Return of the family of Jesus to Nazareth
Event in the life of Jesus given in the canonical gospels
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Return from Egypt
Sometime after Herod had died, the holy family returns from Egypt. Most scholarship places the date of Herod's death around 4 BCE.
Upon learning that Herod Archelaus had succeeded his father in Judea, they continued on to Galilee. Archelaus was known for his cruelty and in response to complaints from the populace, in 6 AD he was deposed by Augustus and banished to Vienne in Gaul. Galilee was ruled by Archelaus's brother, Herod Antipas.
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Significance
In Matthew 2:23, the return to Nazareth is said to be a fulfilment of the prophetic word, "He shall be called a Nazarene". It is not clear which Old Testament verse Matthew might have had in mind; many commentators suggest it is Isaiah 11:1, where it says "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" (NIV): the Hebrew word for "branch" is nezer.
Cornelius a Lapide comments on this issue, writing: "In Hebrew nazir, or nozeri, written with zain, meaning separate, holy, consecrate, crowned, religious, because Christ, as man, being separated from every other thing, was hypostatically and wholly united to the WORD. For the word nazar signifies to separate, to consecrate, to crown. Wherefore the religious, under the old law, who separated themselves from wine and from the world, and consecrated themselves to God, were called Nazarites. (See Numb. 6:2, seq.) But that Christ would be holy, and consecrated to God, all the prophets foretold, especially Daniel (9:24): “The Holy of Holies—i.e., Christ—shall be anointed.” (Vulgate) Thus, too, Samson, who was a type of Christ, was a Nazarite. (Judg. 13:7.) So, too, was Joseph. (Gen. 49:2) And as Joseph, after his imprisonment, was made lord of Egypt, so Christ, after His death, was made lord of the universe. So S. Ambrose and Ruperti."
Liturgical commemoration
The 1956 Martyrologium Romanum lists the commemoration of "the bringing back of the Child Jesus from Egypt" on 7 January.
In art
The family's return journey from Egypt has frequently been a subject of artistic representation.
Commentary
Some Bible scholars had noted differences in the birth narrative story of the flight. Raymond E. Brown claimed that the narratives are "...contrary to each other in a number of details."