According to the Bible, how many Magi or "Wise men" came to visit the Christ child?

Answer 1

The Bible nowhere states "3 wise men". Read for yourself in: Matthew 2:1 = "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem."
To go on further see verse 7 = "Then Herod, when he was privly called the wise men, inquired of them dilegently what time the star appeared."
Matthew 2:11 = "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh."
Matthew 2:16 = "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men."

As you see the Bible doesn't tell us how many; it just tells us "wise men".

Answer 2

There were not three wise men! Three men riding on camels over such a long distance through inhospitable country infested with thieves and wild animals would have been fools! The bible says there was a company of Magi---they brought three kinds of gifts.

The wise men did NOT meet with the shepherds in the stable around the manger.

Matthew 2:11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

So you can see the "traditional" story is wrong, the wise men were not there when Jesus was born and when they did see Him, He was a young child around the age of 2.

Answer 3

3

Answer 4

3

Answer 5

The Bible doesn't say how many wisemen there were, it only says there were three gifts. There could have been three wisemen, there could have been 300. Also they might not have actually arrived until Jesus was two years old or so, and by profession they were astronomers likely from Persia. The gifts were gifts to a King, and they symbolized atonement and wealth. I don't think the Bible says how many children Mary had, or if she had all her children with Joseph or if he died and she remarried and had more kids. Frankly we don't know exactly who were the siblings of Christ because in the Greek the word "brother" is used both for, what we may call, "believers" OR family. Many of the Christians considered themselves brothers/sisters in Christ, so when we read "James, a brother of Christ" its hard to tell if it means "James, THE brother of Christ" or "James, a follower of Christ". But its overwhelmingly known that James was the brother of Jesus from his own claim and, I believe, a reference from Paul calling him "the Lord's brother". I think Jude was also a relative of Christ though we don't know if he was a brother or a cousin. Neither do we know the names of sisters. The Bible doesn't give a very detailed summary of the family of Jesus. We don't know what happened to Joseph, how many kids Mary had, etc. The nearest historical record that tells more is a record in Caesarea, I believe, in the early first century that states that a "Joseph" and his two sons "James and Jesus" were contracted to construct a building there. Naturally there were lots of Josephs, James and Jesus' back then so we can't know for sure if it was the Biblical family. And yes there were several Jesus' back then, I think one is listed in Ephesians or a book shortly thereafter as a follower of Christ, ironically.

Answer 6

The bible doesn't give a specific number, it just states that, 'wise men came from the east'.

The confusion arises because of the number of gifts they brought with them, 3.

The only thing we can be sure of is that there was more than one wise man.

Answer 7

The Bible does not say. It is speculated that there were three as the Bible mentions three gifts. Gold Myrrh and frankincense

Answer 8

its 3 wise man, who followed Bethlehem star i think to the cavern where he gave birth... u can always see them by the side of the Christ under the Christmas tree in the "creche".

sorry but the last word i only know in french...

Answer 9

The Bible doesn't say anything (read Matthew). The only reason people say three is because they gave 3 gifts. That doesn't mean there were three of them though.

Answer 10

The Bible doesn't say how many wise men were there, it only lists the three gifts that were brought.