Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.' When they had heard the king, they set out and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. '' Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. They told him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.' When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. The New Revised Standard Version of Matthew 2:1вЂ“ 12 describes the visit of the Magi in this manner: The single biblical account in Matthew simply presents an event at an unspecified point after Christ's birth in which an unnumbered party of unnamed 'wise men' ( ОјО¬ОіОїО№, mГЎgoi) visits him in a house ( Оїбј°ОєОЇО±ОЅ, oikian), not a stable, with only 'his mother' mentioned as present. Traditional nativity scenes depict three 'Wise Men' visiting the infant Jesus on the night of his birth, in a manger accompanied by the shepherds and angels, but this should be understood as an artistic convention allowing the two separate scenes of the Adoration of the Shepherds on the birth night and the later Adoration of the Magi to be combined for convenience. Further identification of the magi with kings may be due to Psalm 72:11, 'May all kings fall down before him'. Their identification as kings in later Christian writings is probably linked to Isaiah 60:1вЂ“6, which refers to 'kings to the brightness of your dawn' bearing 'gold and frankincense'. In Eastern Christianity, especially the Syriac churches, the Magi often number twelve. Still, most western Christian denominations have traditionally assumed them to have been three in number, based on the statement that they brought three gifts.

The gospel never mentions the number of Magi.

Matthew reports that they came 'from the east' to worship the 'king of the Jews'. The Gospel of Matthew is the only one of the four canonical gospels to mention the Magi. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition. They are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The biblical Magi ( / Л€ m eЙЄ dК’ aЙЄ/ or / Л€ m Г¦ dК’ aЙЄ/ singular: magus), also referred to as the ( Three) Wise Men or ( Three) Kings, also the Three Magi were distinguished foreigners in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition.

Sesquiquadrate magi astrology