| abstract | - When the Magi come in search of Jesus, they go to Herod the Great in Jerusalem and ask where to find the newborn "King of the Jews". Herod becomes paranoid that the child will threaten his throne, and seeks to kill him (2:1-8). Herod initiates the Massacre of the Innocents in hopes of killing the child (2:16-18). But an angel appears to Joseph (who Matthew describes as the husband of Jesus's mother, rather than as Jesus's father) and warns Joseph to take Jesus and his mother into Egypt (2:13). Egypt was a logical place to find refuge, as it was outside the dominions of King Herod, but both Egypt and Palestine were part of the Roman Empire, making travel between them easy and relatively safe.
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