In light of the Christmas season last week we tackled “Where did Joseph and Mary live before the birth of Jesus?” For today’s post will tackle another question that the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: “Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth?” Whereas last week we look at the question of where was Joseph and Mary before Jesus’ birth, today we look at where Joseph and Mary went after Jesus’ birth.
Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes shows a Bible contradiction:
They went to Egypt after Jesus’s birth.
So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. (Matthew 2:14)
They went to Nazareth after Jesus’s birth.
When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. (Luke 2:39)
(Note: Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)
Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:
- When dealing with skeptics’ claim of Bible contradictions it seems one can never be reminded enough of what exactly is a contradiction. A contradiction occurs when two or more claims conflict with one another so that they cannot simultaneously be true in the same sense and at the same time.
- Technically the skeptics’ premise “They went to Egypt after Jesus’s birth” and “They went to Nazareth after Jesus’s birth” are not necessarily contradictory. Joseph and Mary could have went to Egypt and Nazareth at different instances after Jesus’ birth. For example, Joseph and Mary could have went to Egypt first and then later Nazareth or vice versa, they went back to Nazareth and then Egypt. But notice the discussion of which place they went first is no longer an issue of contradiction but chronological order.
- We must not make the chapter in Matthew and Luke to be a greater conflict than it ought to be. Looking at Matthew 2 and Luke 2 we see that both are in agreement that Joseph, Mary and Jesus eventually settled in Nazareth. This is seen in Matthew 2:23 and Luke 2:39.
- If Joseph and Mary went to Egypt first before going to Nazareth, we still do not have a contradiction between Matthew 2:14 and Luke 2:39.
- The verb for “returned” in “they returned to Galilee” in Luke 2:39 is ἐπέστρεψαν. It is in the aorist tense which typically convey the idea of the action been seen as a whole. That is, Luke 2:39 can be understood as talking about Joseph and Mary returning to Galilee in general, and not the manner and other aspects of how they returned. Thus, Luke 2:39 was never meant to speak beyond the action as a whole of their return to Galilee and can’t be used to contradict the details in Matthew 2:14.
- From the point above we also must remember that silence in Luke 2:39 about Joseph and Mary going to Egypt must not be taken to mean the same thing as a denial of Matthew 2:14 that they went to Egypt. Again, here we do not see a contradiction.
- Or if Joseph and Mary went to Nazareth first before going to Egypt and then finally back at Nazareth, we still do not have a contradiction between Matthew 2:14 and Luke 2:39.
- Remember the Jews of Galilee often traveled back and forth into Judea. Luke 2:41 even record the fact that Jesus’ parents went every year to Jerusalem and apparently others also made such trips as hinted by Luke 2:44 with the mention of “caravans.”
- Given how regular and routine Galileans traveled to Judea and back, it would not be surprising that after the wise men found Jesus at Bethlehem (Matthew 2:5-8) that Joseph and Mary went back home after the census. For a new married couple, they might not have all that much resources to stay that long in Bethlehem more than they need to and thus went home.
- Why would they flee from Herod if they were already in Nazareth and Matthew 2 record that Herod killed the children around Bethlehem and in Judea? Don’t forget they just had taken a census and no doubt Herod could have used that information to track down Jesus back to Galilee. Galilee was also under Herod’s control, in fact Galilee was the first area Herod was in charge of when he first was given power. So it makes sense to flee to Egypt even if they were already in Nazareth.
Again, there is not a contradiction.
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
nice cactchup…
Thanks! Are you Nepali?
Blessed to see the answer from the Scripture itself!
I like this! It’s such an excellent idea to discuss “apparent” contradictions, because even Christians run up against these and it’s important to know how to analyze them honestly.
Thanks! And thank you for reading this! You’re right, Christians need to know these too as they run into them. May the Lord bless you brother!
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Thanks Vincent for the reblog! How are you doing brother?
You’re very welcome Pastor Jim. Back spasms still with me, seeking chiropractor
Answers in Genesis has just published a timeline of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. It clearly shows there is no contradiction.
https://answersingenesis.org/holidays/christmas/a-matter-of-time/
Wow thanks Clyde for sharing this! Just in time, a timely timeline!
Thanks as usual for the excellent analysis, Jim! Speaking of Herod, my wife and I were studying Numbers 20 the other day including the verses regarding how the Edomites refused the Israelites passage through their territory. Likewise, Herod, one of the last of the Edomites/Idumeans recorded in history, didn’t exactly welcome Jesus with open arms either.
Wow Tom thank you for sharing this. It’s fascinating to see how many of these “echoes” occur in Scripture especially surrounding Christ with things that we see “echoes” earlier in the OT. Thanks for sharing that!
Thanks, Jim! I get pretty excited myself when I come across these major and minor “echoes” of Christ in the OT!
“When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord,” This everything includes the time spent in Egypt, which Matthew says is a fulfillment of a prophecy by Hosea. To rescue his people, Messiah needed to retrace their steps, sojourning in Egypt and then returning to the Promised Land. Luke did not stop to explain all that, but I’m sure he understood that “everything” was more than the circumcision and the sacrifice. J.
I so can see that…there’s prophecies that operate that way where things in the OT were stated has farther implications that one might realized at first reading.
In chronological order, it could be written that I went to the kitchen and then to the refrigerator where I got a ham sandwich. To say I went to the refrigerator and got a ham sandwich in one book and then to say I went to the kitchen and got a ham sandwich in another book is not a contradiction. They are both accurate. These folk need to get a hobby.
Good illustration Patrick. These guys do need to get a hobby other than their present one of posting online verses out of context. I’m sure you got some other Southern Sayings for that lol.
HA! Now that was an excellent analogy Patrick! 🙂
It works like this.
The holy family return to Nazareth.
The Wise men actually visited Jesus in Nazareth, and not Bethlehem!
Mathew doesn’t say that the Magi worshiped Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem. That’s entirely a myth.
8 He [Herod] sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
[9] They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was.
[10] When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
[11] They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
[12] Being warned in a dream that they shouldn’t return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.
(Matthew 2:9-12)
Note two things:
1. TheMagi followed the star. Mathew doesn’t say they went to Bethlehem rather that “He [Herod] sent them to Bethlehem” 2.8. Mathew does say they followed the star to where the child was.
2. Mathew is talking about a young child here, not a baby. Jesus was perhaps already two years old at this point. Herod later commands
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
This makes logical sense – If the star appears at or around the time of Jesus’ birth, it would take time for the Magi to establish what it meant, organise their trip etc. It’s arguable that Herod chose the age range two and under because the Magi identified the star as appearing roughly two years previously.
3. The Magi visited the “house” NOT the stable. “They came into the house and saw the young child” It would seem from Luke’s account that the house in question was in Nazareth, and not Bethlehem, because the Holy family returned to Nazareth from Jerusalem 8 days after Jesus’ birth.
Yeshua
Yeshua our Savior!
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
I agree with you, all of it.
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
Another good one
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]
[…] Did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph go to Egypt or Nazareth? […]