Who were the Wise Men presented gifts to infant Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh?

"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, 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.

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"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."

I think 'wise men' is more referring to those who are saved than to all that astrologer and soothsayer stuff people imagine them to be (from our cultural traditions). Neither does the Bible say that they are three, only that three types of gifts were given. People who are saved are called 'wise' in the Bible. Of course we have the reference of the wise virgins who had oil in their lamps, for instance. They were the ones who were saved I think. The fact that the wise men are described as coming from the east is parable language indicating that they are from Christ (true believers so to speak). East is Christ's direction in the Bible. The very sun, which is a picture of Christ (Psalm 19) rises in the east, and Genesis 29 mentions God's people as being 'people of the east'. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are mentioned because gifts which Christ has given to his people to present to Christ fall within those categories: gold - things relating to his being a king, frankincense - that which is wrought by answered prayer, and myrrh - that which has to do with Christ's death on the cross (Paul said: "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: ")

Who were the Magi, the Wisemen? Great question. They were part of the convergence of the Old Testament to the New Testament. The Old Testament was turned upside down on it's head. With the birth of Jesus, Herod the King of the Jews, turned on God and attempted to slaughter the Newborn King, Jesus. While, at the same time, the Magi, non Jews and gentiles, came to find and worship Jesus. The Magi marked the end of an era. The Jews would reject Jesus, the Son of God, and attempt to kill him. While the gentiles would seek to worship and adore Him.

The Magi/Wisemen mark the end of the Old Covenant/Testament and herald in the era of the New Testament/Covenant.

The King of the Jews, Herod, reject Jesus and try to kill Him, while gentiles come to worship and adore Him. This is a major change in God's salvation plan. The Jews are rejecting, even attempting to kill Jesus which they will at a later date. The Gentiles are coming to worship and adore Jesus.

The Old and New Testament worlds are being turned upside down. The Jews are rejecting and coming to destroy God and the Gentiles are coming to worship God. It marks the end of an era, the Old Testament and the beginning of the new era, the era of the Gentiles/Christians.

The biblical story of the Magi, the Wise Men from the Orient, display a radical change from the Old Testament to the New Testmant. The Jews will seek to kill and destroy Jesus while the Gentiles turn to worship Jesus. Jews will deny God/Jesus and the Gentiles will accept God/Jesus.

The Scripture tells us ---that these wise men were Shepherds who were watching their flock of sheep ---

Luke 2 NIV

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

I say ---
This makes perfect sense for God to send first some Shepherds to view the baby Jesus as He was going to be the Great Shepherd who would be looking after many Sheep in time to come ----just fits in my view ---

The Wise Men, the Magi, weren't the shepherds. The Wise Men were royal seekers from the East. Their story is not the story of the shepherds.

In the Book of Daniel there are a LOT of numbers that people erroneously attribute to the final eschatological actions.

However a better numerology is to ascribe these numbers to the arrival of the Messiah that had been promised.

And these lineage descendants of Daniel's disciples (aka meepes) well versed and trained in applying the scriptures were also unique in that they practiced ritual bathing.
Just saying...

If that is your view them that is your view ---

But if you read Matthew 2 ---you will see that The Magi came to visit Jesus in His House --not in the stable where He was born ------it is a Misconception that the Wise Men went to the stable -----God would never in my view send a Sorcerer to see Jesus who is Holy -----that just does not make sense

Strong's Number: G3097

Greek Base Word: μάγος

Usage: Sorcerer, wise man

Definition: A Magian (Magi), i.e., Oriental scientist; by implication, a magician.


This is Matthew 2

Wise Men Come to Visit Jesus

2 Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. After Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.

2 They asked people, “Where is the child who has been born to be the king of the Jews? We saw the star that shows he was born. We saw it rise in the sky in the east and have come to worship him.”

11 The wise men came to the house where the child was with his mother Mary. They bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened the boxes of gifts they had brought for him. They gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

There are some misconceptions that people make about scripture ------and that are taught ---which is False doctrine ----

One is that the magi visiting Jesus at the stable ---when it was in His house

One is there were only 3 Wise Men that gave gifts to Jesus ---the scripture does not give a number --it just says Wise men --which says there was more than one ---

One is that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute ----this lady was healed from 7 demons from Jesus Himself and then followed Jesus and actually funded His Ministry -----she definitely was not a prostitute ---

You are just wrong if you insist that the Magi, the Wise Men, and the shepherds were the same groups of people. Ignorance at it's worst of Bible/Scriptural reading. They were two completely separate groups who came to visit/adore Jesus.

You claim to be a student of the word, yet you seem to be completely ignorant of the word of the Gospel.

The Magi, Wise Men, were not the shepherds.

The “wise men” from the East who brought gifts to the infant Jesus (Matt. 2:1), said in later tradition to be kings named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The Magi ----were people God warned against -----and not to listen to ----

LEVITICUS 19:31
KJ21
“‘Regard not those who have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

The Magi were not the ones who went to the Stable to see the Baby Jesus Folks ----it was the Shepherds who went to see the baby Jesus in the manger ------Jesus is the good Shepherd and it was the Shepherds who God sent =Not the Magi -----

The Magi went to the House and presented Gifts to Jesus -------

People who believe it was the Magi that went to the stable are believing Wrong Doctrine ------it was the Shepherds who were watching their flocks in the fields ------

Magi was a tribe of the Medes. The medo-persian empire as per Book of Daniel was a horned ram (horns indicates Divine Touch). They produced a messiah of the jewish people named cyrus.

The shepherds and the wise men were two distinct groups of people. The magi has travelled all the way from either Persia or eastern Arabia to Jerusalem, and then to Bethlehem. It is remarkable that it was the Gentile magi who were the first worshippers of Christ the King of the Jews.

Did you know that the Bible refers to believers as wise men? "I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. " 1 Corinthians 10:15. "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: " Matthew 23:34

We read: "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 " Personally, I think this is to be read something like: there came saved men from Christ. To me this seems a better gist of the verse than 3 Magi came from Persia or eastern Arabia.

Helped and Enlightened by the Holy Spirit- Mystery Revealed for Christmas

uh huh but what actual Biblical evidence is there that they are all from Babylon?

i have always thought there were also some among them from China. they watched the stars intently, and ancient records indicate they knew a king was being born at the right time, because of what they saw in the stars.
we know by Herod's order after hearing when they saw the signs that it was some years before they arrived in Jerusalem, and their arrival was no small affair, but caused agreat stir. it would take a couple years for people from the far east to travel that distance - but just a matter of months for a caravan to be organized and arrive from Babylon.

i do not doubt that wise men from the far east would naturally go through Babylon, the center of wisdom in the Levant. they would meet with them and discuss what they had seen. they would put together what they both knew, and they add to each other's understanding.
yes i believe Babylonians who remembered Daniel were among them. but i do not think that the Babylonians were the only magi. the timeline does not fit the scripture for it to be Babylonians alone.

Helped and Enlightened by the Holy Spirit- Wise Men Mystery Revealed for Christmas