The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus since King Herod would seek the child to kill him. The episode is frequently shown in art, as the final episode of the Nativity of Jesus in art, and was a common component in cycles of the Life of the Virgin as well as the Life of Christ. Within the narrative tradition, iconic representation of the "Rest on the Flight into Egypt" developed after the 14th century.
The Flight into Egypt by Giotto di Bondone (1304–1306, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua)
Fra Bartolomeo, Rest on the Flight into Egypt, c. 1500 (Pienza)
Print of the flight into Egypt. Made by Johannes Wierix.
The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt by Jacob Jordaens (c. 1616)
The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people but is rejected by them and how, after his resurrection, he sends the disciples to the gentiles instead. Matthew wishes to emphasize that the Jewish tradition should not be lost in a church that was increasingly becoming gentile. The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelist's community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees with the position that through their rejection of Christ, the Kingdom of God has been taken away from them and given instead to the church.
Matthew 21:34–37 on Papyrus 104 (c. AD 150)
Papyrus 𝔓4, fragment of a flyleaf with the title of the Gospel of Matthew, ευαγγελιον κ̣ατ̣α μαθ᾽θαιον, euangelion kata Maththaion. Dated to late 2nd or early 3rd century, it is the earliest manuscript title for Matthew.
