Matthew 2:4 Parallel Translations

He called together all the chief priests and scribes and tried to find out from them where the Messiah was supposed to be born.(GOD'S WORD®)

KJV:

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

ASV:

And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.

BBE:

And he got together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, questioning them as to where the birth-place of the Christ would be.

DBY:

and, assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.

ERV:

And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born.

WEY:

So he assembled all the High Priests and Scribes of the people, and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.

WBS:

And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.

WEB:

Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.

YLT:

and having gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he was inquiring from them where the Christ is born.

Matthew 2:4 Cross References

XREF:

Matthew 2:3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Matthew 2:5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: (NASB ©1995)

Commentaries and Concordances

GSB:

2:4 And when he had gathered all the {d} chief priests and {e} scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
(d) The chief priests, that is, such as were of Aaron's family, who were divided into twenty-four orders. 1Ch 24:5 2Ch 36:14.
(e) They that expound the law to the people, for the Hebrews take this word for another, which means as much as to expound and to declare.

PNT:

2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes together. Literally, high priests. The high priests, and perhaps the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests, are included. See 1Ch 24:1-19. The scribes were the successors of Ezra, the official copyists of the Scripture, who naturally became its expounders, and were the theologians of the time of Christ. The priests, as the head of the Jewish religion, and the scribes, as the chief expounders of the Scriptures, were the proper persons to answer Herod's question.
Where Christ should be born. This demand concedes: (1) That the Jews expected a Messiah; (2) That the Scriptures had foretold his coming; (3) That the very place of his birth had been pointed out.

WES:

2:4 The chief priests - That is, not only the high priest and his deputy, with those who formerly had borne that office: but also the chief man in each of those twenty - four courses, into which the body of priests were divided, 1Chron 24:6-19. The scribes were those whose peculiar business it was to explain the Scriptures to the people. They were the public preachers, or expounders of the law of Moses. Whence the chief of them were called doctors of the law.

MHC:

2:1-8 Those who live at the greatest distance from the means of grace often use most diligence, and learn to know the most of Christ and his salvation. But no curious arts, or mere human learning, can direct men unto him. We must learn of Christ by attending to the word of God, as a light that shineth in a dark place, and by seeking the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And those in whose hearts the day-star is risen, to give them any thing of the knowledge of Christ, make it their business to worship him. Though Herod was very old, and never had shown affection for his family, and was not himself likely to live till a new-born infant had grown up to manhood, he began to be troubled with the dread of a rival. He understood not the spiritual nature of the Messiah's kingdom. Let us beware of a dead faith. A man may be persuaded of many truths, and yet may hate them, because they interfere with his ambition, or sinful indulgences. Such a belief will make him uneasy, and the more resolved to oppose the truth and the cause of God; and he may be foolish enough to hope for success therein.

CONC:

Anxiously Assembled Assembling Birth-place Born Chief Christ Demanded Gathered Gathering Got Inquired Inquiring Law Messiah Priests Questioning Scribes Teachers

Anxiously Assembled Assembling Born Chief Christ Demanded Gathered Gathering High Inquired Inquiring Law Messiah People's Priests Questioning Scribes Teachers Together

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