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After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."
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This is one of three Gospel choices that can be read aloud by a priest on the second Sunday after Christmas. If chosen, this reading will follow a reading from Jeremiah, where the prophet wrote: “among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back”. A singing of Psalm 84 will follow, where David sang: “Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.” Those will be followed by a reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where he wrote: “May [Yahweh] give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.”
This seems to be a fairly clear-cut story that says Yahweh sent an angel to warn Joseph to take Mary and infant Jesus to Egypt. This is because Yahweh knew of the Magi visiting Herod and asking to see the “King of the Jews.” That story is read in Matthew 2:1-12, prior to this; and, that is one of the three optional readings for this Sunday after Christmas. The verses skipped over tell of the slaughter of the innocents by Herod. After that took place, another angel message told Joseph it was clear to bring Mary and Jesus back to Galilee, to Nazareth. That simple story is true; but there is deeper information contained in this reading. It is that deeper information that is why this reading is an option for reading on the second Sunday after Christmas.
Verse thirteen states this (in Greek): “Anachōrēsantōn de autōn , idou , angelos kyriou phainetai kat’ onar tō Iōsēph , legōn , Egertheis , paralabe to paidion kai tēn mētera autou , kai pheuge eis Aigypton , kai isthi ekei heōs eipō soi”. Without knowing any Greek, one should be able to see that there are four capitalized words: Anachōrēsantōn, Iōsēph, Egertheis, and Aigypton. All capitalized words must be read as divinely elevated, so the intent is to show a connection to Yahweh. Then, because I have placed the word “kai” in bold type, one should take note that the word is a marker – like a symbol of punctuation – that need not be read as “and,” but instead be seen as denoting that written to follow “kai” is of significant importance. Thus, verse thirteen contains three important statements that must be heeded.
The word Anachōrēsantōn [in Greek: Ἀναχωρησάντων] is the Aorist Active Participle, Genitive Plural Masculine, which is adding “-ing” to a past event that took place, controlled by several [implying men]. The root verb is “anachóreó” [“ἀναχωρέω”], which means “to go back, withdraw,” implying “I return, retire, withdraw, depart (underlying idea perhaps of taking refuge from danger or of going into retirement).” The word can also imply a release of tension from an event, such that the after effect is “to relax.” This means the basic word means, “them having departed,” but the capitalization makes this less about the departure of Magi from the house in which Joseph, Mary and Jesus were resting, so the meaning is elevated to the divine level of meaning, where “to return” or “to go back” is relative to the “souls” [Masculine] “of all them” [Genitive plural] “having returned” [Aorist Active Participle] to Yahweh, as His. This means the element of “Having relaxed” is a statement that a great Peace came over the Magi, Joseph and Mary, having witnessed an event so holy that the radiance of Yahweh penetrated everyone present.
The name “Joseph” means “Increaser, May He Add.” When we read that an “angel of the Lord appeared in a dream,” the Greek words “angelos kyriou phainetai kat’ onar” need to be examined more closely. First of all, the word “kyriou” is not capitalized, so to make it read as if saying “the Lord,” gives the impression that the angel was sent by Yahweh, such as when Yahweh sent Gabriel as His messenger before. In fact, “angelos” can be translated as “a messenger.” Next, the word “phainetai” is present tense, not past, so in the third-person is translates as “appears” or “seems.” Then, the word “kat’” (short for “kata”) means “down, against, according to, by way of,” but not “in.” The “in” can only be added to the translation of “onar,” as “in a dream,” but that means “kat’” is left untranslated; and, Holy Scripture has no superfluous words in it.
This means that written, leading up to “Joseph,” says, “a messenger of guidance appears against a dream.” This needs to be seen as following a divine state of Relaxation replacing a most holy ceremony that took place (with the Magi and Jesus), with the Magi “having departed” the room, the tendency for a normal human being would be to wonder, “Was that real or a dream?” This is where the timing of the Magi’s appearance in the room needs to be realized.
The Magi were foreigners. Nobody in Galilee or Judea recognized them, as they had come from the east – Persia. Strangers do not arrive anywhere at night and expect doors to open to them. The saw Herod in the morning, when normal business would be conducted. When they left Herod’s palace it was still morning. When they “saw the star above them” that was the sun. The sun is a star that is easily visible in the day time, even if cloudy. This means they travelled the short distance to Bethlehem, arrived there and did a search to find where a birth just occurred. They were led to the room with Joseph, Mary and Jesus while it was broad daylight outside. They performed a holy ritual that anointed Jesus as king [the gifts they bore], and then they left. Mission accomplished. That means Joseph is standing in the room, wide awake, thinking to himself, “Am I dreaming? Or, did what I think just happened just happen?”
Because he was no longer in a mesmerized state of reverence, due to Yahweh and His servants being present in a most holy Anointing of His Son as the promised Messiah, in an act similar to Samuel anointing David with oil from a horn, all kinds of strange things happened during that ceremony. The Muslims read in the Koran that Jesus – as a newborn – had the ability to speak. The Magi might have asked Jesus questions, to which he responded. Joseph would have been placed in an almost catatonic state, due to this holy presence. When the Magi left, it would have been as if restraints had been removed, so everything returned to a normal state of relaxation. It was in this state that a voice then “appears” in Joseph’s mind, which is a “message” that tells him nothing is “a dream.”
This is where the name “Joseph” needs to be seen as meaning “Increaser, May He Add.” Rather than an “angel appeared in a dream to Joseph,” we must see the divine elevation of how an “Additional instruction” came to Joseph. The words now say, “a messenger of guidance appears by way of a dream thereupon Increaser.” This means after the Magi departed, Joseph received divine insight that told him what to do next; but more importantly, Joseph’s soul became “Increased,” such that his soul “Added” an “angel” that became the “lord” over his flesh, “Adding to” his thoughts.
This means there was no “dream” that took place in the middle of the night. It means hours had not passed after the Magi left. It means that immediately once “Having relaxed,” Joseph’s abilities as a Yahweh elohim [an “angel” in the flesh] came to him. Thus, what is written next also needs to be more deeply examined.
The NRSV shows a dream conversation, where an angel appeared and told Joseph, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you.” Besides the first-person “I” in “until I tell you” [“eipō”] making it sound like the “angel” is running the show now, it also furthers the notion that the “dream” took place in the middle of sleep, where “Get up” is a command to get out of bed and put your clothes on. That is not what is written.
The Greek text written is this: “Egertheis , paralabe to paidion kai tēn mētera autou , kai pheuge eis Aigypton , kai isthi ekei heōs eipō soi”. This literally translates to state, “Having been raised , you receive this infant kai this mother of same , kai you get away into Temple of Ptah , kai you exist there until when I shall have said to you”. Here, the first word is capitalized, such that “Egertheis” is presented in a similar form as is “Anachōrēsantōn,” only now the form is Aorist Passive Participle, Nominative Singular Masculine. This is a statement only relative to Joseph [Singular Masculine], as “Having been raised.” The capitalization divinely elevates this meaning to the soul of Joseph, not a statement about his physical body “getting up.” In the Participle form, the voice inside Joseph’s mind was telling him “You have been raised” Spiritually. This now acts as confirmation that Joseph was indeed a Yahweh elohim.
In the words that appear to be an angel telling Joseph to take baby Jesus and mother Mary to Egypt, what is said on a much deeper level, which is more aligned with a divine insight coming into one’s mind. The words say that Joseph had “received this infant,” where this becomes a Christmas statement that is relative to Joseph, who in no way was directly involved in the creation of a baby with Mary. The Greek word “paralabe” not only translates as “you take,” but also as “you receive, you accept.” The deep meaning is the second soul born into Joseph’s soul was also “an infant” like baby Jesus in him. Following that realization is the word “kai,” which signals it is more important to see Joseph as “this mother of the same,” or “this mother of the self,” where “autou” is possessive and is viable in those translations. While this says Mary was likewise with a second soul that was from the same source as the soul of Jesus, it says more importantly that Joseph is “the mother” that gave birth to this new infant soul within his soul, because he was the wife of Yahweh – the Father of the Son – physically in baby Jesus, but Spiritually in the souls of all (including the Magi who had recently departed).
In the capitalization of Egypt, the meaning of the name needs to be known. Scholars say the name originated as words that denoted where the Temple of Ptah was, with Ptah being the “creator-god who had created the world via his thought and his word, and he also became patron of craftsmen.” This is then divinely elevated to be a place of security where Joseph and his family could go and be protected by Yahweh. The same word (Egypt) can also translate as “Married To Tragedy,” depending on how one pronounced the word. Thus, because of this duality of meaning, when the voice inside Joseph’s mind said to “exist there until I shall have said to you,” the time to leave when Herod’s and Judea’s “tragic marriage” ended with his death (and then Herod Archelaus being disposed).
As to the prophecy, “Out of Egypt I have called my son,” this relates to Hosea 11:1, where the word translated as “Egypt” is “mitsrayim.” The whole of that verse by Hosea says, “when a child Israel and I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son,” this can equally be applied to all then, afterwards and forever whose souls have received the soul of Jesus – the child Yahweh loves – and has become “in the name of Yahweh” – “Israel,” a name that means “Who Retains Yahweh as His elohim”. Thus, Hosea can be seen as prophesying of Joseph (et al), “when a child who retains Yahweh as His elohim and out of marriage to tragedy [a soul led to sin by Satan] I called his soul my son.”
This is important to realize as the truth intended, as to read this “dream” as an “angel of the Lord” coming to Joseph and crying out, “Hurry! Leave now to save your lives. Herod is going on a rampage!” is to see Yahweh as some lesser god that fears anything and everything. Jesus escaped many attempts of death and punishment, without any harm allowed. Joseph and family could have gone about their lives in Nazareth with no threats against them. The truth says Yahweh wanted Joseph to go to Egypt to develop skills as a carpenter, working as an apprentice to a master carpenter. The call would avoid being distracted by the ways of a wicked world, where tyrants like Herod routinely kill innocents without any guilt (until death comes). Thus, this reading should be seen as Joseph being able to hear the voice of Yahweh lead his every move, knowing everything would be okay. After all, he had been returned to Yahweh by the promise of eternal life – redeemed as a Yahweh elohim.
At this point, it is imperative to realize that there was absolutely no urgency to leave Galilee (or Jerusalem-Bethlehem) for Egypt at that moment. Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem to register for the census; and, they had not planned to stay there for a few days. They had other family that would have come looking for them and would have taken them back to their home after leaving Bethlehem. In Luke, it has to be recalled that the bris and naming of Jesus would have been when he was eight days old, and that would not have been done in Bethlehem. Also, the dedication in the Temple would be when Jesus was forty days of age, when Mary had passed the time after giving birth to a son and would be allowed to enter a sacred place. There would have been time to return to Nazareth and make arrangements for Joseph’s house there to be maintained (if not still a place for his children from a prior marriage, all adults). With this recalled, it is easier to see the intent of verses thirteen through fifteen was far from panic-driven fear, in the light I have presented.
After skipping over the verses telling of Herod’s acts against the innocent in Bethlehem, verse nineteen needs to be seen to repeat, “an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph.” In that “suddenly” is added, which is not written by Luke. The Greek text shows this: “angelos Kyriou phainetai kat’ onar tō Iōsēph,” which is exactly as stated in verse thirteen, with the only exception being “Kyriou” is now capitalized. This capitalization elevates the word divinely to that of Yahweh speaking through Joseph. It can now be a dream at night, as years have passed since Joseph moved his family to Egypt. This one change then signifies the next repetitious command can be read differently than that prior.
Again, we read the Greek written as exactly the same as that found in verse thirteen: “legōn , Egertheis , paralabe to paidion kai tēn mētera autou , kai ,” where the exception now adds, “poreuou eis gēn Israēl” or “you make to go [or journey] into land of Israel”. Now, “paidion” can be translated as “little child,” referring to Jesus, with “this mother of same” being reference to Mary, who bore him. The same capitalized word begins this – “Egertheis” – meaning “Having been raised.” Again, the capitalization divinely elevates the word to mean Spiritual “raising,” not simply waking up and getting out of bed. The voice of Yahweh (from “saying”) is now recognized by Joseph, so his soul was “raised” to hear a command.
It should also be realized that Joseph was not told to go back to Judea, the land of Herod the Great. The name “Israel” is stated in the Genitive case, meaning “of Israel.” This would be both Joseph and Mary, as both would be “little children who retained Yahweh as His elohim,” with Jesus born that way. This means the word “gēn” needs to be expanded to say “the inhabitants of,” more than a generic “country” or “land,” as no place on earth can truly be Yahweh elohim. The capitalization divinely elevates that name to the meaning behind the name, which was the name given to Jacob after he defeated his evil possessing souls and freed his soul to only be possessed by Yahweh. Seeing this says the voice of Yahweh did not tell Joseph to return to a land of pagan rulers, as he was told to go back in the name of Yahweh.
Relative to this, where the NRSV translates the voice of God saying, “for those who were seeking the child's life are dead,” this promotes the notion of fear. It makes one think Yahweh is scared for Jesus’ life, when he sent His Son to die – at the appointed time, not before. Thus, the Greek here needs to also be closely scrutinized.
The Greek says, “tethnēkasin gar hoi zētountes tēn psychēn tou paidiou”, which translates literally to say, “they are dead indeed those them seeking this soul [life, breath, spirit] of this little child”. Because only Herod had died, with his son Archelaus taking over where daddy left off, that was limited to the Roman vassal known as Judea, not that truly “of Israel.” Thus, the same words should be read as saying the souls of all who linger in Judea and Galilee (et al) were dead, from not having the “life” of Jesus in their souls. To say "dead" is to say "mortal." Those who were truly “seeking this life” had no one making it available. Jesus had to return to make “soul of this little child” available to them.
In verse twenty-two, where the NRSV translates, “he was afraid to go there,” relative to Judea being where Archelaus had the most power, the translation of “ephobēthē” – “he was afraid” – becomes yet another attempt to show a servant possessed by Yahweh as being possessed by fear. The root word phobeó does usually mean “I fear, I am afraid, or I am terrified,” but the same word can indicate “I revere,” which means Joseph only “feared” losing Yahweh’s Spirit, so he dared not go to Judea because he had been warned by Yahweh not to go there. He “revered” that “divine warning,” so he “feared” to go there, against the Will of Yahweh.
It must be understood that the story of Joseph says he lived in Nazareth, but the census demanded by Rome required all citizens to register in their birthplace. That is the only reason Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem. So, a return to where their home had been would mean a return to Nazareth. When verse twenty-three says, “There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean," this needs to be fully understood.
In the Gospels, Jesus is routinely referred to as a Nazarene, which means he was an inhabitant of Nazareth. Nobody called him a “Nazorean.” Here, again, one must realize this is a capitalized word, which means it’s intent is divinely elevated in meaning to be the meaning behind the name. Here, “Nazareth” means “Consecrated, Place Of Nazirites,” although other meanings can also be read. A “Nazarite” is found defined in Numbers 6, where an Internet definition is: “an Israelite consecrated to the service of God, under vows to abstain from alcohol, let the hair grow, and avoid defilement by contact with corpses (Num. 6).” This means Jesus was clearly seen as a “servant of God,” whose philosophical alignment was as an Essene [not a Pharisee, not a Sadducee]. Thus, a “Nazorean” is actually a statement about Jesus being a high priest of the Essenes, making his lifestyle (like that of John the Baptist) be as a Nazarite.
When this association with the Essenes is realized [the upper room was in the Essene quarter of Jerusalem], one can learn that the Essenes held a separate place as sacred, which was a temple on Mount Carmel. Nazareth is only ten miles from that site. When we read that Zechariah was doing his Levitical duties burning incense in the temple when the angel Gabriel appeared before him and told him Elizabeth was pregnant with John (the Baptist), that temple was not in Jerusalem. It was in the one on Mount Carmel. When we read that Mary found out both she and Elizabeth were divinely pregnant (again by Gabriel), she ran with haste to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house, which was in the “hill country of Judah.” That “hill country” is the mountain range that leads to the base of Mount Carmel, just outside of Galilee [just into Samaria]. It was not in Jerusalem. All this means that Jesus’ family were devout Essenes, with John and Jesus being Nazarites. Just by their appearance, they would have been disliked by the Pharisees and Sadducees.
As one of the Gospel readings that can be read aloud by a priest on the second Sunday after Christmas, the reason is again to see the hidden meaning of one being reborn as Jesus, becoming both “of the child” and “of the mother,” where the soul has married Yahweh and let His Spirit bring about the changes that are revered on Christmas Day. The point is to take that reverence well beyond one day a year and make it every day. Otherwise, all souls are like those Joseph took his family back to – dead and no longer seeking to be filled with the life of the child Jesus.