Did they all die at the same time or what happened
2006-12-11 03:48:22 · 13 answers · asked by Chelsey m 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I was just wanting to know because i was watching this thing on discovery and it showed the remains and the crowns http://www.archaeology.org/online/reviews/threekings/
2006-12-11 03:55:28 · update #1
According to tradition dating back to medieval times, their names were Balthasar, Gaspar (or Casper), and Melchior. They are often depicted as representing the three races. The Bible says they came from the East, but exactly where is not known. Arabia, Babylon, and Persia are popular choices. According to one tradition, Balthasar was king of Arabia, Gaspar was king of India, and Melchior was king of Persia.
The Magi of the Nativity were probably important men in their own country and may well have been of noble or royal birth, but there is no evidence to back this up. The idea that they were kings arose in the Middle Ages and was based on earlier Biblical prophecies about kings bearing gifts.
We can't even say for sure how many Magi visited Jesus. The Bible does not specify three. According to Eastern tradition, the number was 12. The Western tradition of three wise men probably arises from the three gifts they brought to Jesus.
Tradition has it that in later years the Wise Men were baptized by St. Thomas the Apostle; all three became bishops and spent the rest of their lives spreading Christianity, and at the end of their lives they each saw the Star of Bethlehem again and were reunited. One legend says that they were over 100 years old when they met to celebate Christmas, then died within a few days of each other.
Their purported remains were brought to Constantinople by St. Helena, mother of the 4th century Roman emperor Constantine the Great, and later moved to Milan. In the 12th century they fell into the hands of Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who gave them to the Archbishop of Cologne, Germany. The archbishop built a cathedral for the relics in Cologne, where they remain to this day.
2006-12-11 03:52:38 · answer #1 · answered by Justsyd 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
First of all the Bible doesn't say they were kings. It says "Magi" or "Wise Men". Second, the Bible also does not specify how many there were. People tend to assume there were 3 because there were 3 gifts-gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
2006-12-11 04:01:28 · answer #2 · answered by cnm 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You have to recognize that very little is known for sure about the magi or wise men, even the fact that they were three is just deduced from the number of gifts. There are traditions as to their names but none of this is known as fact.
Marco Polo claimed he was shown their graves in Tehran in 1270. A Shrine of the Three Kings in Cologne claims to hold the bones of them, brought back from Israel by Saint Helena.
2006-12-11 03:58:57 · answer #3 · answered by snowgoose8 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, for starters, we don't know that there were just three. We assume so because there are three gifts mentioned (gold, frankincense, myrhrr) but some researchers indicate there may have been as many as twelve, if you look around at other cultures who have matching documentation.
In all cases - they returned to their countries and lived out the rest of our lives for all we know.
2006-12-11 03:51:46 · answer #4 · answered by itsnotarealname 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It really is irrelevant to the Bible story of the birth of Jesus. Just like all others in the Gospels, after they are introduced and shown their connection to Jesus they sort of fade away into oblivion. Look at Joseph, where did he go? What about the shepards? I think this is just to show that the sole star of the Gospels is Jesus. By dwelling on 3 wise guys from the east, it would take away from the main point trying to be expressed.
2006-12-11 03:52:58 · answer #5 · answered by jonathan x 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Their fate is unimportant to the story, so they got forgotten. Has anyone else noticed that they are always portayed as wearing garb almost identical to that worn by the men of Afghanistan today? Can you imagine that they might have been the predecessors of Taliban members?
2006-12-11 03:52:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
They traveled back home. Remember in the bible they went back the way of Herod and told him they saw found no one?Merry Christmas
2006-12-11 03:50:43 · answer #7 · answered by Piper 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Fiction.
2006-12-11 03:51:09 · answer #8 · answered by Evil Atheist Conspirator 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Nobody knows for sure. We don't even know (from Scripture) whether there ever WERE three kings.
Only three gifts.
2006-12-11 03:50:34 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
The got beat by a straight flush
2006-12-11 03:50:20 · answer #10 · answered by uncle J 4 · 2⤊ 4⤋