Bible Strands
Matthew 2:12
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Magi’s departure immediately after they worship the Child and present gifts. They act on a dream warning to avoid Herod after leaving Bethlehem.
The words — χρηματισθέντες (chrēmatisthentes) translates literally as “having been divinely warned,” and ἀνακάμψαι (anakampsai) means “to return.” These verbs define the source of the instruction and the specific path the travelers avoid.
The thread — Dream warnings directing travel appear again in Matthew 2:13 and Matthew 2:19, where angels similarly instruct Joseph to flee to Egypt and later leave it.
Why it lands — The text states that the Magi changed their route in direct response to divine instruction. It requires readers to treat supernatural guidance as a binding directive that overrides standard travel plans.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
Cross-references
- Matthew 2:19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.
- Matthew 2:22 But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
- Matthew 2:13 When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”
- Matthew 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”
- Genesis 20:6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
- Genesis 31:24 But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- Matthew 1:20 But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
- Exodus 1:17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
- Job 33:15 In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,
- Daniel 2:19 During the night, the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision, and he blessed the God of heaven