The Wise Men

[Webers.Home]

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● Matt 2:1 . . Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days
of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.

The koiné Greek word for these particular wise men is magos (mag'-os)
which roughly indicates scientists; and judging by their interest in the
cosmos; I'd say they were astrologers.

Back then, science was in its infancy and there was not yet a distinct division
between astrologers and astronomers like there is now, so we probably
shouldn't tag those guys as mystics.

● Matt 2:2 . . Saying: where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have
seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Now before we assume that these guys were all ethnic Persians we need to
be aware that the Jews were spread out all over the world at this time; for
example on the day of Pentecost:

● Acts 2:5-11 . . Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews
from every nation under heaven. A crowd came together in bewilderment,
because each one heard [the disciples] speaking in his own language. Utterly
amazed, they asked: Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of
Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism);
Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own
tongues!

I think it's pretty safe to assume that ethnic Persians would not be
interested in the Jews' religion so I posit that the wise guys were all Jewish
men; and thus knowledgeable of the prophecies predicting a very important
successor to David's throne.

So; how did those Jewish men know to follow that star? Well; first off we
have to realize that their star wasn't a celestial object because it was low
enough in the sky to direct people to the exact house were baby Jesus was
lodged (Matt 2:9). In other words: their star was an apparition.

But how did they know their star was related to a newborn king? Well;
according to Matt 2:12, they were in contact with God. In other words: the
men weren't acting on their own initiative: they were on a mission; directed
and supervised by divine oversight.
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[Webers.Home]

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● Matt 2:3-4 . . And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes
of the people, he began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born.

Matthew, not Herod, calls Jesus the Christ. The Greek word basically refers
to anointing; which is how Jewish kings were installed back in the Old
Testament; for example David. (1Sam 16:1-13)

Right about here I get a bit curious. Why would Herod think the king that the
wise men sought was predicted in the Bible? It seems to me that in order for
Herod to be thinking that way, he'd have to be aware of Daniel's famous
seventy-week prophecy. (Dan 9:24-27)

And why would the chief priests and scribes think that way too? Well; they
being Old Testament experts were for sure aware of Daniel's prophecy and
I'll just bet that they and their forebearers had been keeping track of
Daniel's timeline all along and thus not at all surprised when Messiah showed
up in their day.
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[Blik]

Weber posted: "I think it's pretty safe to assume that ethnic Persians would not be
interested in the Jews' religion so I posit that the wise guys were all Jewish
men; and thus knowledgeable of the prophecies predicting a very important
successor to David's throne."

Scripture indicates that something did exist that told these men of the great event that was happening. God can use what would be the occult to us, but it is not of God so we are not to use it.

 

[dcontroversal]

I would point out that the Jews spent 70 years in Babylonian captivity, Dainel and his three buddies rose to their elevated positions and undoubtably the word of God and what would take place would have been well known to the astrologers of Babylon as Daniel was elevated as chief of them......I will also point out that Cyrus was also called the servant of God and was raised for the purpose of letting the Jews go home....point being...I do not beleive we can make a hard fast rule that the wise men were Jews......they could have been Babylonian, Chaldean or maybe even Persians.........

 

[Webers.Home]

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After an audience with Herod, the wise men departed for Bethlehem; but I
don't think they made it because their star reappeared to direct them.

● Matt 2:9 . . After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the
star they had seen in the east went ahead of them.

It was their understanding that the king they sought was already born even
before they left home to seek him.

● Matt 2:2 . . Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw
his star in the east.

There's no telling how much time had gone by before the star came to them
in the east.

And then it stood right over the very place where young Jesus was lodged.

● Matt 2:9 . . It stopped over the place where the child was.

The place was a house rather than a stable.

● Matt 2:11a . . On coming to the house

The men didn't journey to Israel via motorized conveyances. Thy likely
traveled via beasts. I don't know how long it took them to get to Jerusalem
from their home towns but I strongly suspect that it was long enough for
Joseph to take his family back home to Nazareth.

Also, Jesus was very likely no longer an infant; rather, older by the time
they arrived.

● Matt 2:11b . . They saw the child with his mother

The Greek word for "child" is somewhat ambiguous. It can refer to any
underage kid from infancy to adolescence.

I won't hazard a guess as to Jesus' age by the time the men arrived to see
him, but I'm thinking he was at least no longer in a crib.
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[posthuman]

There's no telling how much time had gone by before the star came to them
in the east.

yes there is. the age range of children Herod ordered to be slain tells us roughly how long Herod understood it to be since the magi had seen the sign of His birth.
this also gives us an idea of how long after seeing the sign it was before the magi made it to Judea, which in turn is also a clue about how far they came.

 

[posthuman]

Herod to be thinking that way, he'd have to be aware of Daniel's famous
seventy-week prophecy. (Dan 9:24-27)

not necessarily. all it indicates is that Herod assumed that the priests should know about the birth of this King being prophesied; if he knew all the details of the scripture he wouldn't need to talk to the priests at all.

 

[posthuman]

I would point out that the Jews spent 70 years in Babylonian captivity, Dainel and his three buddies rose to their elevated positions and undoubtably the word of God and what would take place would have been well known to the astrologers of Babylon as Daniel was elevated as chief of them......I will also point out that Cyrus was also called the servant of God and was raised for the purpose of letting the Jews go home....point being...I do not beleive we can make a hard fast rule that the wise men were Jews......they could have been Babylonian, Chaldean or maybe even Persians.........

if the magi had known the scripture they would have known to go to Bethelehem straight away instead of going to inquire of Herod.
important foreign men, on the other hand, would naturally seek the ruler of the land they were visiting, to get information.
interesting that they didn't go to the priests, either, but to Herod.

 

[Webers.Home]

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● Matt 2:11c . . and fell down, and worshipped him:

The koiné Greek word for "worship" is proskuneo (pros-koo-neh'-o). It's kind
of a funny word because it basically pictures a dog licking its master's hand;
i.e. homage, reverence, and/or adoration; viz: definitely subordination.

Now if these guys knew their stuff-- I think we can safely assume so --then
they didn't come all the way from the east seeking another run-of-the-mill
king of the Davidic dynasty, rather; a very special potentate that would one
day rule not just the land of Israel; but the entire planet-- everything and
everybody on it.

● Dan 7:13-14 . . In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was
one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the
Ancient of Days and was escorted into His presence.

. . . He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations
and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is the one that will never
be destroyed.

Well; let the record show that the wise men were the very first to begin
fulfilling that prophecy's prediction that "all peoples, nations and men of
every language worshipped him"

● Matt 2:11-12 . .Then they opened their treasures and presented him with
gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Those were not only appropriate gifts for monarchs of that day, but also
valuable commodities that Joseph could put to use in financing his family's
pending sojourn in Egypt.

It would've been fun if Matthew had told us the weight of the gold so we
could put a dollar figure on it according to today's precious metals.

● Matt 2:11-12 . . And having been warned in a dream not to go back to
Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

That was a safety measure to prevent Herod from knowing where to find the
lad because rulers in that day were typically Machiavellian-- they didn't just
crush potential threats to their power; they utterly annihilated it; and as
subsequent events demonstrate, ol' Herod had neither conscience nor
concern for child welfare.
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