Truths About Those Wise Men

Last week we talked about what really did, and didn’t, happen around the time of Jesus’ birth. So what is the truth about the visit of those wise men?

Were there three wise men?

The wise men’s visit is described in Matthew 2:1-12. Western tradition says that there were three wise men, but Matthew didn’t say that. This tradition appears to be derived from the fact that the wise men brought three gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh, per Matthew 2:12. The eastern tradition is that there were twelve wise men, and ancient art depicts anywhere from two to eight. Actually, of course, we don’t know how many wise men there were.

Were the wise men kings?

The term Matthew uses is the Greek word, magos, from which we get “magi” (and magic). The Greek word is derived from the Persian word, Magupati—a title given to priests in a sect of the ancient Persian religions such as Zoroastrianism. By the 1^st century A.D., the term had become more generic and referred to any sort of sorcerer, astrologer, or occult practitioner. For example, a similar word is used by Luke in Acts 8:9, and is translated “magic”: “Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria.”

The magi were almost certainly not kings, but were probably highly educated for their time.

Where did the wise men come from?

Matthew doesn’t tell us that, either. He simply says they came from the east—literally, from the rising of the sun. There seem to be two theories—Persia (modern Iran) or Arabia/Yemen.

Those who argue for Persia base their argument primarily on two facts: (1) the term magi, as we have seen, is Persian in origin; and (2) the Persian Empire occupied most of the territory east of the Roman Empire in the 1^st century. In addition, Persia lay east of Israel (unlike Yemen and Arabia, which were southeast of Israel).

The argument for Arabia or Yemen is based on the gifts the magi brought. Frankincense and myrrh are manufactured from ingredients found only in the Arabian peninsula and eastern Africa, while Yemen—then known as Sheba—derived great wealth from its African gold mines.

Did the wise men arrive the night Jesus was born or shortly thereafter?

This seems highly unlikely, for several reasons.

First, Matthew 2:2 says that they came because they saw his star. But if the star didn’t appear until around the time of Jesus’ birth, then the visit must have been well after that, because the magi had to have time to travel hundreds of miles by foot or animal to Judea, at about 10-20 miles a day.

The distance from western Yemen to Bethlehem is about 1,600 miles—a journey of at least several months at that time. The distance from Baghdad to Bethlehem, via the most direct route, would still be more than 600 miles, and from western Iran it would be more than 900 miles. So that would still require a journey of at least a month or two. However, they probably would not have taken the most direct route, since that would involve crossing a lot of dry desert wasteland. The usual route at that time was to travel northwest through Iraq to Syria, following the Euphrates River, and then southwest through Syria to Israel, significantly lengthening the journey. And none of this takes into account the time needed to prepare for the long journey, which must have been substantial, as well as any delays along the way and the time spent in Jerusalem before proceeding to Bethlehem. 

Second, Matthew 2:13-15 tells us that after the magi left, an angel told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt to avoid Herod’s murderous wrath. But we also know that Joseph and Mary were in Jerusalem about a month after Jesus’s birth. We know this from Luke 2:22-24, which says:

And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

The “days for their purification” refers to Leviticus 12:4, which specifies that when a woman gives birth to a male child, “she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed.” Thus, Mary and Joseph were in Jerusalem offering a sacrifice at least 33 days after the birth of Jesus. So if the magi came to see Jesus on or shortly after his birth, then Joseph and Mary stayed in country for at least a month after the wise men left, despite being warned by an angel to flee to Egypt. That seems highly unlikely (and foolish).

Finally, Chapter 2 of Matthew’s Gospel relates the story of Herod’s massacre of the children of Bethlehem, in which he ordered the death of all male children under the age of two years in and around Bethlehem.[1] He based his order on what the magi had told him about “the exact time the star appeared,”[2] framing his order “according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”[3] If Jesus was still a newborn, Herod would have had no reason to order the death of any children older than a few weeks.

The most likely scenario is that the magi arrived in Bethlehem about a year after the birth of Jesus, give or take a few months. 

[1]. Matthew 2:16

[2]. Matthew 2:7

[3]. Matthew 2:16