Martyred 14,000 Holy Infants, slain by Herod in Bethlehem

The Gospel of Matthew (2:16–18) tells that when the magi did not return to him, King Herod the Great ordered all the boys aged two and under in Bethlehem and its surroundings to be killed, hoping to kill the newborn Jesus; Joseph had already fled with Mary and the child to Egypt. Matthew saw in it the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s words about Rachel weeping for her children.

Byzantine tradition counts fourteen thousand children. No other ancient writer mentions the killing, and historians note that a town the size of Bethlehem would have had only a small number of infants, but the deed fits what is known of Herod’s cruelty in his last years.