The “magi” who visited Jesus of Nazareth, up to two years after His birth in Bethlehem near the end of the 1st century BC, are enigmatic and typically misunderstood (Matthew 2:1-16; Luke 2:4-40). Popular songs and plays often refer to them incorrectly as “3 Kings,” while few people have much of an idea who these men were or what culture they originated from.
The Gospel of Matthew is the earliest surviving record of these mysterious Magi who visited Jesus as a young child—the other three Gospels do not mention this occurrence, and no reference is made to their visit in any other New Testament book. However, an ancient manuscript recently discovered in the Vatican Library claims to be a first person account of the Magi who visited Jesus. It is called The Revelation of the Magi, and while the existing copy is an 8th century AD Syriac manuscript, scholars believe the original account may have been composed as early as the middle of the 2nd century AD. This document, unfortunately, does not give us all the answers about the Magi. It is also considered “pseudepigraphal” as it was not written by the actual Magi who visited Jesus, although it reflects 2nd century knowledge of those Magi. The story claims that the Magi who visited Jesus were a large group—at least twelve men rather than three—of monk-like mystics from a distant land called Shir at the shore of the Great Ocean, and descendants of Seth who had been awaiting a centuries old prophecy that a brilliant star would one day appear to herald the birth of God in human form. This prophecy is a possible reference to the star mentioned by Balaam and perhaps a veiled reference in Isaiah (Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 60:3). While the exact location of Shir is unknown, suggestions have been made that it refers to China, although there are locations in Iran named or containing the component “shir,” and the “Great Ocean” could just as easily be the Caspian Sea or Arabian Sea as the Pacific Ocean.
Another interesting detail that this Revelation of the Magi manuscript suggests is that the Magi discovered the “star” was actually a luminous childlike angel directing them to Judea. The Greek word for “star” (aster) used in the New Testament had a variety of meanings in ancient literature, including an angel or a Divine light. This Greek word can also mean planet, comet, light, or angel (Liddell et al., A Greek-English Lexicon; Matthew 2:2-9; Revelation 1:20). The Hebrew word kokav which is commonly rendered as “star” is also often used to refer to angels and equated with “the sons of God,” or angelic beings (Brown et al., Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon; Job 38:7; Daniel 8:10). Divine lights were also used to guide the Israelites, and one appeared before Paul on the road to Damascus (Exodus 13:21; Acts 9:3). Thus, it is linguistically possible that the “star” could mean an angel or a Divinely sent light, and not just a star, comet, or planet. If the “star” was a planet or a comet, only certain dates for the appearance of the star are possible. A conjunction with Jupiter and Saturn dating from 7 BC has been proposed, or alternatively with Jupiter and Venus in the Leo conjunction in 2 BC. Conjunctions, however, are regular astronomical occurrences and not unique events. Comets have also been suggested, but the closest known comet dates to 11 BC, years before the birth of Jesus, they were often interpreted as signs of bad omens, and comets move rapidly across the sky rather than linger and reappear over a long period of time. In addition to the chronological restrictions—two of which from 11 BC and 2 BC do not agree with known historical information associated with the birth of Jesus found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke—the language used in the Matthew narrative does not accommodate planets, comets, or even stars. The account of Matthew states that it was the “star” of Jesus and that this “star” actually moved and went directly over the specific house where Jesus and His family were residing. “The star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over where the Child was” (Matthew 2:9). The “star” was described in anthropomorphic terms, as if it was an angelic being or being controlled by an intelligent agent. The Matthew account states only that a star appeared, as if it had not existed or was not visible before. The star then disappeared by the time the Magi arrived in Jerusalem and saw Herod, which was approximately 3 weeks of travel from the Babylon area. Finally, once the Magi were told of the prophecy about Bethlehem and left their audience with Herod in Jerusalem, the star reappeared with perfect timing, leading them to the exact house and standing over where the child Jesus was with his family in Nazareth (Matthew 2:9; cf. Luke 2:21-39). The way in which this “star” and its actions are described makes a star, comet, or planet interpretation impossible. Stars, comets, and planets cannot pinpoint an exact location such as a house in the small village of Nazareth. Stars do not disappear and reappear, do not move through the atmosphere of the earth, and do not come to rest over a house. That the star was “leading” the Magi is language pointing to a sentient agent, such as an angel or Divinely controlled light. Significantly, the earliest sources outside of the Gospels and the description in Matthew all agree on a single understanding for the star of Bethlehem, increasing the probability of a correct interpretation. The Protoevangelism of James, composed about 140-170 AD, with the earliest extant manuscript from the 3rd century AD, describes the “star” as an angel that guided the Magi. This is the earliest known manuscript which describes the star of Bethlehem. The recently discovered ancient Syriac manuscript, The Revelation of the Magi, probably composed as early as the middle of the 2nd century AD, states that the “star” was actually a luminous child angel directing them to Judea. This general interpretation is found in various writings, as angels are often associated with bright lights and with guides in ancient literature (Enoch 18:13-16; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 16; Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 145). This further validates the idea that the “star” (aster) mentioned in Matthew was an angel. Finally, according to the Bible, astrology, a pagan practice, has never been used as a method of revelation or communication from God. On the contrary, the Bible actually condemns the use of astrology (Deuteronomy 4:19, 17:2-5). Therefore, the “star” of Jesus was probably an angel, perhaps projecting a light that guided the Magi from the east to meet and worship Jesus. Although The Revelation of the Magi and the Protoevangelism of James contain historical memory and relevant information from antiquity, several details were also likely fabricated or based on speculation, so their testimony cannot be considered the final word on the matter.
A variety of ancient documents give a more comprehensive and accurate picture of who these Magi were. The word magi (plural) originally comes from Old Persian magush, transmitted through Greek as magos (singular) and magoi (plural). This Persian word is the origin of the word “mage,” which typically refers to a practitioner of magic. The earliest reference comes from the Old Persian Behistun Inscription of Darius (ca. 520 BC) which does not shed light on any specific meaning. A Greek text of Heraclitus (ca. 6th century BC) claims the magi participated in impious rituals—likely rituals that were contrary to Greek practice. Later texts are clearer about who magi are and what they do. Herodotus recorded two meanings for magi—one as a tribe of the Medes, and the other as a special caste whose duties included interpretation of omens and dreams (Herodotus, Histories). Pliny the Elder wrote that magi practiced some type of magic and wrote magical texts (Pliny the Elder, Natural History). Strabo placed them in Media and remarked that they lived a sedentary type of life, which would accord with their status as scholars, advisors, and astrologers (Strabo, Geography). Other Hellenistic period authors additionally associate magi with astrology, magic, and dream interpretation. This association seems to have been generally understood during antiquity, as the Greek term for magi is used in the Septuagint (LXX) of the book of Daniel in reference to advisors of Nebuchadnezzar who were consulted for making decisions and interpreting dreams (Daniel 1:20, 2:2, 4:7, 5:7, etc.). In the New Testament, two additional magi are recorded in the book of Acts—Simon and Elymas (Acts 8:9, 13:8). Details about what specifically these two men did are not included in the text, but Simon is said to perform amazing “magical” acts and Elymas appears to be a trusted advisor of Sergius Paulus the proconsul. Josephus mentioned magi who were advisors and dream interpreters of Nebuchadnezzar, and he also recounted a later story about a man who pretended to be a magi working in the court of Felix who seemed to have had powerful skills of persuasion (Josephus, Antiquities). Texts from the Hellenistic and Roman periods convey the same meanings for magi. All of these texts about magi suggest that the Magi who visited Jesus were generally similar in their training and abilities—educated, intelligent men who were experts in astrology, interpreted dreams, and served as advisors to rulers. The Magi in Matthew followed a “star” to find Jesus, they were apparently a class of men revered as knowledgeable and wise since they were requested to advise Herod and his experts about the birth of the Messiah, they were “warned in a dream” to avoid Herod, and they originally came from “the east” (Matthew 2:2, 2:4-8, 2:12, 2:1). Therefore, descriptions of the Magi in the Gospel of Matthew are perfectly consistent with various texts about magi from the 6th century BC through the 1st century AD.
Where did the Magi who visited Jesus originally come from? The place in “the east” that they traveled from appears to have been either Persia, which encompassed Media after the 6th century BC, or farther south in Chaldea, where the magi class originated and where astrological advisors and dream interpreters called magi had been active for centuries. Unfortunately, the location cannot be narrowed down any more specifically than that because of the lack of information we have about these particular Magi that visited Jesus. It should come as no surprise that masters of astronomical observation, dream interpretation, advisement, and probably divination came from the area of ancient Mesopotamia though, since many of these activities had been in practice there for thousands of years prior to the Magi mentioned by Matthew. Although we may never know exactly how many magi visited Jesus, their names, or the specific city that they came from, our current corpus of ancient texts gives a moderate understanding of who they were and demonstrates that the account of the Magi recorded in the Gospel of Matthew is historically plausible.
~Titus~