Herod the Great in Matthew 2: Rage and the Child
Matthew 2 introduces Herod the Great as a frightened king who meets the news of Jesus with deceit and slaughter. The passage keeps its focus on God, who preserves the child through dreams and flight and fulfills the prophets even through a ruler's rage.
Why Jesus Went to Egypt: Matthew 2:13–15
Jesus went to Egypt because God sent the family there to escape Herod, and Joseph left the same night he was warned. Matthew then reads the child's flight and return as the fulfillment of the prophet's words about God calling his son out of Egypt.
Matthew 2:13–18: Herod, the Flight to Egypt, and Rachel
Matthew tells the flight to Egypt and Herod's slaughter of the boys in Bethlehem without softening either one. He sets the rescue of one child beside the mourning of many and reads both through the prophets.