Callisto
were they for Christmas or for his birthday?
Answer
Actually is was 3 gifts, - from a supposed group of (just) 3 wise men.
Actually is was 3 gifts, - from a supposed group of (just) 3 wise men.
Three wise men bearing gifts?
so�ador
Many times I've been told about the three wise men (Magi) who came bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. One of those gifts was gold. On that note, there is no gold in Israel. The only way for Kings to have gold in those days was to steal it. Bearing that in mind, was it right for Jesus to accept it. If he did accept it, where did the gold go to as there is no mention of it in the bible.
With respect to the person who mentioned it, I have not answered my own question. Does anybody in society today have the right to receive something that was stolen. Furthermore, where did the gold go to!!
Whether there were three wise men bearing gifts or many people bearing three gifts, that goes against everything I was taught in religious studies in school. There does seem to be a lot of ambiguity out there on this subject.
Kdanley: Whether you are an atheist or a believer, we all have the right to question things that have been written or teachings we have received. It may have in your eyes been a stupid question, but I am too polite to say it was a stupid answer. If indeed it is a stupid question, then just ignore it.
Kelly: I do agree that it is conjecture, but with respect there is more conjecture in every answer here than my question. All I asked for were facts, but so far we mostly have opinions.
Answer
â Around December 25 you hear much about âthree wise menâ being led by a star to Jesus. But did they visit him in Bethlehem or later in Nazareth?
Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary traveled from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea, south of Jerusalem. There Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. Through an angel Jehovah God announced the birth to shepherds, who were to find the âinfant [Greek, brephos]â in Bethlehem. On the eighth day Joseph and Mary had Jesus circumcised. At the end of the required 40-day purification period, they âbrought the young child [Greek, paidion]â to the temple in Jerusalem. There Simeon and the prophetess Anna saw Jesus.âLuke 2:1-38; Lev. 12:2-4.
The very next verse in Lukeâs account, Luke 2:39, adds: âSo when they had carried out all the things according to the law of Jehovah, they went back into Galilee to their own city Nazareth.â But what about the âthree wise menâ? When did they visit Jesus, and where?
Matthew relates that âafter Jesus had been born in Bethlehemâ some men came to Jerusalem from the East. Tradition holds that there were three of them (possibly because they had three kinds of giftsâgold, frankincense, myrrh). But the Bible does not say that. Nor does it term them âkings.â Rather, it calls them magoi (related to the English word âmagicianâ). (Matt. 2:1) Rather than this meaning âwise men,â Professor A. T. Robertson explains:
âHere in Matthew the idea seems to be rather that of astrologers. Babylon was the home of astrology.ââWord Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 1, p. 15.
Matthew tells us that after stopping in Jerusalem and conferring with King Herod, these astrologers went on âto Bethlehem.â Once having presented their gifts, they were to return and let Herod know the childâs whereabouts. But God intervened, causing the astrologers to take another route. Then he told Joseph to flee to Egypt because Herod wanted to destroy Jesus.âMatt. 2:1-15.
In the light of what Matthew and Luke say, one may wonder just when the astrologers visited Jesus. It is not reasonable that it was during the 40-day purification period, for Luke assures us that the family went to Jerusalem at the end of that time. But Matthew says that right after the astrologersâ visit Joseph fled with his family to Egypt. Hence, it seems that after presenting the child at the temple in Jerusalem the family returned to Bethlehem with plans to settle in King Davidâs city from where the Messiah was to come, and there were visited later by the astrologers.
Matthew 2:11 tells us that when the astrologers âwent into the house they saw the young child.â So Joseph, Mary and Jesus were by this time living in a house, not in a stable as is often depicted erroneously. Also, Matthew used the Greek word paidion, which can apply to a newborn infant (John 16:21) or to a more advanced child, such as one able to speak and play games outside. (Luke 7:32) Hence, Jesus could then have been many months in age.
Indicating that he was no longer a newborn is the fact that when the astrologers did not return Herod ordered the killing of âall the boys in Bethlehem and in all its district . . . from two years of age and under, according to the time that he had carefully ascertained from the astrologers.â (Matt. 2:16) The evidence is that Jesus was born about October 1, 2 B.C.E., and that Herod died in 1 B.C.E. or early 1 C.E. Thus Jesus could have been even a year or more old when the astrologers came. Possibly they came from as far east as the region of Babylon, on a journey that could have taken several months. Calculating from when the âstarâ appeared to them in the east, Herod may have included ample time so as to be sure that Jesus would be killed.
Why, then, does Luke 2:39 read as if Joseph took the family right from Jerusalem to Nazareth without going back to Bethlehem?
It appears that Luke simply omits the intervening events (the return from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the astrologersâ visit and the flight to Egypt), even as Matthew says nothing of the shepherds or the trip to Jerusalem where Simeon and Anna saw Jesus. Certainly the astrologers did not visit Jesus in Nazareth, for Matthew says otherwise; and in Nazareth Jesus would not have been endangered by an order to kill children in âBethlehem and its districts.â
â Around December 25 you hear much about âthree wise menâ being led by a star to Jesus. But did they visit him in Bethlehem or later in Nazareth?
Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary traveled from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea, south of Jerusalem. There Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. Through an angel Jehovah God announced the birth to shepherds, who were to find the âinfant [Greek, brephos]â in Bethlehem. On the eighth day Joseph and Mary had Jesus circumcised. At the end of the required 40-day purification period, they âbrought the young child [Greek, paidion]â to the temple in Jerusalem. There Simeon and the prophetess Anna saw Jesus.âLuke 2:1-38; Lev. 12:2-4.
The very next verse in Lukeâs account, Luke 2:39, adds: âSo when they had carried out all the things according to the law of Jehovah, they went back into Galilee to their own city Nazareth.â But what about the âthree wise menâ? When did they visit Jesus, and where?
Matthew relates that âafter Jesus had been born in Bethlehemâ some men came to Jerusalem from the East. Tradition holds that there were three of them (possibly because they had three kinds of giftsâgold, frankincense, myrrh). But the Bible does not say that. Nor does it term them âkings.â Rather, it calls them magoi (related to the English word âmagicianâ). (Matt. 2:1) Rather than this meaning âwise men,â Professor A. T. Robertson explains:
âHere in Matthew the idea seems to be rather that of astrologers. Babylon was the home of astrology.ââWord Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 1, p. 15.
Matthew tells us that after stopping in Jerusalem and conferring with King Herod, these astrologers went on âto Bethlehem.â Once having presented their gifts, they were to return and let Herod know the childâs whereabouts. But God intervened, causing the astrologers to take another route. Then he told Joseph to flee to Egypt because Herod wanted to destroy Jesus.âMatt. 2:1-15.
In the light of what Matthew and Luke say, one may wonder just when the astrologers visited Jesus. It is not reasonable that it was during the 40-day purification period, for Luke assures us that the family went to Jerusalem at the end of that time. But Matthew says that right after the astrologersâ visit Joseph fled with his family to Egypt. Hence, it seems that after presenting the child at the temple in Jerusalem the family returned to Bethlehem with plans to settle in King Davidâs city from where the Messiah was to come, and there were visited later by the astrologers.
Matthew 2:11 tells us that when the astrologers âwent into the house they saw the young child.â So Joseph, Mary and Jesus were by this time living in a house, not in a stable as is often depicted erroneously. Also, Matthew used the Greek word paidion, which can apply to a newborn infant (John 16:21) or to a more advanced child, such as one able to speak and play games outside. (Luke 7:32) Hence, Jesus could then have been many months in age.
Indicating that he was no longer a newborn is the fact that when the astrologers did not return Herod ordered the killing of âall the boys in Bethlehem and in all its district . . . from two years of age and under, according to the time that he had carefully ascertained from the astrologers.â (Matt. 2:16) The evidence is that Jesus was born about October 1, 2 B.C.E., and that Herod died in 1 B.C.E. or early 1 C.E. Thus Jesus could have been even a year or more old when the astrologers came. Possibly they came from as far east as the region of Babylon, on a journey that could have taken several months. Calculating from when the âstarâ appeared to them in the east, Herod may have included ample time so as to be sure that Jesus would be killed.
Why, then, does Luke 2:39 read as if Joseph took the family right from Jerusalem to Nazareth without going back to Bethlehem?
It appears that Luke simply omits the intervening events (the return from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the astrologersâ visit and the flight to Egypt), even as Matthew says nothing of the shepherds or the trip to Jerusalem where Simeon and Anna saw Jesus. Certainly the astrologers did not visit Jesus in Nazareth, for Matthew says otherwise; and in Nazareth Jesus would not have been endangered by an order to kill children in âBethlehem and its districts.â
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