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We all learned in Sunday school about how Herod killed all the baby boys in Bethlehem because he was afraid of the Rumor that baby Jesus was the king of the Jews and he wanted to keep the kingship to himself.
Honestly I don't see why anyone in their right mind would slaughter tens of thousands of children in a city just because of some ridiculous rumor that some peasant baby would grow up to be the new king. That seems a bit extreme. Plus there is no historical record of such a major horrific event outside of Christian text.
Anyway, when this story was being told in Matthew he tried to show that this event fulfilled a prophesy in the bible. Here is what he said.
Matthew 2:
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
The verse quotes Jeremiah 31:15 says:
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
So Matthew interprets this verse to be referring to Herod's slaughter of the little boys in Bethlehem. The Book of Jeremiah mostly deals with the banishment of the Jewish people from their land by the Babylonians. The Persians later allowed the Jews to return.
In fact that is what this verse and this Chapter is about. It is about the Jews being banished to Babylon.
The chapter says stuff like:
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
11 For the Lord will deliver Jacob
and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
In fact lets read verses 15, 16, and 17 together:
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
“Your children will return to their own land.
Verse 15 is really about the fact that there are no more Jews in the land of Judea so Rachel an ancestor of the Jews is weeping that they are gone. But then the next two verses affirm that the Jews will return "from the land of the enemy." This is not about the slaughter of the little boys in Bethlehem hundreds of years later after the Jews returned.
So the new Testament misinterprets the meaning of Jeremiah 15:31.
Honestly I don't see why anyone in their right mind would slaughter tens of thousands of children in a city just because of some ridiculous rumor that some peasant baby would grow up to be the new king. That seems a bit extreme. Plus there is no historical record of such a major horrific event outside of Christian text.
Anyway, when this story was being told in Matthew he tried to show that this event fulfilled a prophesy in the bible. Here is what he said.
Matthew 2:
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
The verse quotes Jeremiah 31:15 says:
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
So Matthew interprets this verse to be referring to Herod's slaughter of the little boys in Bethlehem. The Book of Jeremiah mostly deals with the banishment of the Jewish people from their land by the Babylonians. The Persians later allowed the Jews to return.
In fact that is what this verse and this Chapter is about. It is about the Jews being banished to Babylon.
The chapter says stuff like:
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
11 For the Lord will deliver Jacob
and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
In fact lets read verses 15, 16, and 17 together:
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares the Lord.
“Your children will return to their own land.
Verse 15 is really about the fact that there are no more Jews in the land of Judea so Rachel an ancestor of the Jews is weeping that they are gone. But then the next two verses affirm that the Jews will return "from the land of the enemy." This is not about the slaughter of the little boys in Bethlehem hundreds of years later after the Jews returned.
So the new Testament misinterprets the meaning of Jeremiah 15:31.