Then Herod, when he saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry. He sent men and slew all the male children in Bethlehem and in all its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
This verse reveals the evil of Herod’s heart and his obsession with preserving his power. His wrath, born of the Magi’s not returning, was turned into the shedding of the blood of innocent infants, making Bethlehem a place of lamentation and mourning. This cruelty, known as the “slaughter of the infants,” shows the blindness of sin: man, striving against the plan of God, in the end only confirms it. The killing of the infants of Bethlehem is one of the most heart-rending testimonies in the history of mankind. It shows how destructive power is when it is devoid of the fear of God and the light of conscience.