The adjective dietēs appears in Matthew 2:16, where Herod orders the massacre of all male children in Bethlehem who were two years old and under — calculating the time based on the Magi's report of when the star appeared. This horrifying act fulfills the prophecy of weeping in Ramah from Jeremiah 31:15.
The massacre of the dietēs children is one of Scripture's most harrowing passages. In Matthew's theological framework, it echoes the slaughter of Hebrew infants in Egypt (Exodus 1) and confirms Jesus as the new Moses — His life endangered by a threatened ruler, His escape into Egypt, His return to reclaim His people. The Innocents' deaths also anticipate the sacrificial death of Jesus Himself: He who escaped Herod's sword would eventually lay down His life for those who could not escape.