OK...what does it mean when it says they are kings from the East? Bethlehem was already in the Middle East...so what's east of the east? That would have to be China, but in all the pictures I've seen of the 3 kings- two look Mideastern and one looks African-they don't look Chinese at all.
2007-01-07 15:29:21 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
The Three Magi are commonly believed to be Zoroastrian priests, coming from Ancient Persia. You cannot really say that Isreal is in the East, more likely Middle East, so...The word Magi is a Latinization of the plural of the Greek word magos (μαγος pl. μαγοι), which is a derivative from Old Persian Magupati. The term is a specific occupational title referring to the priestly caste of a branch of Zoroastrianism known as Zurvanism. As part of their religion, these priests paid particular attention to the stars, and gained an international reputation for astrology. At that time astrology was a highly regarded science, only later giving rise to aspects of mathematics and astronomy, as well as the modern practice of fortune telling going by the same name. A clearer indication of their astrological credentials is in the phrase translated in the King James Version of the Bible as enquired of them diligently, which is actually a Greek technical word referring directly to astrology, with no direct translation into English. Their religious practices and use of astrology caused derivatives of the term Magi to be applied to the occult in general and led to the English term magic.
The way in which the magi are depicted has nothing to do with what they actually looked like. It's not like there was some painter next to Jesus depicting the scene. These are later representations of the magi.
As for Jesus who wasn't born in a stable... True and not true. At that point in history and in the Judaic culture, people lived with their animals inside their house. The animals were on the first level, on the ground floor, while the people lived on the 1st floor. So...
2007-01-07 15:43:07 · answer #1 · answered by Ana 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the scriptures any land toward where the sun rose was the east. The Magi were not Zoroastrians, for a split occurred when some started doing astrology, which is how satan twisted astronomy for his gain. They were ASTRONOMERS. Many of the children in Judah were picked to serve in the palace of Nebuchannezzer. Daniel and three others were placed over all the Magi. Daniel was the head over the Magi for many years, through three kings. He was a eunuch. God told him when the Messiah would be born. Daniel was very, very rich and left his treasure to be laid at the feet of Messiah. Revelation 12:1 is telling about the astronomic sign when Jesus was born......the woman is Bethulah, or called now Virgo....with a sliver of the new moon beneath her feet, the sun behind her. Also, there is no reference to THREE kings. They brought three gifts. It was a caravan of people, not a small group. Thieves were on those roads big time back then. Herod heard about what they were asking.....would he hear about a couple of guys asking, in a city so large? Also, when the Magi got there, it says they laid the gifts at the feet of a CHILD. He was between 18 months and 2 years of age, according to the age that Herod had all the children killed. Plus no one knows how they looked, so pictures can in no way be accurate.
2007-01-14 08:21:08 · answer #2 · answered by soulangiana 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Middle East was not the middle east in that time period, and it was not westerners who are presumed to have written the biblical scriptures. Bethlehem was not, to them, the middle east, it was simply "here". We all tend to think we are the center of everything, but when reading historical documents it is necessary to consider the point of view of the author of the texts.
The pictures you have seen of of the 3 kings were made hundreds of years after the texts were written and no pictures (drawings) are known to exist of them, so the pictures were just the imaginings of the artists.
Also, in the biblical text, there is no mention of three kings, only that there were visitors from the east.
2007-01-15 13:53:00 · answer #3 · answered by Behaviorist 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Bethlehem stands in the Middle East? Did you really say that? There was no Middle East back then, there was not West. To the East of Bethlehem is Arabia and India. Either of these two areas would qualify. SInce there are not photos of them we have had to rely on European artists to show them. Of course they show Jesus as a Redheaded European and we know how inaccurate that is. Two of their gifts, Frankinsense and Myrhh are from Somalia and from the Arabian Peninsula. So it is probable that they were Arabs.
2007-01-08 00:16:33 · answer #4 · answered by Jimfix 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I Believe that one was Persian, one what we would today call Iraqi, and one Indian. They were part of a Zarathusian sect and were called Mages who believed that signs and portents for told the birth of a great king in Judea. The basis of their beliefs were from the Media Empire.
All this was research after 5 min. on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magi
2007-01-08 19:53:15 · answer #5 · answered by redgriffin728 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They could have been from anywhere around Persia, India, Mongolia, or China etc. They were most likely all from the same place and had similar beliefs, would probably have had a whole caravan with them, and it could have been any number from two to well... many, but three makes the most sense because there are three giftfs listed.
Hope I helped a little,
Chris
2007-01-07 23:43:26 · answer #6 · answered by samurai-wannabe 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The bible dose not really say how far east they came from. In other words they could have just been a few miles away. We all have a piece of property that is to the east of us even if it is our back yard.
2007-01-15 20:49:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is my considered opinion that they were Chinese...they came from the very far east (took them about 2 years to find the place where He and His family were dwelling, and it was a house by then, not a stable as is typically depicted).
i truly hope this is intelligent enough for you, because it is a very good and intelligent question, not asked by nearly enough people.
and i seriously doubt that there was a photographer in the vicinity, and i don't think there were any artists painting either...as far as the pictures go they were directed by some pope or some upity up that wanted a picture of something to communicate what he thought it should be...
2007-01-07 23:35:46 · answer #8 · answered by captsnuf 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They were from Persia, modern day Iran, and they were Zoroastrian priests. Zoroastrianism recognizes the doctrine of a future saoshyant, or messiah, to come. The 3 Magi probably expected that Jesus was one of the saoshyant.
2007-01-08 01:50:10 · answer #9 · answered by daryavaush 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the so-called 3 kings were not kings but rather astrologers or soothsayers. they originated from Medea which is now modern day Iran.
2007-01-08 09:59:11 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋