| Matthew 2:16 | |
|---|---|
← 2:15 2:17 → | |
 Rubens' Massacre of the Innocents | |
| Book | Gospel of Matthew |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Matthew 2:16 is the sixteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.
Joseph and Mary had been visited by an angel and told that Herod would attempt to kill Jesus, their son. Doing as told, they took their infant son and fled by night into Egypt, where they stayed until Herod had died. The three Magi were separately warned in a dream of the threat that King Herod posed and went home by a different route than they came.
Herod had planned to make the Magi tell him of the whereabouts of the Christ child. When he heard of the Magi's change in course, he grew angry and tried to kill the infant messiah by killing all the young children in the area, an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents.