The Holy Innocents by Giotto di Bondone.

For the painting by Peter Paul Rubens, see "Massacre of the Innocents (Rubens)".

The Massacre of the Innocents is an episode of infanticide from the Gospel of Matthew, but not mentioned in the other gospels nor in the early apocrypha. According to Christian tradition, the described events fulfilled a prophecy of Jeremiah. Image File history File links Giotto-innocents. ... Image File history File links Giotto-innocents. ... Statue of Giotto di Bondone, close to the Uffizi. ... Peter Paul Rubens. ... In sociology and biology, infanticide is the practice of intentionally causing the death of an infant of a given species, by members of the same species - often by the mother. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... Apocrypha (from the Greek word απόκρυφα meaning those having been hidden away[1]) are texts of uncertain authenticity or writings where the authorship is questioned. ... Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. ... Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. ...

According to Matthew, when the Magi (popularly known as the "Three Wise Men") sought out the birth of Jesus, they first visited Herod the Great to ask if he knew the correct location. On hearing the Magi ask for He that is born King of the Jews, Herod, the Roman client-king in Judea, felt his throne was in jeopardy, and so ordered the slaughter of all male children who were two years old and under, which probably actually refers to people under just 12 months old, as the likely Hebrew origin of the phrase would refer to people who haven't started their second year. Fortunately for them, according to Matthew, Joseph, Mary and Jesus had fled to Egypt after they had been warned by an angel. The Magi in traditional dress: breeches, capes, and Phrygian caps. ... The Magi in traditional dress: breeches, capes, and Phrygian caps. ... The Nativity refers to the birth of Jesus. ... Hordos (Hebrew: הוֹרְדוֹס, ; Greek: , ; trad. ... King of the Jews may refer to: a title given mockingly by the Romans to captured Jewish partisans who defied Roman rule of Iudaea Province right before their execution. ... Joseph led his family to safety in Egypt to escape from Herod, as depicted by Lorenzo Monaco According to the Christian Gospel accounts Joseph of the House of David – in tradition also called Joseph the Betrothed and Saint Joseph – was the husband of Mary (Matthew 1:16) and the legal... Saint Mary and Saint Mary the Virgin both redirect here. ... Jesus (8–2 BC/BCE to 29–36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The Annunciation - the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus (El Greco, 1575) An angel is a supernatural being found in many religions. ...

The passage specifically describes this event as happening to the rural areas around the village of Bethlehem, and Bethlehem itself, which would likely have been a small village. The Byzantine liturgy had 14,000 Holy Innocents and an early Syrian list of saints states that there were 64,000. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that these numbers were probably inflated, and that for a town of that size only six to twenty children would have likely been killed. Bethlehem (Arabic بيت لحم house of meat; Standard Hebrew בית לחם house of bread, Bet léḥem / Bet láḥem; Tiberian Hebrew Bêṯ léḥem / Bêṯ lāḥem; Greek: Βηθλεέμ) is a city in the West Bank under Palestinian Authority considered a central hub of Palestinian cultural and tourism industries. ...

Historicity

The Murder of the Children at Bethlehem, by Matteo di Giovanni

Matthew identifies a prophetic allusion from Jeremiah 31:15. The Massacre of the Innocents is not mentioned in the other gospels nor in the early apocrypha. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2023, 606 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Massacre of the Innocents ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x2023, 606 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Massacre of the Innocents ... For jer, an alternate spelling for the reduced vowels in Common Slavic, see yer. ...

Josephus records Herod's execution of two of his sons by his wife Mariamne because he believed they posed a threat. (The Jewish War (I.535–7) and Jewish Antiquities (16.121–7, 356). The execution of the two sons, who Josephus describes as young men, has been represented by Robert Eisenman as the original that inspired the account in Matthew, since his two sons were the Jewish children that Herod believed had sought to replace him.

Josephus records several examples of Herod’s willingness to commit such acts to protect his power against perceived threats, but suggests that not all such acts were recorded, as he summarizes that Herod “never stopped avenging and punishing every day those who had chosen to be of the party of his enemies.” Antiquities 15.2.

The Catholic Encyclopedia speculates about the reason Josephus did not include an account of the "slaughter": "...St. Matthew's positive statement is not contradicted by the mere silence of Josephus; for the latter follows Nicholas of Damascus, to whom, as a courtier, Herod was a hero." It also cites Maas: "Cruel as the slaughter may appear to us, it disappears among the cruelties of Herod. It cannot,then, surprise us that history does not speak of it" [Maas, "Life of Christ" (1897), 38 (note); the author shows, as others have done, that the number of children slain may not have been very great].

There is a near-contemporary Talmudic Haggadah referring to Moses and Pharaoh, with very similar features. As Jesus is portrayed in the Gospels as a Moses Redivivus, it is likely this legend influenced Matthew.

The earliest extrabiblical reference to the Massacre of the Innocents is by Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, a Roman philosopher of the 4th century. The reference is found in Macrobius’ The Saturnalia: Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Roman grammarian and Neoplatonist philosopher, flourished during the reigns of Honorius and Arcadius (395–423). ...

When Augustus heard that Herod king of the Jews had ordered all the boys in Syria under the age of two years to be put to death and that the king's son was among those killed, he said, "I'd rather be Herod's sow than Herod’s son." -Macrobius, The Saturnalia, trans. Percival Davies (New York 1969), page 171.

It was probably a pun in Greek: hus being pig and huios meaning son. Macrobius places the massacre in a Syrian province and combines it with the separate killing of one of Herod's sons. However, since Herod, as a nominal adherent to Judaism, would not eat pork, so his pigs were safe, unlike his sons. Palestine was considered a Syrian province during Roman occupation and could justify Macrobius' use of Syria. Augustus (Latin: IMP•CAESAR•DIVI•F•AVGVSTVS;[1] September 23, 63 BC – August 19, AD 14), known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (in English Octavian, Latin: C•IVLIVS•C•F•CAESAR•OCTAVIANVS) for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, was the first and among the most important...

The prophecy of Jeremiah

The massacre of the innocents is explained by Matthew as fulfilling a prophecy of an old testament prophet, which most ancient manuscripts of Matthew identify as Jeremiah, but the Old Syriac Sinaiticus manuscript has it being Isaiah. The quotation is clearly based on Jeremiah 31:15, so identifying the quote as from Isaiah is a clear error, though some scholars feel this error was in the original text of Matthew, as in this case preserved by the Old Syriac Sinaiticus, with the text being corrected by later copyists. Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. ... A portion of the Codex Sinaiticus, containing Esther 2:3-8. ... Isaiah the Prophet in Hebrew Scriptures was depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo. ... For jer, an alternate spelling for the reduced vowels in Common Slavic, see yer. ...

In art

Rubens' Massacre of the Innocents

The theme of the "Massacre of the Innocents" has provided artists with opportunities to compose complicated depictions of massed bodies in violent action. Artists of the Renaissance took inspiration for their "Massacres" from Roman reliefs of the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs to the extent that they showed the figures heroically nude [1]. Guido Reni's early (1611) Massacre of the Innocents, in an unusual vertical format, is at Bologna [2]. The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... In Greek mythology, the Lapiths were a semi-legendary, semi-historical race, whose home was in Thessaly in the valley of the Peneus. ... This article is on the mythological creatures. ... Autoportrait Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 Guido Reni (November 4, 1575, Calvenzano di Vergato, near Bologna - August 18, 1642, Bologna) was a prominent Italian painter of high-Baroque style. ...

Peter Paul Rubens painted the theme more than once. One version, now in Munich, was engraved and reproduced as a painting as far away as colonial Peru [3]. Another, his grand Massacre of the Innocents is now at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower Alte Pinakothek Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) was the most popular and prolific Flemish and European painter of the 17th century. ... Peter Paul Rubens. ... The main entrance to the AGO The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is an art museum on the eastern edge of Torontos downtown Chinatown district, on Dundas Street West between McCaul Street and Beverley Street. ...

In the famous novel The Fall by Albert Camus, this incident is argued by the main character to be the reason why Jesus chose to let himself be crucified - as he escaped the punishment intended for him while many others died, he felt responsible and died in guilt. Albert Camus (pronounced ) (November 7, 1913 – January 4, 1960) was a Algerian-French author and philosopher. ...

Feast days

The commemoration of the massacre of these "Holy Innocents" — considered by some Christians as the first martyrs for Christ^{[citation needed]} — first appears as a feast of the western church in the Leonine Sacramentary, dating from about 485. The feast is also called Childermas, Children's Mass, and Holy Innocents' Day, and is celebrated on different dates by different traditions: The Syrians and Chaldeans commemorate them on December 27; the Roman Catholic Church (using red vestments on this day since 1961, and violet or red with older missals), the Church of England, and the Lutheran Church commemorate the children on December 28; and the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates them on December 29. Events Peter the Fuller is excommunicated by a synod in Rome. ... December 27 is the 361st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (362nd in leap years). ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a religious organization which claims to be the continuation of the original Christian body, founded by Jesus and his Twelve Apostles. ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 2 days remaining. ...

In Spain and Ibero-America, December 28 is a day for pranks, equivalent to April Fool's Day in many countries. Prank victims are called inocentes. In some cultures it is said to be an unlucky day and no new project should be started. Ibero-America is a term used to refer collectively to the countries in the Americas which were formerly colonies of Spain or Portugal. ... December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

• Albright, W.F. and C.S. Mann. "Matthew." The Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1971.
• Clarke, Howard W. The Gospel of Matthew and its Readers: A Historical Introduction to the First Gospel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.
• Robert Eisenman, 1997. James the Brother of Jesus : The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Viking/Penguin)
• Goulder, M.D. Midrash and Lection in Matthew. London: SPCK, 1974.
• Jones, Alexander. The Gospel According to St. Matthew. London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1965.
• Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975

William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891 - September 19/20, 1971) was an evangelical Methodist archaelogist, biblical authority, linguist and expert on ceramics. ... The Anchor Bible Series is a scholarly and commercial co-venture that has been setting a high standard since the early 1960s, when individual volumes of the series began publication. ... Eduard Schweizer was a Swiss New Testament scholar who taught at the University of Zurich for an extended period. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Massacre of the Innocents

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Holy Innocents
• Images of the "Massacre of the Innocents"

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...