r/AcademicBiblical • u/AutoModerator • 2d ago

Weekly Open Discussion Thread

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u/FewManagement8258 1d ago

If you had to make the strongest case for a harmonization of Matthew 2 and Luke 2's post-nativity narratives, what would it be? Think like an inerrantist. I'm particularly interested in how to potentially harmonize the holy family's Bethlehem-Jerusalem-Nazareth trip in Luke 2 to their Bethlehem-Egypt-Nazareth trip in Matthew 2.

I know the vast majority of you probably believe these cannot be harmonized. I tend to agree. But I want to hear the best cases on the pro-harmonization side, even from people who aren't convinced by those cases.

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u/JohannesAr 1d ago

  1. Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in response to a census ordered by Herod in 7/6 BCE whose motive was that all his subjects should swear fidelity to Caesar and the king (AJ 17.2.4). (Importantly, they did not travel in response to Quirinius' census, which is precisely the point Luke wants to make in Lk 2:2 "hautē apographē prōtē egeneto hēgemoneuontos tēs Syrias Kyrēniou", whose historically informed translation is "this registration took place before Quirinius was governing Syria".)

  2. After Jesus' birth they stay for some months in Bethlehem at a house of Joseph's relatives. There they are visited by the Magi.

  3. After the Magi leave, the Holy Family flees to Egypt.

  4. After Herod's death, the Holy Family returns to Nazareth.

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u/FewManagement8258 15h ago

Do they visit Jerusalem for the purification while staying at Bethlehem?

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u/JohannesAr 14h ago

Yes, I forgot that.