Joseph Told to Return from Egypt

In Egypt, Joseph dreamed that Herod was dead and it was safe to go home. A second warning dream turned him away from Judaea and toward a small town called Nazareth.

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and told him to take the young child and his mother back to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life were dead. Joseph obeyed. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judaea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Warned of God in another dream, he turned aside into Galilee and settled in a city called Nazareth. Matthew notes that this fulfillled what the prophets had spoken: 'He shall be called a Nazarene.' Two dreams guided the family home and decided where Jesus would grow up.

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Details

Category: Gospels
Dreamer: Joseph (husband of Mary)
Interpretation: God called the family back to Israel and then directed them away from Judaea to Nazareth in Galilee.

Key Chapters

Matthew 2 The Visit of the Wise Men 4 min read Step by step, through two dreams, God leads Joseph home and settles the family i...

Key Passages

Go into the Land of Israel

Matthew 2:19-23

Step by step, through two dreams, God leads Joseph home and settles the family in Nazareth.

B¹⁹ut when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

²⁰ Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. ²¹ And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.