The Myths Concerning The Magi
Practically every nativity scene includes three wise men bearing gifts at the manger of Jesus Christ. One of the most popular Christmas carols is We Thee Kings which declares that the magi came, being led westward by a star. Others, seeking to account for the killing of the infants at the command of Herod, have the magi coming about two years after His birth. But none of these popular notions concerning the magi can be supported with Scripture. That there were three wise men is assumed in that they came bearing three gifts, gold frankincense and myrrh. While it may be possible that each gift was borne by one wise man, it is also possible that there could have been more than three men, some bearing gifts and possibly some not. The number of magi is really inconsequential, but who they were and why and when they came is of great importance.
Nowhere does Scripture declare these men to be kings. The Greek word that Scripture uses is the word “magoi” from which we get magi. The word “magoi” refers to those who were astronomers in the oriental lands. Generally in studying the stars these magoi would then use their observations and make predictions concerning the future, declare revelations from “God”, or practice other cultic activities. The magoi who are in the Christmas story though, are men who had a firm belief in biblical revelation. This can be concluded in that when then come to Herod they declare that, “…we have seen HIS star…” (Matthew 2:2). They believed that there would be an appearance of a “star” with the coming of Israel’s Messiah. This belief is based on Numbers 24:17, “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.” This is a prophecy given by Balaam who was from Pethor, a city in Mesopotamia, which would eventually become the kingdom of Babylon. While the prophecy was recorded in Jewish Scripture, it was undoubtedly remembered by the Babylonians.
The appearance of the star is fundamental to determining when the magi arrived in Bethlehem. First, contrary to popular belief, the star did not lead them from when they left Babylon. When they declared to Herod that they had “seen his star…” Matthew used an aorist verb to record their testimony. The use of an aorist indicates a past action in a singular point of time. Matthew also states that after leaving Herod, the star reappeared to them. Obviously then, the star was not guiding them from Babylon to Jerusalem. If it was, why then did the magi stop in Jerusalem to ask of Herod where Israel’s Messiah was born? In the song We Three Kings, the star supposedly led them westward, but in reality it led them southward in that Bethlehem was six miles south of Jerusalem.
The nature of the “star” also has bearing on the time of the arrival of the magi. Many have attempted to date the birth of Christ by explaining that the star was a conjunction of stars and/or planets and looking for astrological data to determine Christ could have been born. But there are two significant problems with this. First, the star appeared on the night that Jesus was born for a time, then disappeared, then reappeared again when the magi had arrived in Jerusalem. For a conjunction of stars and/or planets to do this, the planets would need to back up in their orbits or a different conjunction would need to occur a short time after the first. Neither is the case. Second, the star that appeared to the magi after the visit with Herod moved and guided them to Bethlehem. Conjunctions don’t do that. The nature of the star cannot be explained by natural phenomena but only by supernatural. Luke tells us that on the night of Jesus’ birth, when the angels appeared to the shepherds, the glory of the Lord shone round about them (Luke 2:9). The glory of the Lord is what I believe appeared to the magi, who being hundreds of miles away, would see it as a star in the sky. This is the same glory that led the Hebrews through the wilderness to the promised land after leaving Egypt.
In determining the time of the arrival of the magi, three factors need to be determined. First, when did magi depart, second, from where did the magi depart, and third, how quickly could they travel to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem. There is no definitive declaration of Scripture to determine the first of these factors. However, common sense would indicate that if they recognized the star as signifying the arrival of Israel’s Messiah, then they would probably leave as soon as possible, more than likely the very next day. It may be possible that they needed a day or two or three to gather together the supplies they would need for the journey, but it is highly doubtful that they would delay in departing.
The only indication given in Scripture concerning from where they departed in found in Matthew 2:2 when they stated that they saw his star in the east. It is important to note that the star was not in the east, but the star was seen when the magi were in the east. Directions in Scripture are usually relative to the nation of Israel and generally, they speak of the kingdom of Babylon. Such is the case in Isaiah 41:2, “Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.” This, coupled with the prophecy of Balaam, being from the region of Babylonia, and the nature of magi being from that area, seems to conclude that somewhere in the Mesopotamian region was the place of the magi’s departure.
The third factor deals with the rate of their travel. The distance from Babylon to Jerusalem is about 800 miles (going northwest along the Euphrates River then turning south to Jerusalem). A horse can travel between 20 and 30 miles in a day, and a camel can go about 25 miles. Using 25 miles per day, it would take the magi about 32 days to travel from Babylon to Jerusalem. Assuming they left within a couple of days of seeing the star, they would have arrived to present their gifts to the infant Messiah about 35 days after His birth.
This seems to agree with the biblical data. First, when they came, Matthew states that they came into the house where Jesus was (Matthew 2:11). It is certain then, that they did not come to the manger, and therefore, they were not there on the night of His birth. Some argue that Matthew states then when the magi arrived they presented their gifts to the “child,” noting that this is not the same word as used by Luke in his account of the night of Jesus’ birth. There, Jesus is referred to as a brephos (translated “babe” in the KJV) but Matthew refers to Him as a paidion at the time of the magi’s arrival. While paidion can be used of a child that is not a newborn, it is used of a newborn in John 16:21.
In that the magi came to the house where Jesus was, it must be asked why Joseph and Mary were still in Bethlehem. The reason for coming there was due to the census decreed by Caesar. It would seem logical that once Mary had recovered from giving birth, and then, once they had registered for the taxation, they would have returned to their home in Nazareth. Luke’s gospel gives us explanation as to why they were still in Bethlehem. He states that after the days of her purification, they took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Luke 2:22). This was done according to the Law of Moses. According to Leviticus 12, a woman would be ceremonially unclean for 40 days after giving birth to a son and during this time she would not go out of her house. Again, once this was accomplished it would seem that Joseph and Mary would return to their home in Nazareth. Therefore, it must be that the magi arrived at the house where Joseph and Mary were with Jesus sometime during the forty days of her purification. After His presentation in the Temple, Matthew states that Joseph was warned in a dream that Herod would seek to kill the child and he obediently took his family to Egypt until the death of Herod (Matthew 2:13-15).
An objection to this time is that Herod ordered the execution of the children who were two years old or younger, “according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.” It is argued then that the magi had visited sometime around the second birthday of Jesus. There are a number of problems though with this assertion. First, why would the magi wait so long to make their visit? There just does not seem to be any justifiable reason for them not to leave immediately. Second, if it was certain that the visit of the magi was two years after the birth of Jesus, why murder those who were younger than that? Herod’s decree to murder the children up to the age of two was his “insurance” that they would leave no possibility of having been deceived about the time of Jesus’ birth and would have ridded the land of any contender to “his” throne. It must be added that not only did he murder the children in Bethlehem, but also the towns surrounding it. If it was certain that Bethlehem was the place of the birth, then there was no need to murder the children outside of it. This too, was Herod’s insurance policy. There is a third problem to the time of magi’s arrival two years after the birth of Jesus. While the exact time of Jesus’ birth cannot be determined, most scholars agree that it was sometime between the fall of 5 BC and early 4 BC (see my article on The Date of Jesus’ Birth). For Herod to order the death the children two years of age or under, he would have had to do so between the fall of 3 BC and early 2 BC. Herod died in either late March or early April of 4 BC. He would have been alive to give such an order. Therefore, the magi had to arrive in Jerusalem sometime before late March 4 BC.
A timeline of the events might be as follows:
As with dating other events in Scripture, the dating of the time of the arrival of the magi is of relatively little importance. Whether there were three wise men or three hundred does not have real bearing on the account of Matthew’s gospel. But the activity of the magi is of major importance. Believing that the Messiah would soon come, they were expectantly watching for Him to arrive. The return of Jesus Christ to rapture His Church is imminent. Are you watching? The magi were willing to travel far and bring expensive gifts in order to worship their Savior. What value do you give to your worship? Finally, the magi were willing to be obedient to God’s declarations, even if it meant disobeying the civil ruler. How willing are you to be obedient to God?