And having said these things Pilate arose from his seat with anger, wishing to escape from them. Therefore the Jews cried out saying, We wish Cæsar to govern us, not Jesus, because Jesus received gifts from the magi.[1] And Herod also heard this, that he would be a king, and wished to put him to death, and on this account, sent and slew all the infants in Bethlehem. And for this cause also, Joseph his father, and his mother, through fear of him fled into Egypt.
Pilate therefore, having heard this, commanded all the people to keep silence, and said, So then this is the Jesus whom Herod sought to slay? They say unto him, Yea. Pilate, therefore, having learned that he was of the jurisdiction of Herod, as though descended from the race of the Jews, sent Jesus to him. And when Herod saw him, he rejoiced greatly, for of a long time he had desired to see him, having heard of the miracles which he did. Therefore, he arrayed him with white garments; then he began to question him. But Jesus gave him no answer. And Herod, who wished to see a miracle of some kind wrought by Jesus, and not seeing one, but that he gave him no answer to what was said, sent him back at once to
- ↑ An ingenious distortion, or application of Matt. ii. 11, where, however, the Greek has δῶρα, and not χαρίσματα as here, — an important difference. What follows about Christ's being sent to Herod is mainly an addition to the older form of the book.
