Matthew 2:1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him” (NIV).
Matthew 2:9-12 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route (NIV).
This year, the United States Postal Service issued a Christmas stamp called “Magi.” A silhouette of three men on camels, the style is similar to the 2012 Christmas stamp which had a silhouette of Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus. I like the stamp!
Who were the Magi? “Magi” are only mentioned in one passage in the entire Bible, which is Matthew 2:1-16. That passage also tells about King Herod, the reason I did not quote the entire passage since Herod’s story is a whole other historical examination.
Scripture informs us that first, Magi came from one country (Matthew 2:12). That country is not named, yet it was in the “east” (Matthew 2:1). Secondly, they saw his “star” (Matthew 2:1). Thirdly, their purpose in traveling to Jerusalem was to worship Him (Matthew 2:1). And they did worship the baby Jesus (Matthew 12:11). They were able to carry out their purpose! Lastly I add they gave the baby gifts, as many are familiar with, since it is a staple of the Christmas story and the famous song “We Three Kings.” Many children even know what the three gifts were. I add the Bible does not say how many Magi there were, and I suspect it was probably a small crew since they traveled such a distance. And were they really kings or wise men?
“Magi” comes from the Greek word “magos,” and in the NIV is translated as such only in this passage. And for this passage, many other reputable Bible translations use “wise men.” Vine gives one definition of magos as: “denotes a Magian, one of a sacred caste, originally Median, who apparently conformed to the Persian religion while retaining their old beliefs;…" (1) Yet he adds magos under sorcerer: "one of a Median caste, a magician…," (2) and also says the word is used in the Greek in Acts 13:6 and 8 to denote sorcerer. So according to Vine, Magi as traditionally translated in this passage is tied to a people, and the name of the people has roots in sorcery. So who were these people?
From a rock cut “Behistan” monument carved on a cliff near Ecbatana, scholars have some public statements of Darius, King of Persia from 521 to 486 B.C. For a seven month period before him, there was a Median ruler which King Darius discusses. Yet not only was this short lived ruler a Mede, he was of the Magi tribe! King Darius states he was a “Magian,” and even states his name was Gaumata. (3) Darius tells of how the Magian was an imposter who snookered the throne by claiming he was Smerdis. Darius admits he was involved in killing the Magian. I add that Darius goes on to tell about a Babylonian revolt.
Herodotus talks about Magi. Likewise Herodotus states two Magi brothers snookered the throne by proclaiming the identity of the second brother as Smerdis, son of Cyrus and brother of Cambyses. Herodotus calls the Magi who declared himself king as the “Magus.” The reign lasted only seven months.
Previous to the time of King Darius, Herodotus gives information throughout his history about the Magi, such as that they were one of the people groups brought under the rule of Deioces, king of Media, along with Busae, Parataceni, Struchates, Ariaznti. and Budii. (4) Then Herodotus tells of the Magi serving as dream interpreters for King Astyages: "Astyages now turned his attention to Cyrus, and summoning the Magi, who had previously interpreted his dream, asked them again what they judged its meaning to be." (5) So the Magi, in serving King Astyages, were involved in a similar duty as the “magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers” in Daniel 2:2 in the Babylonian Empire around the same time period.
By now, the Christmas story seems to have officially gone down a wrong path. As someone who grew up watching shows such as The Little Drummer Boy every December, these Magi, at least there in the fifth century, do not seem like a bunch of noble kings, rather they seemed like a vagabond tribe of Medes. Yet I think that is the point of the Magi in the Christmas story, even if they did become more noble by the time of the birth of Christ. I think the point is that Jesus was not presented a fitting and prophetic gift of gold, frankincense, and myrrh from people with a stellar ethnic heritage, a grand kingdom, or, even a righteous relationship with the living God. Jesus was presented a gift by some eastern Gentiles who were seeking and who were open to what God was doing in this messed up world at that time.
The lives of Persians and Medes were merged with the lives of Jewish people ever since King Cyrus conquered Babylon, (re-conquered it after it slipped back to self-rule after Astyages’ death I am convinced) (6) where Jewish people were living in exile there in 536 B.C. The book of Esther shows the extent of Jewish and Persian interaction even many years after Jewish people were permitted to return to Judea by Cyrus. Many Jewish people did return to Judea, but a number stayed in Persia. Herodotus seems to neglect this history I add! And though later on Persia was conquered by Greece, and then that region came under Roman rule, maybe through it all a number of Jewish people in Babylon and scattered amidst many other foreign countries who retained their hope of the Messiah who was to come had shared that hope with Persians and Medes.
Thus even some of Persian and Median ethnicity were expecting “the king of the Jews.” These Magi saw the star in the sky, and they knew He had been born since the general time of the arrival of the Messiah was prophesied in Daniel 9:25, and thus known by Jewish people. The time period prophesied was indeed the time period of Jesus’ birth. Along with all the prophecy to the Jewish people, God miraculously provided a star to lead, to lead those who were seeking this birth.
This Christmas story is a prelude of how the Messiah came not only to save the Jewish people, but also the Gentiles, people of all ethnic groups. God’s purpose for the Messiah was to die on a cross as the substitutional atonement for the sins of all people of all ethnic groups; the human race. Thus any human being can be saved by the Christ, which is the Greek for the same phrase as the Hebrew word Messiah: both mean Anointed One. Whatever your ethnic group, whatever you country of citizenship, you will be saved from spiritual death if you believe in Jesus.
Hunter Irvine
(1) W.E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words: A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Original Greek Words with their Precise Meanings for English Readers (McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, [no date]), 1245.
(2) W.E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words:A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Original Greek Words with their Precise Meanings for English Readers (McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company, [no date]), 1074.
(3) William C. McDermott and Wallace E. Caldwell, Readings in the History of the Ancient World (New York: Rinehart and Company, Inc., 1951), 59.
(4) Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Aubrey De Selincourt (New York: Penguin Books, 1954), 48.
(5) Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Aubrey De Selincourt (New York: Penguin Books, 1954), 56.
(6) I offer my thesis that King Astyages is Darius the Mede in the blog post on November 12th of 2012.
