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The Magi, who visited baby Jesus and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, have fascinated Christians for centuries. Their origin is uncertain, with theories ranging from Babylonian sorcerers to mystics from China. They were warned in a dream not to return to King Herod.
Although the Magi (also known as the Magi) appear only briefly in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2-1), and are never heard of again, they have managed to capture the imagination of Christians and have been portrayed in art and stories since then. So who were the wise men in the Bible? And how many were there? Why suppose there were three? Matthew isn’t specific about the actual number of magi who visited the baby Jesus, just about the three gifts they brought: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These items were valuable in the ancient Near East and likely came in handy when the Holy Family fled to Egypt. Scholars have speculated for centuries about who these magi might be. Some say they were Babylonian sorcerers while others have speculated that they were Persian Zoroastrians. An 8th-century Syriac manuscript, ‘The Revelation of the Magi’, claims that the magi were mystics from a distant land called ‘Shir’ – possibly China – and that there may have been between 12 and 12 who made the journey . The sages’ actual origin may be lost to antiquity, but their story of following the “star of bright royal beauty” thousands of miles to Bethlehem continues to fascinate the faithful.
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According to the Gospel of Matthew, the magi first visited King Herod, to ask where the child was. Herod instructed them to return with the position of the child so that he could also go and worship him. The magi, however, were warned in a dream not to return to the king and returned to their homes by another way.
The gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were traditional gifts to a king or deity, although some scholars have argued that gold represents Christ’s kingship and frankincense his divinity, while myrrh foretold his death.
In art, the visit of the magi has appeared earlier and far more frequently than any other scene from Jesus’ early life, including images of the infant Jesus in a manger.
