Flight into Egypt

==Historicity==
The [[Gospel of Luke]] does not recount this story, relating instead that the Holy Family went to the Temple in Jerusalem, and then home to Nazareth.<ref>Luke 2, v 22–40</ref> Followers of the [[Jesus Seminar]] thus conclude that both Luke's and Matthew's birth and infancy accounts are fabrications.<ref name = "ActJMatthew">[[Robert W. Funk|Funk, Robert W.]] and the [[Jesus Seminar]]. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' Harper, San Francisco, 1998. "Matthew," pp. 129–270</ref><ref name = "ActJLuke">[[Robert W. Funk|Funk, Robert W.]] and the [[Jesus Seminar]]. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' Harper, San Francisco. 1998. "Luke", pp. 267–364</ref> A theme of Matthew is likening Jesus to Moses for a Judean audience, and the Flight into Egypt illustrates just that theme.<ref name="Harris Matthew">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "Matthew" pp. 272–285</ref>

Regarding Matthew's infancy narrative, the 20th-century British scholar William Neil has said that "when we look beneath the engaging poetic decor, we come face to face with highly probable history. ... The flight of the Holy Family to nearby Egypt until after Herod's death, and the reason for their settling in Galilee on their return, apart altogether from Luke's information that Nazareth was their home, are also circumstantially probable."<ref>Neil, William (1962). ''Harper's Bible Commentary''. New York: Harper & Row. p. 336.</ref>

In their commentary on Matthew in the [[Anchor Bible Series]], [[W. F. Albright]] and C. S. Mann state that "there is no reason to doubt the historicity of the story of the family's flight into Egypt. The Old Testament abounds in references to individuals and families taking refuge in Egypt, in flight either from persecution or revenge, or in the face of economic pressure."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Albright |first1=W. F. |author-link=William F. Albright |last2=Mann|first2=C. S. |title=Matthew |series=Anchor Bible |volume=26 |year=1971 |page=17 |isbn=978-0-3850-8658-5}}</ref>

British scholar [[R. T. France]] has also argued in support of the historicity of the narrative. "[Joseph's] choice of Egypt as a place of exile ... was in line with the practice of other Palestinians who feared reprisals from the government; as a neighbouring country with a sizeable Jewish population it was an obvious refuge. And his subsequent avoidance of Judea under Archelaus, and expectation of safety in Galilee, accords with the political circumstances as we know them."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last= France|first= R. T.|author-link= R. T. France|editor1-last= France|editor1-first= R. T.|editor2-last= Wenham|   editor2-first= David |encyclopedia= Gospel Perspectives: Studies of History and Tradition in the Four Gospels|title= Scripture, Tradition and History in the Infancy Narratives of Matthew|year= 1981|publisher= JSOT Press|series= |volume= 2|location= Sheffield (UK)|id= |isbn= 0-905774-31-0|issn= |oclc= |page=257}}</ref>
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