1st Sunday after Christmas 2025, Yr A
28th December 2025
Matthew 2:13-23
The slaughter of innocent children
2:13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
2:14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt
2:15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
2:16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.
2:17 Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
2:19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,
2:20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”
2:21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.
2:23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”
[13]᾿Αναχωρησάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου φαίνεται κατ᾿ ὄναρ τῷ ᾿Ιωσὴφ λέγων· ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ φεῦγε εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἴσθι ἐκεῖ ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι· μέλλει γὰρ ῾Ηρῴδης ζητεῖν τὸ παιδίον τοῦ ἀπολέσαι αὐτό.
[14]῾Ο δὲ ἐγερθεὶς παρέλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς καὶ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον,
[15] καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἕως τῆς τελευτῆς ῾Ηρῴδου, ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν μου.
[16] Τότε ῾Ηρῴδης ἰδὼν ὅτι ἐνεπαίχθη ὑπὸ τῶν μάγων, ἐθυμώθη λίαν, καὶ ἀποστείλας ἀνεῖλε πάντας τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἐν Βηθλεὲμ καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ὁρίοις αὐτῆς ἀπὸ διετοῦς καὶ κατωτέρω, κατὰ τὸν χρόνον ὃν ἠκρίβωσε παρὰ τῶν μάγων.
[17] τότε ἐπληρώθη τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ ῾Ιερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος·
[18] φωνὴ ἐν ῾Ραμᾷ ἠκούσθη,
θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὀδυρμὸς πολύς·
῾Ραχὴλ κλαίουσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς,
καὶ οὐκ ἤθελε παρακληθῆναι, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσίν.
[19] Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ ῾Ηρῴδου ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου κατ᾿ ὄναρ φαίνεται τῷ ᾿Ιωσὴφ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ
[20] λέγων· ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πορεύου εἰς γῆν ᾿Ισραήλ· τεθνήκασι γὰρ οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου.
[21] ὁ δὲ ἐγερθεὶς παρέλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς γῆν ᾿Ισραήλ.
[22] ἀκούσας δὲ ὅτι ᾿Αρχέλαος βασιλεύει ἐπὶ τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας ἀντὶ ῾Ηρῴδου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, ἐφοβήθη ἐκεῖ ἀπελθεῖν· χρηματισθεὶς δὲ κατ᾿ ὄναρ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς Γαλιλαίας,
[23] καὶ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς πόλιν λεγομένην Ναζαρέτ, ὅπως πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ὅτι Ναζωραῖος κληθήσεται.
Comments
The narrative becomes vivid through the use of the present tense at key moments. Herod is enraged not simply because his plan to kill the child is thwarted, but because he has been made a laughing stock (the implication of v. 16, ἐνεπαίχθη).
[13] φαίνεται κατ᾿ ὄναρ: ‘appears in a dream’; the vb φαίνεται is a historical present, which conveys a past action in a vivid fashion. ὄναρ is ‘a dream or vision in sleep’. The adv. phrase κατ᾿ ὄναρ is a post-cl. idiom (‘in a dream’, ‘in his sleep’); it recurs in vv. 19 and 22. Cl. Gk would have preferred ὄναρ on its own, which can be taken as an adv. See LSJ s.v. ὄναρ; the noun does not occur in LXX.
[16] ἐνεπαίχθη ὑπὸ τῶν μάγων: ἐμπαίζω, ‘mock’; pass., as here, ‘I am deluded, tricked, deceived’. Herod was made a fool of by the Magi (a sense implied by the vb, as Harrington, Sacra pagina, p. 55 notes ad loc.).
[22] βασιλεύει: ‘is reigning’, a vivid present in indirect discourse that refers to a past event.
χρηματισθεὶς δὲ κατ᾿ ὄναρ: χρηματίζομαι, pass., refers to an oracular response in LXX and post-cl. pagan sources (LSJ s.v. χρηματίζω, I. 4). In the NT, the pass. means ‘be directed by God (to do something)’ (cf. EDNT s.v. χρηματίζω).
21st December 2025
St Matthew 1:18-25
1:18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
1:19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
1:20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
1:21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
1:22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
1:23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
1:24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,
1:25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
18 Τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ γέννησις οὕτως ἦν. Μνηστευθείσης γὰρ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Μαρίας τῷ Ἰωσήφ, πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εὑρέθη ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου.
19 Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν παραδειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν.
20 Ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος Κυρίου κατ᾿ ὄναρ ἐφάνη αὐτῷ λέγων· Ἰωσὴφ υἱὸς Δαυῒδ, μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαριὰμ τὴν γυναῖκά σου· τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ Πνεύματός ἐστιν Ἁγίου.
21 Τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν.
22 Τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον γέγονεν ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ρηθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος·
23 Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον μεθ᾿ ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός.
24 Διεγερθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου ἐποίησεν ὡς προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ὁ ἄγγελος Κυρίου καὶ παρέλαβε τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ,
25 καὶ οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν ἕως οὗ ἔτεκε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν.
Comments
The NRSV does not mention ‘firstborn’, πρωτότοκον (v. 25).
[18] Μνηστευθείσης γὰρ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Μαρίας τῷ Ἰωσήφ: postpositive γὰρ is explanatory here, and has the force ‘that is to say’. ‘The birth of Jesus Christ took place in the following way (οὕτως), that is, his mother after her betrothal to Joseph…’
Μνηστευθείσης: genit. abs. (here the equivalent of a temporal clause or expression), aor. passive part. μνηστεύομαι; in cl. Greek, the passive form means ‘to be wooed, sought in marriage’ (of a nubile woman). In koine, the vb. has a legal meaning, ‘to be betrothed’: μν. + dat. pers. = ‘to be betrothed to a certain man’.
πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εὑρέθη ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα: συνελθεῖν, aor. inf., συνέρχομαι, lit., ‘come together’. The vb. decorously implies sexual intercourse in Hippocrates and other class. prose authors, as here.
εὑρέθη ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα: εὑρέθη, ‘was found, was discovered’ (Montanari), pass. aor., εὑρίσκω. (Cf. Engl. ‘Eureka!’, ‘heuristic’.) εὑρέθη is construed with a supplementary part. ἔχουσα (‘she was found to have…’). ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχω, ‘I am pregnant’ (lit., ‘I have in my belly’).
[19] αὐτὴν παραδειγματίσαι: παραδειγματίζω, ‘expose to ridicule or scorn, to disgrace’ (EDNT, s.v., p. 17). Disgracing Mary in public would not only be a form of punishment for her, but also a stinging public lesson, a living example (παράδειγμα) which would in future serve as a precedent (παράδειγμα) for others. Aristotle, in his On Rhetoric (esp. 2.20), notes that a past example (παράδειγμα) works as an inductive argument.
λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι: λάθρᾳ = ‘secretly’. ἀπολῦσαι, aor. infinitive, ἀπολύω, ‘to release or dismiss a woman from marriage by means of a letter of divorce (ἀπολύσιον)’. A man issued the letter on grounds of indecency, as suggested by Deut. 24:1,3, etc.
[20] κατ᾿ ὄναρ ἐφάνη αὐτῷ: ὄναρ, already in Homer, is a (significant, impactful) dream (as distinct from a waking vision, or ὕπαρ, another Homeric word). ἐφάνη, middle aor., φαίνομαι, ‘to appear’; this was an epiphany seen in a dream presumably at night (cf. 24, Διεγερθεὶς… ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου ).
μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαριὰμ τὴν γυναῖκά σου: παραλαβεῖν, 2nd aor. inf., παραλαμβάνω, a class. Greek vb for ‘I take to or with myself’ (Montanari), e.g. as a concubine, as an adopted son, etc. ‘Do not be afraid to take Mariam as your wife.’
[21] τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν: τὸ γεννηθὲν = ‘that which has been begotten, brought forth’; aor. pass. participle, γεννάω/ ῶ, ‘I bring forth’, in class. Greek usually of the father. γεννηθὲν is proleptic, looking ahead of the conception to the birth of the child, who has been conceived ‘from Holy Spirit’ (ἐκ Πνεύματός ἐστιν Ἁγίου).
[25] ἕως οὗ ἔτεκε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον: ἔτεκε, 2nd aor., τίκτω, ‘I bring forth’, see on Isaiah 7: 14 above.
τὸν πρωτότοκον: πρ. is here an adj., ‘firstborn’ (pass. sense); apparently a koine word.
ἔτεκε τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν πρωτότοκον: πρωτότοκον repeats the notion of giving birth (ἔτεκε), recalling a figura etymologica.
Sunday, 14th December 2025, Advent 3 Yr A
St Matthew 11:2-11
The forerunner of Christ
11:2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples
11:3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
11:4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
11:5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
11:6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
11:7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
11:8 What, then, did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.
11:9 What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
11:10 This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
11:11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
[2] ῾Ο δὲ ᾿Ιωάννης ἀκούσας ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, πέμψας δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ
[3] εἶπεν αὐτῷ· σὺ εἶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἢ ἕτερον προσδοκῶμεν;
[4] καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· πορευθέντες ἀπαγγείλατε ᾿Ιωάννῃ ἃ ἀκούετε καὶ βλέπετε·
[5] τυφλοὶ ἀναβλέπουσι καὶ χωλοὶ περιπατοῦσι, λεπροὶ καθαρίζονται καὶ κωφοὶ ἀκούουσι, νεκροὶ ἐγείρονται καὶ πτωχοὶ εὐαγγελίζονται·
[6] καὶ μακάριός ἐστιν ὃς ἐὰν μὴ σκανδαλισθῇ ἐν ἐμοί.
[7] Τούτων δὲ πορευομένων ἤρξατο ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς λέγειν τοῖς ὄχλοις περὶ ᾿Ιωάννου· τί ἐξήλθετε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον θεάσασθαι; κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον;
[8] ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθετε ἰδεῖν; ἄνθρωπον ἐν μαλακοῖς ἱματίοις ἠμφιεσμένον; ἰδοὺ οἱ τὰ μαλακὰ φοροῦντες ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις τῶν βασιλέων εἰσίν.
[9] ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθετε ἰδεῖν; προφήτην; ναὶ λέγω ὑμῖν, καὶ περισσότερον προφήτου.
[10] οὗτος γάρ ἐστι περὶ οὗ γέγραπται·
ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου,
ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου.
[11] ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἐγήγερται ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν μείζων ᾿Ιωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ· ὁ δὲ μικρότερος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.
Comments
‘Αre YOU the Messiah—or should we expect someone else?’ is the question that resounds throughout the passage. ‘Soft clothes’ connotes a lifestyle contrary to that of the wilderness-wizened Baptist, who is now in prison.
[3] σὺ εἶ…;: the personal pron. σὺ is not strictly necessary; its addition makes an emphatic point, ‘Are YOU the one who is to come?’
ἢ ἕτερον προσδοκῶμεν: deliberative subjunctive, ‘or are we to expect/ should we expect someone else?’ A disjunctive question; the Messiah is either Jesus or someone else (ἕτερον).
[5] τυφλοὶ ἀναβλέπουσι: the cmpd ἀναβλέπω, ‘recover eyesight’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., II.1; also LXX: Muraoka s.v., 2). τυφλοὶ, substantive, ‘blind persons, the blind’; the adj. τυφλός occurs already in Homer (Iliad 6. 139); also cl. Gk and LXX. The suffix -λός indicates different types of infirmity (Chantraine s.v. τύφομαι), as in χωλοὶ, ‘the lame’ in the same verse.
εὐαγγελίζονται: pass., ‘receive good news’ (i.e., salvific news: see EDNT s.v., εὐαγγελίζω, 4).
[6] σκανδαλισθῇ ἐν ἐμοί: σκανδαλίζομαι, pass., ‘I am made to fall’, fig., as here, ‘take offence’, LXX Gk ( Muraoka s.v. σκανδαλίζω, ‘I bring to a fall’); pass. + ἔν τινι, ‘through something or someone’, Si 9:5, etc.
[8] μαλακοῖς ἱματίοις: ‘in soft clothes’. μαλακός, ‘of persons or modes of life, soft’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v. μαλακός, III.2), here in a bad sense. The clothes of an effete lifestyle are meant. Cf. τὰ μαλακὰ in the same verse.
[10] ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου: this line occurs in Ex 23:20. The prep. phrase is a Hebraism and temporal, ‘ahead of’ (Muraoka s.v. πρόσωπον, 6.h).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 