The command to return to Palestine parallels exactly the command to leave in verse 13.

Rise, take translates a participle followed by an imperative. However, the structure is the equivalent of two imperatives, and almost all translations render in it this way.

For suggestions on translating Rise, take the child and his mother, see comments on verse 13. Other suggestions are “Get up and go with the child and his mother to the land of Israel” or “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go with them to the land of Israel.”

Land of Israel is used here and in verse 21, but nowhere else in the New Testament. Translators in some languages will not be able to use land but will have to make a choice between “country” or “region.” Probably the former would be better.

Earlier Matthew mentions only the king as the one who is seeking the child (verse 13). But now he very strikingly introduces a plural structure: those who sought the child’s life. However, the reference here would be to Herod and his advisors, not to the soldiers whom Herod would have sent, as noted in verse 13.

Those will have to be “those people” in many languages.

Sought the child’s life may be “who wanted to kill the child” or “who were trying to kill the child.”

For again indicates a causal relationship, and this may be handled in different ways. A simple “for” or “because” as in Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation is often acceptable. Other languages will use a sentence such as “I tell you this because” or “Do this because.” Others will start the verse with the cause: “The people who were trying to kill the child are dead. Therefore, get up and take the child and his mother to the land of Israel.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .