Posted on 12/15/2014 1:25:07 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Mary: Oh....a burial spice. How......inappropriate.
Curley: You’re welcome, toots. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.
Don’t tell me that was in an old three stooges clip....
I always knew that 3 wise men was just a guess.
Is that not the plural of major, as in one major, two or more maji?
Badda bing, badda boom, couldn’t resist.
No insult whatsoever intended on the biblical reference.
Is that not the plural of major, as in one major, two or more maji?
Badda bing, badda boom, couldn’t resist.
No insult whatsoever intended on the biblical reference.
That was the actual conversation. 3 Stooges never did the Nativity.
But why would they have cared about anything happening in Judea, which was 500 miles across the desert and in enemy territory anyway (since the magi came from the Parthian Empire)? The only plausible answer to me is that they were descendants of the Judeans who were carried off to Babylon 500 years earlier, who were considered the best and the brightest, like Daniel and his companions. Most of the Jews in Persia did not return to Judah with Nehemiah, but they would still have kept up with the prophecies and such, and would have been looking for signs of the Messiah, just as the Judeans would, or should, have been looking.
I clearly remember getting kicked out of Sunday School for calling them the Three Wise Guys.
In other words, what you are saying is that these Magi’s were not really Gentiles, but Israelites (like Daniel?)
RE: I always knew that 3 wise men was just a guess.
So, how did the Wise Men morph into “Kings” ( as in the Christmas Carol )?
Wise men still seek Him and wise men still worship Him.
My dad, a retired Lutheran pastor, says that there were 15-18 wise men. Many people assume that there were three wise men, since Matthew said that they gave three gifts. My dad also says that Jesus was about two, when the wise men found him. The star appeared when Jesus was born, and the wise men came from present-day India.
Daniel was a Magi in both the Babylonian, and later, the Persian courts. He could have shared Jewish writings with the rest of the Persian Magi who then kept an eye out for the coming of the Messiah.
It has always puzzled me a little, but by anyof those definitions of the Magi, they were practitioners of occult arts.
The OT is pretty clear about its position on occultism of any sort. Just as clear as it is about idolatry, murder, adultery, and homosexual acts.
So how is it that these magicians were among the first to worship Christ? Did they thereafter repent of their practices and give them up.
I don’t expect an answer, really, but if someone has an opinion, I’d like to hear it, and the reasoning behind it.
More accurately they would be Jews but not Israelites, in the same way that Jews in the US are Jews, but not Israelis until they make aliyah and return to their ancestral home. For a concurrent opinion, check here.
“but by anyof those definitions of the Magi, they were practitioners of occult arts”
Magi is a Greek word, a translation of the original Hebrew word for “wise man” “sage”, etc. It is not the original term, but at the time of writing (the first century), its meanings were close enough to “wise sage” to suit. (It later came to have additional meanings added on.)
There are some who believe the wise men actually came from China—based on the two-year period necessary for them to arrive (the same time as taking the silk road to Judea would take).
You can leave out astrology as playing a part in their understanding of the star, because that same astrological “knowledge” was not confined to Persia (and points east), but was also known in the Roman world. Ergo, had the star had an astrological meaning, everyone—not just people in the east-would have seen and interpreted the “sign”.
But the bible says that when they arrived and mentioned they had seen the star, all Jerusalem was stirred. Why would this be so if everyone had seen the “sign” and interpreted it the same way?
The wise men came to Jerusalem, to Herod, to find the newborn king. Had they been Jewish sages, they would have headed to Bethlehem (as Herod’s own sages told him was the place the messiah was to be born). Hence, we might—might—deduce they were not Jewish.
(all just thoughts for discussion)
Interesting thread. Bookmarking.
RE: My dad also says that Jesus was about two, when the wise men found him.
I tend to think this would be correct.
1) It says this in the Bible: ( Matthew 2:11 ):
(capital emphasis mine ):
And when they had come into the HOUSE, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
So, the wise men arrived at the HOUSE where Mary and Joseph lived and not in the stable next tot he inn where the manger was.
2) Herod ordered the massacre of infants two years old and younger.
Token black. The idea has been around for a long time, apparently.
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