Child murder in Bethlehem

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Depiction of the Bethlehemite child murder in the baroque crib of Gutenzell

As child murder in Bethlehem (traditionally also Bethlehemitischer child murder ), the Christian tradition describes the killing of all male infants in Bethlehem , which was handed down in the Christmas story of the Gospel of Matthew ( MtEU ) , which was ordered by King Herod the Great , around whom - like him the evangelist calls - to eliminate newborn King of the Jews , Jesus of Nazareth . A majority of Herod's biographers and "probably a majority of Bible Students" consider the event fictional.

Biblical representation

The second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew ( MtEU ) reports in the context of the story of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem on the worship of the newborn by astrologers (later incorrectly referred to as the Three Kings ) from the east. There it says:

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea at the time of King Herod, magicians from the east came to Jerusalem and asked: Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw his star rise and have come to pay homage to him. "

- Mt 2.1–2  EU

Mt 2 tells of the fact that the ruling king Herod “was frightened” and asked the scribes of Israel where this birth took place. They name Bethlehem as the place of birth. Bethlehem is considered the city of David , to whom God had promised that his descendants would inherit the throne forever ( 2 Sam 7.16  EU ). With this Matthew draws the link to the first chapter, in which the descent of Jesus through Joseph is traced back to David ( Mt 1,1–17  EU ), and quotes the prophet Micah ( Mi 5,1  EU ). For Herod, a heir to the throne who claims a descent from David is dangerous. Accordingly, he orders the magicians to investigate, then come back and report, ostensibly so that they can pay homage to himself . ( Mt 2.8  EU ) The magicians find the newborn child Jesus in Bethlehem, but are warned by a dream not to go to Herod again ( Mt 2.12  EU ). God also warned Joseph in a dream and asked to leave the country and flee to Egypt with his wife Mary and the child ( Mt 2 : 13-15  EU ). This is how Jesus escapes the wrath of Herod:

"When Herod realized that the magicians had deceived him, he became very angry and he had all boys up to the age of two killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding area, exactly according to the time he had learned from the magicians."

- Mt 2.16  EU

Matthew sees a quotation from the prophet Jeremiah as fulfilled:

“At that time, what was said by the prophet Jeremiah came true: A cry could be heard in Rama, loud weeping and lamenting: Rachel wept for her children and did not want to be comforted because they were gone. "

- Mt 2,17-18  EU

Estimates of the extent

While the Greek liturgy names 14,000 murdered boys and medieval authors assumed up to 144,000 victims, later theologians ( Joseph Knabenbauer, August Bisping ) only spoke of about six to twenty slain children in Biblical times due to the assumed size of the place Bethlehem.

Early reception

Codex Egberti , fol. 15v: The Bethlehemite Child Murder ( Master of the Registrum Gregorii )

The oldest testimony to the reception of the biblical account of the Bethlehemite child murder is a sermon by Bishop Optatus von Mileve from around 360. Augustine († 430) and Caesarius von Arles († 542) also do not praise the child martyrs who were granted it only as a witness for Jesus, but to die on behalf of him.

The Codex Egberti (10th century) contains one of the oldest pictorial representations of child murder.

Possible evidence of the child murder

Matthew's story cannot be found in any other Gospel, and the Jewish historian Josephus does not mention it in his Jewish Antiquities, which was written around AD 94 . Most modern Herod biographers reject history as an invention. For example, the classical historian Michael Grant stated: "History is not history, but myth or folklore."

In addition to the account of Matthew, however, there is an independent tradition that could at least give a reference to this child murder. Around 400 AD, the Roman philosopher Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius in his work Saturnalia counts several bonmots from the Emperor Augustus , including one in the situation that he was told that Herod, the King of the Jews, had all the boys in Syria under the Let kill two years old. Since Macrobius was not a Christian but a Neoplatonic pagan, his report on the utterance of Augustus can hardly be based on Matthew, so it can be regarded as independent evidence.

The Gospel of Luke (2.2 EU ) mentions that Jesus was born during the first Roman census in Judea . The first provable provincial census under Publius Sulpicius Quirinius in the province of Judea did not take place until 6 AD, a decade after the death of Herod. During his lifetime Judea was not yet part of the Roman provincial order.

Similarities in Mythology

A number of exegetes (interpreters) assume a mythological motif of child murder on the occasion of the arrival of a holy king . However, only sources from the Germanic , Greek and Indian traditions popular in the 19th century are used here . The handling of these sources has come under strong criticism in recent research discussions. So should Kamsa , king of Mathura , have tried growing up Krishna to prevent, by letting slaughtered several children. Merlin also prophesied that the mythical King Arthur (Arthur) would one day be replaced by a child born on May 1st. That is why he had all children of noble origin born at the time in question who were eligible for princes collected and put on a ship that was sunk on the high seas. Greek mythology offers another example: Laios , the king of Thebes, wants to have his son Oedipus killed in order to avoid an oracle . As is customary in such stories, neither Arthur nor Laios availed themselves of such a revolt against fate ; for both Mordred in the case of Arthur and Oedipus escaped happily and were brought up.

If the above-mentioned motifs are phenomenologically comparable, a child murder reported in the Old Testament could have served as a template: The Pharaoh had all the newborn boys of the Israelites killed. However, the motive here was not the elimination of a personal competitor, but the demographic weakening of an enslaved people . It was then that Moses escaped child murder.

Festival of the Innocent Children

Altar of the Innocent Children in the Altötting Basilica

The Roman Catholic , Anglican and Orthodox Churches celebrate the feast of the innocent children. It is recorded in the Evangelical Worship Book as a special memorial day for the Church. The feast appears in the Sacramentarium Leonianum and 505 in a liturgical calendar from North Africa. The feast day differs today in the different denominations:

regional customs

In the years 680/81 the Festum puerorum was banned at the 6th Ecumenical Council because this children's festival was connected with a "fools' festival", which was possibly in the tradition of oriental kings of fools , Roman Saturnalia and possibly also Celtic animal disguise . This custom enjoyed great popularity among laypeople . Despite church bans, it was still celebrated with games of fools like the " donkey fair ".

The Reformation abolished this custom, and it died out in most of the Catholic regions in Germany in the 18th century. However, in parts of Austria there is still the custom to give children permission on this day to wish the adults good luck and health for the coming year by slapping their rods. When the children are hitting, known as " Schappen ", they recite verses and receive small gifts or money as thanks from the blessed adults. The following verses are used in Styria and Carinthia :

“Fresh and healthy, fresh and healthy,
live long and stay healthy
and have a happy New Year!

Fresh and healthy, fresh and
healthy, long, healthy and healthy,
nothing clunky and nothing clogn
until i wieda kum schlogn! "

or in the Klagenfurt area:

"Schapp Schapp fresh and
healthy , long live

healthy stay , wish a happy neigs yohr,
nothing klågn nothing klågn,
until i hit again!"

The following saying is common in Eastern Styria:

"Fresh and healthy, fresh and healthy
all year round,
happy to give, long live, to die blissfully,
Christkindl at the high altar, that's what I
wish you for the new year."

In Upper Styria (Judenburg, Murau, etc.) the following saying is common:


Live fresh and healthy , live fresh and healthy, stay healthy,
nothing glint, nothing clog,
until I hit it again
s Christkind'l at the Hocholtor,
wishing a good neix Joahr! "

In some regions of Bavaria this custom, known as “Fetzeln”, lasted until the 20th century; December 28th was sometimes given the popular name "Fetzeltag".

In Spain and parts of Latin America, however , it has persisted to this day. There, the Día de los Santos Inocentes is the occasion to make fun of one's fellow human beings, as is customary in Germany , France , Italy and the Anglo-Saxon countries on April 1st . This is related to the ambiguity of the adjective inocente , which can mean not only “innocent” but also “naive” or “stupid”. For this reason, the Spanish constitution allegedly did not come into force until December 29, 1978, one day later than originally planned.

On the feast of the Innocent Children up to the Middle Ages, the youngest was seated on the abbot's chair for a day in monastery schools, a custom that in the Middle Ages (around the 13th century) was postponed to St. Nicholas Day.

In the Middle Ages, too, children were given presents on St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) or on the Day of Innocent Children (December 28th); the mess on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day, as is common today, did not exist then.

Today it is the custom in many parishes of the Roman Catholic Church to bless the children on or around the Memorial Day of the Innocent Children . The Benediktionale offers its own form for this.

Dedications

Among other things, the Chapel of the Innocent Children in Munich is dedicated to them. See also: Church of the Holy Innocents .

Next to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is the Grotto of the Innocent Children .

The Bethlehemite Child Murder in Art

This image motif was repeatedly taken up by numerous painters.

Late antiquity and the Middle Ages

Mosaic in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome

The motif rarely appears in early Christian art, for example in the mosaics of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Medieval art depicts it more often, for example in the Egbert Codex, in the pulpit relief of Sant'Andrea in Pistoia , designed by Giovanni Pisano , and on a fresco by Giotto di Bondone in the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua.

Renaissance and Baroque

The motif is also more common in Renaissance and Baroque painting, among others in Fra Angelico , Lucas Cranach the Elder , Pieter Lastman and Guido Reni .

The theme was also designed in a figurative sense by Pieter Bruegel the Elder , with reference to the atrocities committed by the Spanish occupiers against the Dutch in the 16th century - see The Bethlehemite Child Murder (Bruegel) .

There are three works on this subject by Peter Paul Rubens or from his workshop:

  • The Massacre of the Innocents , also known as the Bethlehem Child Murder , was painted in 1609/11. At an auction in the London auction house Sotheby's on July 10, 2002, it was auctioned for the then record sum of 76.7 million US dollars (see also the list of the most expensive paintings ). It hangs in the Art Gallery of Ontario today .
  • The Bethlehem child murder in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich was created around 1638 on oak wood with a format of 198.5 × 302.2 cm.
  • The Bethlehem child murder from Rubens' workshop, measuring 162.5 × 232 cm, has been in the possession of the Royal Museums in Brussels since 1902 .

See also

literature

  • F. Albrecht: Herod the Great and the Child Murder at Bethlehem (Mt 2,16-18) from a historical and narrative perspective. In: S. Luther u. a. (Ed.): How stories write history. Early Christian literature between factuality and fictionality. (WUNT II / 395), Tübingen 2015, pp. 139–154.
  • C. Clivaz et al. a. (Ed.): Infancy Gospels. Stories and Identities. (WUNT 281), Tübingen 2011.
  • RT France: Herod and the Children of Bethlehem. In: NT 21 (1979) pp. 98-120.

Web links

Commons : Bethlehemite Child Murder  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ Paul L. Maier : "Herod and the Infants of Bethlehem" . In: Mercer University Press (Ed.): In Summers, Ray; Vardaman, Jerry (eds.). Chronos, Kairos, Christos II: Chronological, Nativity, and Religious Studies in Memory of Ray Summers. 1998, ISBN 978-0-86554-582-3 , pp. 170-171 .
  2. Michael Grant : Herod the Great . Ed .: American Heritage Press. 1971, ISBN 978-0-07-024073-5 .
  3. Frederick Holweck:  Holy Innocents . In: Catholic Encyclopedia , Volume 7, Robert Appleton Company, New York 1910.
  4. ^ Arnold Hugh Martin Jones : The Herods of Judaea . Ed .: Oxford: Clarendon. 1967, p. 155 .
  5. Michael Grant: Herod the Great . Ed .: American Heritage Press. 1971, ISBN 978-0-07-024073-5 .
  6. Because Herod's own son was also killed in the process, Augustus is said to have said: "With Herod it is better to be his pig than his son." Macrobius: Saturnalia 2, 4, 11: Melius est Herodis porcum esse quam filium. - Translated into Greek, the words for pig and son (in the accusative hŷn wikt: el: ὗς and hyión wikt: ὑιὸς ) result in a play on words.
  7. As assessed by Theo Mayer-Maly : Rechtsgeschichtliche Bibelkunde. Böhlau, Vienna a. a. 2003, pp. 17–19 - different from Hermann Bengtson's .
  8. Theodor Zahn : Outline of the story of the life of Jesus . Hänssler, Holzgerlingen 1999 (reprint of the 1928 edition, now with an introduction by Armin Daniel Baum , p. 47.) - On the silence of Josephus: “In addition to what Josephus reports about this time, the killing of the few boys under 2 Years in a town like Bethlehem hardly worth mentioning. "
  9. Richard King: Orientalism and Religion.
  10. Erhard Gorys: Holy Land . 1st edition. Dumont, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-7701-3860-0 , p. 426 .
  11. Royal Museums of Fine Arts