Where were the Three Wise Men from?

Question

One was from Mesopotamia (goo Mesopotamia!), but what about the others?

Answer 1

You won't find them in the Bible. Bible says there were 3 GIFTS, people just interpret it to mean 3 kings. Where do you get the one from Mesopotamia?

Answer 2

IWhat I am about to tell you is a bit long and it is not traditional.
The names of the wisemen (or Magi)are not recorded in the second chapter of Matthew. In fact we do not know that there were three of them. We only know that they presented three very expensive gifts.

As to their story , here is the non traditional one.

The biggest criticism of the Biblical story is that astronomers say that there was no special star the shone at the end of the first century BC or the begining of the first century AD.

Now let's remember that Matthew was writing to Jewish people. Therefore the story of the Magi had to fit into the calander, and the feasts of the Jewish people.

I believe that the Magi were Jewish astronomers that lived in Persia. There forefathers had been students of the prophet Daniel. He was both a wealthy and revered man. He had seen visions of Messiah. When he died, he entrusted his wealth to his students. That wealth was to be given to Messiah when he came. The astronomers watched the night sky for a sign that Messiah had come.

In the Jewish culture the day starts in the evening. Their months are governed by the sighting of the New Moon(i.e. the smallest sliver of moon that can be seen in the evening sky.) In the fall there are three feasts that the Jewish people observe.

The first is the "Feast of Trumpets" or the "Feast of Announcements". It ocurrs on the first day of the seventh Jewish month. The Jewish months seem to wander when compared with th Roman calendar. The feast of Announcements could happen any time from the middle of Sept. to the end of November. (there were ways that the feasts were calculated.)
The second feast is the day to prepare for the coming of Messiah. It is the holiest day of the Jewish calandar. It ocurrs on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month.
The third fall feast was called the "Feast of Tabernacles". This feast starts on the 14th day of the Seventh month and lasts for eight days. It looked forward to the time that Messiah would live with his people.

The Bible says that the Magi were from the east and had seen His star rise in the eastern sky. (see Matt. 2:2 and the footnote in the N.I.V.)

Lets suppose that it is the year "0" B.C. It has been a very dry few years and the Feast of Announcements is very late in coming. The Magi are looking to the western sky to sight the first sliver of moon to start the feast. As they see the moon in the west, they look to the east and there just above the horizon is a commet. This commet however is special because it appears in the constellation of Leo. That constellation reminded the Jews of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The commet may have been in conjunction with Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. The Magi knew the prophecy of Baalim, in Num 23. when he said that the Messiah would come like a commet. It all fit together. This was the Greatest Announcement of all time. The Magi also knew that the messiah would probably be born on the first day of the "Feast of Tabernacles". They left immediately took the treasures that had been entrusted to them, and went to Jerusalem. It took them two weeks to get there.They met with Herod and found out that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. They started out and another commet appeared due south of them. (Bethlehem is due south of Jerusalem.) They followed this star and it led them to the Messiah. (This is very possible if the place where Jesus and Mary were housed was at the very south end of the town.) Jesus was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish holiday that looks to the time when Messiah lives with his people.

Did the Magi ever take part in Jesus life again? We don't know, but they probably disbanded since their work was done. Could it be that Nicodemus, the man that Jesus quoted John 3:16 to, and Joseph of Arimathia, the man that buried Jesus, were two of the Magi?

Hope this has been informative

God bless

Answer 3

Nativity scenes usually depict three robed men with their camels, arriving at a stable where the babe Jesus is lying in a manger. The splendidly dressed visitors are commonly called the three wise men. What does the Bible have to say about them?

According to the Bible, the so-called wise men were “from eastern parts,” and it was there that they had learned about Jesus’ birth. It must have taken a long time for these men to travel to Judea. When they eventually found Jesus, he was no longer a newly born babe in a stable. Instead, the men found Mary and “the young child” living in a house. Matthew 2:11.

The Bible calls these men magi, or “astrologers,” and it does not say how many there were. The Oxford Companion to the Bible explains: “The connection between magic and astrology is reflected in the visitors’ fascination with the star that had led them to Bethlehem.” The Bible clearly condemns all forms of magic and the Babylonian practice of trying to get information from the stars.

The information conveyed to these men did not lead to any good. It aroused wicked King Herod’s jealous anger. This, in turn, resulted in the flight of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to Egypt and the murder of all male children in Bethlehem “from two years of age and under.” Herod had carefully ascertained the time of Jesus’ birth from what he learned from the astrologers. (Matthew 2:16) In view of all the troubles caused by their visit, it is reasonable to conclude that the star that they saw and the message about “the one born king of the Jews” came from God’s enemy, Satan the Devil, who wanted to do away with Jesus. Matthew 2:1, 2.

The star these men followed led them, not directly to Jesus’ birthplace in Bethlehem, but to Jerusalem, where King Herod ruled.

Matthew is the only Gospel that refers to these visitors. (2:1-12) But does Matthew mention that there were three and that they were kings, and does he record their names? The Catholic newspaper Kirchenzeitung für das Bistum Aachen admits: “The Three Holy Kings are not referred to as such in the Bible. Starting in the sixth century, the wise men were understood to have been, three kings, As to the number of astrologers, Matthew gives no details, In the ninth century they first appeared under the names Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.” Furthermore, the Catholic reference work Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche notes that the Greek word ma'goi does not mean kings but, rather, “ones having secret knowledge of astrology.” Justin Martyr, Origen, and Tertullian each understood the word to mean “astrologer.” Modern Bible translations also use “astrologers” at Matthew 2:1, 7. The Living Bible; An American Translation.

So no one actually knows how many men came to see Jesus.

Answer 4

They were probably from Persia. Back when Daniel was put in charge of the "wise men" of Babylonia and then when the Persians took over he probably instructed them in the prophecies about the coming Jewish messiah.

Answer 5

As they all came from the East, and as Magi were royal advisers in the Mosoptamian region, they probably all came from there. And we don't know if there were three of them. We anly know there were three kinds of gifts. there could have been anywhere from two to a hundred.

Answer 6

Persia, but there may have been more than three. They usually travel in large numbers. The Bible does not say how many there were.

Answer 7

The Bible doesn't say how many astrologers there were. However, we do know they were not worshipers of the true God. They practiced astrology which was condemned by the Law of Moses.

Answer 8

Brooklyn and East Brunswick.

Answer 9

The orient, I think