The Return to Nazareth
Matthew 2:22 “But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:”
heard that Archelaus... A son of Herod the Great, was given the most important district of his father’s realm – Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. He was more wicked and cruel than his father and was deposed by Rome. He ruled from (4 B.C. to A.D. 6).
History records that Archelaus was so brutal and ineffective that he was deposed by Rome after a short reign and replaced with a governor appointed by Rome.
Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of Judea. Herod Antipas is the main Herod in the gospel accounts. He was the one who had John the Baptist put to death (14:1-12), and examined Christ on the eve of the crucifixion (Luke 23:1-12).
It seems, this son of Herod was a murderer and, probably, as bad or worse than his father. Joseph had obeyed God and came back into the land of Israel, but was afraid to go to Jerusalem. God gave Joseph a dream and told him to go to an area away from Jerusalem, “into the parts of Galilee”.
parts of Galilee... The region north of Samaria.
God’s warning to Joseph (again in a dream, Mat. 2:22; cf. Mat. 1:20; 2:13, 2:19) was not to return to Bethlehem, but instead to move back to the northern district of Galilee to the town of Nazareth. The ruler of this region was Antipas, another son of Herod (cf. Mat. 14:1; Luke 23:7-12), but he was a capable ruler.
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