SLAUGHTER OF THE INFANTS AT BETHLEHEM.

CHAPTER III.

DISAPPOINTMENT OF HEROD-HIS CRUELTY-HIS DEATH-DIVISION OF HIS KINGDOM-THE ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSEPH-THE HOLY FAMILY RETURN INTO THE LAND OF JUDEA-THEY DWELL AT NAZARETH-PRESENT APPEARANCE OF BETHLEHEM-OF NAZARETH-FEELINGS EXCITED BY A VIEW OF THOSE PLACES.

HEN King Herod saw that the Eastern magi had gone home without again visiting Jerusalem, his vexation was great, for he thereby lost all means of distinguishing from among all the infants of Bethlehem the one whom he had destined to destruction. He was not a man who ever paused at any steps necessary to the accomplishment of the designs which he had once taken into his mind. From this cause his reign was full of horrors; and much as we may be shocked, those who know his character feel no surprise to find that he at once determined to sweep away all the infants of Bethlehem under two years old, that the one he had doomed might not escape. This purpose was accomplished. The Evangelists simply state the fact without giving particulars of the dreadful scene. No doubt the tyrant now thought himself relieved from the cause of his misgivings, not knowing that all this most innocent blood had been shed without any profit to him, for his destined victim had escaped.

It may in some degree illustrate this transaction to bear in mind that Herod must at this very time have been suffering great torments from the painful malady of which he died. This com

plaint was a dreadful disease in the bowels; according to Josephus, a devouring fire seemed to rage within him, and his pains were unutterable, while his inner parts underwent a constant dying and corruption. His person became loathsome to all who approached him, and he was consumed by a fierce hunger which nothing could appease. This kind of disease was regarded by the Jews and other Asiatics as a chastisement specially reserved by God for the punishment of unrighteous and tyrannous kings; and certainly, such an ending of such a career is well calculated to call forth the thought, "Verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth!"

In vain did Herod summon famous physicians from far countries to Jerusalem; in vain did he repair to the warm springs of Callirhoe;—there was no help for him, and he saw that his last hour was at hand. He then sent an urgent summons to the principal persons of Jerusalem to attend him at Jericho, and there caused them to be shut up in the hippodrome, leaving orders that they should all be slain as soon as he had expired. His avowed reason was, that, knowing he was hated by the Jews, he was resolved there should be mourning at his death. But a dead tyrant can no longer ensure obedience, and when he actually died they were set free.

In his last will Herod made a distribution of his dominions among his sons, which was in the main afterwards confirmed by the Emperor Augustus. The kingdom of Judæa he gave to Archelaus; to Herod Antipas, the tetrarchy of Galilee and of Peræa beyond Jordan; to Philip, the tetrarchy formed by the districts of Trachonitis, Gaulonitis, and Batanæa (Bashan), all beyond the Jordan.

Herod the Great expired thirty years after he had been declared king of the Jews by the Roman senate, and thirty-four

THE HOLY FAMILY AT NAZARETH.

years from his actual possession of the throne. He was honoured with a more magnificent funeral than any king of Israel before him; but few, if any, were the real tears shed at his death.

Meanwhile the Holy Family remained in Egypt. The gifts of the Eastern sages no doubt enabled them to travel thither, and to live there in comfort. But we have no authentic accounts of the travel or the sojourn. An old tradition of the Greek Church alleges that the family tarried at Hermopolis; and at a place called Matarieh, between Cairo and Heliopolis, corresponding to the situation of the ancient city of that name, there is a fountain at which it is pretended that the Virgin was wont to lave the infant Jesus, and which is on that account held in much veneration throughout the country.

When Herod was dead, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, and enjoined

him to return to the land of Israel. He accordingly took the young child and its mother, and returned into Judæa. It seems to have been his first intention to remain there, probably at Bethlehem; but finding that Archelaus reigned, and fearing that he might have inherited the temper of his father, it was deemed more prudent to proceed to Nazareth, which, being in Galilee, was under the different government of Herod Antipas.

The abode from infancy in Nazareth, coupled with the fact

that Mary and Joseph belonged to that place, occasioned Jesus to be regarded and called "a Nazarene," although, in fact, a native of Bethlehem. This was afterwards often given as an objection to his being the Messiah; for it was well known (especially since the formal decision which the priests and scribes had communicated to Herod) that Bethlehem was the place from which the Messiah was to come. Hence the strongly expressed objection of some people, when at a future time his claim was under discussion-"Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was ?" (John vii. 42.)

BETHLEHEM derives all its celebrity from having been the birthplace of David and of Christ. It was, indeed, fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 6), but does not seem to have been ever of much consequence. It is expressly described as "small" by the prophet Micah (v. 2), in the very passage which pointed it out as the birthplace of the Messiah-"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel," &c. Ephratah (the fruitful) was the name which the place bore in the time of the patriarchs (Gen. xlviii. 7), and which was still sometimes used after it had acquired the name of Bethlehem. It is pleasantly situated about six miles to the south of Jerusalem, and stands upon the brow of a hill which commands an extensive view of the surrounding mountainous country. The hill itself is laid out in terraced vineyards, almond-groves, and plantations of fig-trees, watered by gentle rivulets that murmur through the terraces, and diversified by watch-towers and wine-presses. It is now a large village, chiefly composed of one long street of flat-roofed houses built with clay and brieks. The inhabitants are about three thousand in number, mostly