'Palaestina' was the Roman word for the land of the Philistines, who came from somewhere near Greece in the 12th century BCE-- about the same time as the Israelites came from Egypt in the southeast. Herod, as the Roman-appointed king, felt threatened when the visiting  ‘Wise Men’ asked him where “the child born King of the Jews” was. When Herod’s advisory council cited prophecies that Bethlehem was the place, he ordered that all children under two years old in Bethlehem be separated from their parents and killed. God’s messenger(‘angel’ in Greek) warned Joseph in a dream telling them to flee to Egypt.

One could easily imagine Mary questioning Joseph’s dream: “Why would God’s messenger tell them to seek refuge in Egypt where their ancestors had suffered under slavery for many generations?” One could also imagine that Joseph’s reply would be: “If Jesus is sure to be killed in Bethlehem, let’s go with the angel’s advice and hope for protection along the Nile in our Jewish community.” As Joseph and Mary rushed to flee southward, they might have discussed how the parents of baby Moses had faced a similar dilemma when another insecure tyrant ordered that baby boys of the Hebrew slaves should be killed so that their  population would not be a future threat. The baby Moses was an unaccompanied minor floating in a basket on Egypt’s grand river-- Jesus was accompanied!* With Joseph, Mary & Jesus redeploying to the banks of the Nile, all the children slain by Herod’s command would later be recognized as collateral damage!

As 2019 turns into 2020, many places in our world, are protesting against their leadership, even in democracies. Where protest leads to violence, there are almost always refugees seeking to immigrate to relative safety—most are women and children. Often refugees can be the cause of more conflicts and even of wars. History seldom repeats itself exactly, but it often rhymes: during these holydays as 2019 turns into 2020, history not only rhymes, it also chimes—not only at midnight but all day long!**

*During my off-campus January classes to the Middle East, we visited the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, which tradition says was built by the spring where Pharaoh’s daughter rescued Moses from the Nile.

** Orson Welles, “Chimes at Midnight” — an adaptation of Shakespeare and his character Falstaff. 

Henry H. Bucher, Jr., Ph.D.
Associate Professor Emeritus of Humanities (1985–2019)
Chaplain Emeritus (1985-2004)