Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-23, Isaiah 7:14
A Birth Foretold in Detail
Matthew's Gospel opens with a sustained demonstration that the birth of Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures at every point. Five times in the first two chapters Matthew uses the phrase "this was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet" — pointing to the convergence of prophecy in the single event of the incarnation.
The Major Birth Prophecies
Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14, fulfilled in Matthew 1:22-23). As discussed in the Isaiah 7:14 topic — the sign of Immanuel, God with us, finds its complete fulfilment in the virginal conception of Jesus.
Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, fulfilled in Matthew 2:5-6). The prophet Micah, writing in the eighth century BC, specified not only that the ruler of Israel would come from Bethlehem Ephrathah — David's town — but that his "origin is from of old, from ancient days." A Bethlehemite ruler whose origins are ancient — not merely Davidic, but eternal. The chief priests and scribes had no difficulty identifying Bethlehem as the Messiah's birthplace when Herod asked (Matthew 2:4-6).
From Egypt (Hosea 11:1, fulfilled in Matthew 2:15). Matthew reads Hosea's statement "out of Egypt I called my son" — originally a reference to the Exodus — as fulfilled in the return of the holy family from Egypt. This is typological fulfilment: Jesus recapitulates Israel's history, passing through the same experiences and succeeding where Israel failed.
The slaughter of the innocents (Jeremiah 31:15, fulfilled in Matthew 2:17-18). Jeremiah's image of Rachel weeping for her children — the northern tribes carried into exile — is applied by Matthew to the massacre of the Bethlehem infants. The sorrow of exile and the sorrow of Herod's atrocity are held together: the Messiah enters a world of grief.
From Nazareth (Matthew 2:23). Matthew says "He shall be called a Nazarene" fulfils the prophets — though no single text says this exactly. Matthew likely alludes to the nezer ("branch") of Isaiah 11:1 and the Nazirite theme of the consecrated one. The Nazareth connection is part of the pattern of lowliness and obscurity that marks the Messiah's coming.