Leaving Egypt

Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἡρῴδου ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου φαίνεται κατ' ὄναρ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λέγων, ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πορεύου εἰς γῆν Ἰσραήλ, τεθνήκασιν γὰρ οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου. Οὐκέτι φησὶ, φεῦγε, ἀλλὰ πορεύου, ἄνεσιν μετὰ τὸν πειρασμὸν αἰνιττόμενος· τὴν ψυχὴν δὲ τοῦ παιδίου εἰπὼν, τὴν δόξαν Ἀπολιναρίου ἀνατρέπει, σάρκα λέγοντος εἰληφένει τὸν Κύριον ἄνουν καὶ ἀψυχον. Ἐν μέντοι τῇ οἰκονομικῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καθόδῳ εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ τῇ ἐκεῖθεν αὖθις εἰς Ἰουδαίαν ἀναστροφῇ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ λυτροῦται αὐτὸν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ἴδια πάλιν ἀνάγων. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Migne PG 72. 368

With the death of Herod, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, rise up and take the child and his mother and go forth into the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the soul of the child. 1 The angel did not say 'flee' 2 as he once did but 'go forth', signifying a cessation of trial, and saying 'the soul of the child' he overthrows the opinion of Apollinaris, 3 who said that the Lord assumed the flesh but not the mind and soul. Thus in the dispensation of the going down of Christ into Egypt and again returning to Judea, God recalls the captivity of His people and His liberation of them from plots, leading them again back to their own things. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 2.19-20 2 Mt 2.13 3 Apollinaris of Laodicea