{Slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem}
(aneilen pantas tous paidas tous en B(8874)hleem). The flight of
Joseph was justified, for Herod was violently enraged (ethum(9374)h(880a)lian) that he had been mocked by the Magi, deluded in fact
(enepaichth(885c)). Vulgate _illusus esset_. Herod did not know, of
course, how old the child was, but he took no chances and
included all the little boys (	ous paidas, masculine article)
in Bethlehem two years old and under, perhaps fifteen or twenty.
It is no surprise that Josephus makes no note of this small item
in Herod's chamber of horrors. It was another fulfilment of the
prophecy in  Jer 31:15 . The quotation ( 2:18 ) seems to be from
the Septuagint. It was originally written of the Babylonian
captivity but it has a striking illustration in this case also.
Macrobius (_Sat_. II. iv. II) notes that Augustus said that it
was better to be Herod's sow (hus) than his son (huios), for
the sow had a better chance of life.