that they had been
rightly directed to Bethlehem, and 'they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.' It could not be
difficult to learn in Bethlehem, where the Infant, around Whose Birth marvels had
gathered, might be found. It appears that the temporary shelter of the 'stable' had been
exchanged by the Holy Family for the more permanent abode of a 'house;' 27 and there the
Magi found the Infant-Saviour with His Mother. With exquisite tact and reverence the
narrative attempts not the faintest description of the scene. It is as if the sacred writer had
fully entered into the spirit of St. Paul, 'Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh,
yet now henceforth know we Him no more.'28 And thus it should ever be. It is the great
fact of the manifestation of Christ - not its outward surroundings, however precious or
touching they might be in connection with any ordinary earthly being - to which our gaze
must be directed. The externals may, indeed, attract our sensuous nature; but they detract
from the unmatched glory of the great supersensuous Reality. 29 Around the Person of the
God-Man, in the ho ur when the homage of the heathen world was first offered Him, we
need not, and want not, the drapery of outward circumstances. That scene is best realized,