Seeking (Matthew 2:1-12)
EPIPHANY
Promises for Seekers
Who are the Wise Men/Magi
The historian Herodotus mentions “magi” as a priestly caste of Media, or Persia, and, as the religion in Persia at the time was Zoroastrianism, Herodotus’ magi were probably Zoroastrian priests.
Believing the affairs of history were reflected in the movements of the stars and other phenomena, Herodotus suggests the rulers of the East commonly utilized the magi’s knowledge of astrology and dream interpretation to determine affairs of state. The magi were therefore concerned with what the movement of the stars (as sign and portents) might signify for the future affairs of history.
Matthew’s infancy narrative contains little information concerning the identity of the magi. Matthew states only that the wise men were “from the East” (2:1, 2), an ambiguous point of origin that left room for many subsequent hypotheses. Some church fathers proposed Arabia on the basis of where the gifts (gold, frankincense, and myrrh, 2:11) were likely to have originated. Others suggested Chaldea or Media/Persia, and, although certainty is impossible, Persia did certainly have a caste of priests (magi) which would fit the description in Matthew.
Interestingly, Matthew does not tell how many magi came to honor the infant Jesus. The Eastern church held that there were 12 travelers, although this may simply derive from the biblical penchant for that number (12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples). The Western church settled on 3 wise men, based presumably on the 3 gifts brought in homage. The exact number is not known.
A similar silence exists in Matthew regarding the names of the wise men. The names Gaspar, Melchior (Melkon), and Balthasar are legendary and do not derive from Matthew. Similarly, the later tradition that Gaspar was a king of India, Melchoir a king of Persia, and Balthasar a king of Arabia has no basis in fact.
In the Gospel of St. Matthew, ch. 2:1–12, the Magi appear as “wise men”—properly Magians—who were guided by a star from “the east” to Jerusalem, where they suddenly appeared in the days of Herod the Great, inquiring for the new-born king of the Jews, whom they had come to worship. As to the country from which they came, opinions vary greatly; but their following the guidance of a star seems to point to the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, where astronomy was early cultivated by the Chaldeans. [See STAR OF THE EAST.] (Why should the new star lead these wise men to look for a king of the Jews? (1) These wise men from Persia were the most like the Jews, in religion, of all nations in the world. They believed in one God, they had no idols, they worshipped light as the best symbol of God. (2) The general expectation of such a king. “The Magi,” says Ellicott, “express the feeling which the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius tell us sixty or seventy years later had been for a long time very widely diffused. Everywhere throughout the East men were looking for the advent of a great king who was to rise from among the Jews. It had fermented in the minds of men, heathen as well as Jews, and would have led them to welcome Jesus as the Christ had he come in accordance with their expectation.” Virgil, who lived a little before this, owns that a child from heaven was looked for, who should restore the golden age and take away sin. (3) This expectation arose largely from the dispersion of the Jews among all nations, carrying with them the hope and the promise of a divine Redeemer. Isa. 9, 11; Dan. 7. (4) Daniel himself was a prince and chief among this very class of wise men. His prophecies were made known to them; and the calculations by which he pointed to the very time when Christ should be born became, through the book of Daniel, a part of their ancient literature.—ED.) According to a late tradition, the Magi are represented as three kings, named Gaspar, Melchior, and Belthazar, who take their place among the objects of Christian reverence, and are honored as the patron saints of travellers.