Matthew 2:6
Jacob was first called Israel when he saw the ladder and the angels going up and down on it through him, wrestled with the one who appeared to him, and heard from him, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel.”
The whole Jewish people received that name as something exceptional and divine, setting them apart from the other nations. Israel means a mind that sees God. That is why the church from the nations was also named Israel — not according to flesh, but according to divine grace.
Greek
Οὐχ ἡ τῶν μάγων φωνὴ ἐτάραξεν αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ θρυλεῖσθαι παρὰ πάντων τῶν νομομαθῶν καὶ τοῖς τῶν προφητῶν πιστευόντων λό γοις· οἱ γὰρ μάγοι βασιλέα ἐζήτουν, οἱ δὲ Ἰουδαῖοι Χριστὸν ἐφήμιζον τετέχθαι. διὸ ἐάσας τοὺς μάγους, καλέσας δὲ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους ἠρώτα ποῦ ὁ Χριστὸς γεννᾶται, ὃν νῦν ὑμεῖς φημίζετε ἀκούσαντες τῶν μάγων. καὶ οἱ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐχθροὶ καὶ ἄκοντες λέγουσιν τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τὴν προφητείαν ἑρμηνεύουσιν εἰκῇ πᾶσαν· οὐ γὰρ προσέθηκαν τὸ ἑξῆς. πρέσβεις δὲ καλεῖ τοὺς μάγους, ἐπειδὴ τρόπον τινὰ ἦλθον πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, ἵνα πρεσβεύσωνται καὶ γένηται εἰρήνη μεταξὺ αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν καὶ γένηται τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ Ἰουδαίων "μία ποίμνη, εἷς ποιμὴν" ἀμφοτέρων. τί δὲ τοῦτο ἦν, ὅτι αἱ ἔξοδοι αὐτοῦ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς–ἀπὸ τῶν περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης ἔρχονται ὀψόμενοι τὴν φάτνην.
About this text
Catena fragments on Matthew (CPG 5206). Contents follow Matthew chapter and verse. Edition fragment numbers stay in About this text and under each passage.
English follows the named copy-text (Aegean/khazarzar Migne PG 72 extract). Other prints were checked as noted; no silent merge of recensions.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 72 Commentarii in Matthaeum (Aegean Digital Patrologia / khazarzar) (Greek · CPG 5206 catena fragments (290 parsed heads))
- Checked print matia.gr mirror of same Aegean extract (Greek · Byte-identical PDF; integrity check only)
- Checked print Internet Archive PG 72 volume OCR (bim … 1859_72) (Greek (OCR damaged) · Locus confirmation only; not used as reading text)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.