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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Matthew 2:6 - 2:6
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Land of Judah
To distinguish it from Bethlehem in the territory of Zebulon.
Shall be shepherd of (ποιμανεῖ), from ποιμήν, a shepherd
So Rev., rightly, instead of shall rule. The word involves the whole office of the shepherd - guiding, guarding, folding, as well as feeding. Hence appropriate and often applied to the guides and guardians of others. Homer calls kings “the shepherds of the people.” To David the people said, “The Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed (as a shepherd) my people Israel” (2Sa 5:2; compare Psa 78:70-72). God is often called a shepherd (Gen 48:15; Psa 23:1; Psa 77:20; Psa 80:1; Isa 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-31). Jesus calls himself the good shepherd (Joh 10:11). Peter, who is bidden by Jesus to shepherd his sheep (Joh 21:16, ποίμαινε, Rev., tend), calls him the Shepherd of Souls (1Pe 2:25), and the Chief Shepherd (1Pe 5:4); and in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 13:20), he is styled the great Shepherd of the sheep. In Rev 2:27, rule is literally to shepherd (compare Rev 19:15); but Christ will shepherd his enemies, not with the pastoral crook, but with a sceptre of iron. Finally, Jesus will perpetuate this name and office in heaven among his redeemed ones, for “the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall be their shepherd (Rev 7:17, Rev.). In this verse the word governor is in harmony with the idea of shepherding, since the word ἡγούμενος originally means one who goes before, or leads the way, and suggests Christ's words about the good shepherd in Joh 10:3, Joh 10:4 : “He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out....He goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.”
Inquired diligently (ἠκρίβωσεν)
Better learned accurately. The verb is formed from ἄκρος, at the point or end. The idea is, therefore, he ascertained to the last point; denoting the exactness of the information rather than the diligence of the search for it. Compare Mat 2:8, “Search out carefully” (ἀκριβῶς). So the Rev. for diligently.
What time the star appeared (τὸν χρόνον τοῦ φαινομένου ἀστέρος)
Lit., the time of the appearing star. Herod asks, “How long does the star make itself visible since its rising in the East? rather than “At what time did it appear?”