Scripture · Matthew 2:13-15
Matthew 2:14-15
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Mary shelters with the luminous child between a sphinx’s paws while Joseph sleeps nearby in Merson’s nocturnal desert scene.
About the artwork
The contrast of scale is extraordinary: a mother and infant occupy the protective space beneath a massive stone body. The child’s glow reaches the sphinx’s chest, while the sleeping Joseph and dying fire establish the pause of exhausted travelers. Darkness leaves the shelter both immense and precarious.
Merson painted the work in 1879; it is held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The sphinx is his imagined refuge, and the museum notes that he had not visited North Africa or the Near East. The painting therefore combines the biblical journey with a constructed vision of Egypt, using the ancient monument as a setting for temporary rest.
Featured in: Why Does Baby Jesus Glow in Nativity Paintings?
What does Matthew 2:14-15 mean?
Matthew 2:13–15 describes Joseph receiving a warning in a dream that Herod intends to kill the child. He takes Jesus and Mary away by night and remains in Egypt until Herod’s death. The emphasis falls on immediate action in response to danger.
The passage does not describe a stop beside a sphinx or light radiating from the child. Those additions give the flight a visible moment of shelter and a devotional center. The image’s quiet rest belongs within a story of forced departure, where protection depends on leaving home and taking refuge elsewhere.
The imagined shelter gives a moment of rest to Matthew’s nighttime flight from Herod, while the child’s light keeps the vulnerable family visible.
Sources
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; 18.652.
Why Does Baby Jesus Glow in Nativity Paintings?. Artwork reading adapted from this guide.
Matthew 2 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for Matthew 2:14-15.
Also from Matthew:Marriage of the VirginThe Dream of Saint Joseph