Matthew 2:2
New International Version
and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

New Living Translation
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

English Standard Version
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Berean Standard Bible
asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Berean Literal Bible
saying, "Where is the One having been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."

King James Bible
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

New King James Version
saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

New American Standard Bible
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

NASB 1995
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

NASB 1977
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.”

Legacy Standard Bible
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Amplified Bible
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

Christian Standard Bible
saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

American Standard Version
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they were saying, “Where is The King of the Judaeans who has been born?” For we have seen his star in The East and we have come to worship him.

Contemporary English Version
and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Douay-Rheims Bible
Saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him.

English Revised Version
saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They asked, "Where is the one who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star rising and have come to worship him."

Good News Translation
and asked, "Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him."

International Standard Version
and asked, "Where is the one who was born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Literal Standard Version
saying, “Where is He who was born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and we came to worship Him.”

Majority Standard Bible
asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

New American Bible
saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”

NET Bible
saying, "Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."

New Revised Standard Version
asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.”

New Heart English Bible
"Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him."

Webster's Bible Translation
Saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.

Weymouth New Testament
inquiring, "Where is the newly born king of the Jews? For we have seen his Star in the east, and have come here to do him homage."

World English Bible
“Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”

Young's Literal Translation
saying, 'Where is he who was born king of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and we came to bow to him.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Pilgrimage of the Magi
1After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.…

Cross References
Numbers 24:17
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab and strike down all the sons of Sheth.

Jeremiah 23:5
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.

Jeremiah 30:9
Instead, they will serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matthew 2:3
When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Matthew 27:11
Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, who questioned Him: "Are You the King of the Jews?" "You have said so," Jesus replied.

Luke 19:38
"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"


Treasury of Scripture

Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

born.

Matthew 21:5
Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Psalm 2:6
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

Isaiah 9:6,7
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace…

his.

Numbers 24:17
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

Isaiah 60:3
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Luke 1:78,79
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, …

worship.

Matthew 2:10,11
When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy…

Psalm 45:11
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

John 5:23
That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

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Matthew 2
1. The wise men from the east enquire after Jesus;
3. at which Herod is alarmed.
9. They are directed by a star to Bethlehem, worship him, and offer their presents.
13. Joseph flees into Egypt with Jesus and his mother.
16. Herod slays the children;
20. himself dies.
23. Jesus is brought back again into Galilee to Nazareth.














(2) Where is he . . .?--The Magi express here the feeling which the Roman historians, Tacitus and Suetonius, tell us sixty or seventy years later had been for a long time very widely diffused. Everywhere throughout the East men were looking for the advent of a great king who was to rise from among the Jews. The expectation partly rested on such Messianic prophecies of Isaiah as Isaiah 9, 11, partly on the later predictions of Daniel 7. It had fermented in the minds of men, heathens as well as Jews, and would have led them to welcome Jesus as the Christ had He come in accordance with their expectations. As it was, He came precisely as they did not expect Him, shattering their earthly hopes to pieces, and so they did not receive Him.

We have seen his star in the east.--Here again we enter on questions which we cannot answer. Was the star (as Kepler conjectured) natural--the conjuncture of the planets Jupiter and Saturn appearing as a single star of special brightness--or supernatural; visible to all beholders, or to the Magi only? Astronomy is against the first view, by showing that the planets at their nearest were divided by the apparent diameter of the moon. The last hypothesis introduces a fresh miracle without a shadow of authority from Scripture. We must be content to remain in ignorance. We know too little of the astrology of that period to determine what star might or might not seem to those who watched the heavens as the precursor of a great king. Any star (as e.g., that which was connected with the birth of Caesar) might, under given rules of art, acquire a new significance. Stories, not necessarily legends, of the appearances of such stars gathered round the births of Alexander the Great and Mithridates as well as Caesar. The language of Balaam as to "the Star that was to rise out of Jacob" (Numbers 24:17) implied the existence of such an association of thoughts then, and tended to perpetuate it. As late as the reign of Hadrian, the rebel chief who headed the insurrection of the Jews took the name of Bar-cochab, the "Son of a Star." Without building too much on uncertain data, we may, however, at least believe that the "wise men" were Gentiles. They do not ask for "our king," but for the king of the Jews; and yet, though Gentiles, they were sharers in the Messianic hopes of the Jews. They came to worship, i.e., to do homage, as subjects of the new-born King. They were watchers of the signs of the heavens, and when they saw what they interpreted as the sign that the King had come, they undertook a four months' journey (if they came from Babylon, Ezra 7:9; more, if they came from Persia), partly, perhaps, led by the position of the star (though this is not stated), partly naturally making their way to Jerusalem, as certain to hear there some tidings of the Jewish King.

Verse 2. - Saying. The inquiry was on their lips at the moment of their appearance. Where is? Not "whether there is." The Magi show no signs of doubt. He that is born King of the Jews; i.e. he that is born to be King of the Jews. Whether he is king from the very moment of his birth is not stated. The rendering of the Revised Version margin, "Where is the King of the Jews that is born?" would imply this. With either form the bystanders could hardly help contrasting him with their then ruler, who had acquired the kingship after years of conflict, and who was of foreign extraction. King of the Jews. Notice:

(1) This was, perhaps, Herod's exact title (ver. 1, note).

(2) They do not say king of the world. They accept the facts that the Jews alone expected this king, and that according to the more literal interpretation of the Jewish prophecies the homage of the world would be rendered to him as the Head of the Jewish nation.

(3) The title is not used of our Lord again until the Passion, where it is only used by heathen (Pilate and the soldiers, Matthew 27:11, 29, 37, and parallel passages, Mark, Luke, John, and especially John 19:21). The Magi and the Roman, learning and administration, East and West, acknowledge, at least in form, the King of the Jews. . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
asking,
λέγοντες (legontes)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

“Where
Ποῦ (Pou)
Adverb
Strong's 4226: Genitive case of an interrogative pronoun pos otherwise obsolete; as adverb of place; at what locality.

is
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

the [One who]
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

has been born
τεχθεὶς (techtheis)
Verb - Aorist Participle Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5088: A strengthened form of a primary teko tek'-o; to produce, literally or figuratively.

King
βασιλεὺς (basileus)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 935: A king, ruler, but in some passages clearly to be translated: emperor. Probably from basis; a sovereign.

of the
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Jews?
Ἰουδαίων (Ioudaiōn)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 2453: Jewish. From Iouda; Judaean, i.e. Belonging to Jehudah.

We saw
εἴδομεν (eidomen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 3708: Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear.

His
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

star
ἀστέρα (astera)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 792: A star. Probably from the base of stronnumi; a star, literally or figuratively.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

the
τῇ (tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

east
ἀνατολῇ (anatolē)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 395: From anatello; a rising of light, i.e. Dawn; by implication, the east.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

have come
ἤλθομεν (ēlthomen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 2064: To come, go.

to worship
προσκυνῆσαι (proskynēsai)
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Strong's 4352: From pros and a probable derivative of kuon; to fawn or crouch to, i.e. prostrate oneself in homage.

Him.”
αὐτῷ (autō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.


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