MONKEY SEE,
MONKEY DO
Hugh Fogelman
Matthew
2
16 Then
Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and
sent forth, and slew
all the children that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the
time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. (KJV)
Matthew
2
16 Then
Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and
sent forth and slew
all the children who
were in Bethlehem and in all the region thereof, from two years old and under,
according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. (KJ21 – King James 21st Century)
Matthew
2
16 Then Herod seeing that he
was scorned, either deceived,
of the astrologers [Then Herod seeing that he was scorned, or deceived, of the kings], was full wroth; and he sent, and slew all the children, that were
in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years age and within,
after the time that he had inquired of the astrologers [after the time that he
had sought out of the kings]. (Wycliffe New Testament (WYC)
All the other Christian Bibles corrected the
error in the King
James Version and said it was NOT all the children, meaning boys and girls – it was
ONLY the males. For
example, from the New International
Version (NIV):
Matthew
2
16When Herod realized that he had
been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the
boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and
under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
The
error had been made – the bell had been rung. If a Christian missionary went to
country that had no religion, or its own religion, and these missionaries gave
the people in this 3rd World Country the King James Version bible,
what message would these people receive? That King Herod killed all the boys
and girls under the age of three.
But,
there is more to the story–why would King Herod have to kill babies over one
year old if, according to Matthew, Jesus was just born? Is it logical that it
would have taken the King over a year to seek and destroy these specific children
in his kingdom? He had thousands of his soldiers roaming the countryside – do
you really think it would have taken them over a year to find and kill these
Jewish babies? I think not! Even the new translations (see NIV above) left in
the killing of children/males up to 35 months old (who were two years old and under).
And what happened to John the Baptist?
How was he saved from Herod’s slaughter?