Translation
After they left, behold, an angel of the LORD appeared in a dream to JOSEPH saying, “Rise up, take the child and His mother and flee to EGYPT
Go to footnote numberand remain there until I tell you, for HEROD is ready to begin searching for the child to destroy Him.”
Paraphrase
After they left, another amazing thing happened, a messenger from THE SUPREME RULER appeared in a dream to THE ONE WHO IS INCREASING saying, “Get up and take the child and His mother and flee to THAT PLACE BESEIGED BY SIN, and remain there until I tell you to return, for THE SELF-PROCLAIMED HERO is intent on, and ready to begin searching for the child to kill Him.”
Footnotes
1
In Greek the name Egypt simply means the land of the Nile. But in Hebrew it meant “a siege enclosure, or a place fortified against a siege.” However, since the word “siege” was at the heart of the name, it also came to mean, “the besieged place.” Here is an example of a word which people took the meaning of and twisted to make it say the opposite. Egyptians thought of their land as the place that was secure against sieges, while others thought of Egypt as the “besieged place.”
But we also have the reputation to deal with. Egypt was usually presented in Scripture in a negative light as a place where foreign gods were worshipped and where sin abounded. In fact, in the Bible, Egypt was often a symbol for sin! In the paraphrase column I have added the reputation to the meaning of the word because that is how the people of Jesus’ day would have seen any reference to Egypt.