{"id":73,"date":"2014-05-15T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=73"},"modified":"2014-04-29T21:29:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-29T21:29:22","slug":"matthew-21-12-the-visit-of-the-magi-historical-background","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/05\/matthew-21-12-the-visit-of-the-magi-historical-background.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 2:1-12; The Visit of the Magi (Historical Background)"},"content":{"rendered":"

No one knows for sure who the Magi were that brought gifts to the baby Jesus, or exactly what their country of origin was. Matthew simply says they came \u201cfrom the east,\u201d first going to Jerusalem and then on to Bethlehem. Still, scholars generally believe these \u201cwise men\u201d likely came from one of three places in the ancient world: Persia, Babylon, or the desert areas east of Palestine.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Magi at that time were not followers of the Hebrew God. They were \u201cdisciples of Zoroaster\u2026an important Persian religious leader who believed in one God.\u201d Magi were known as studied in the \u201cscience\u201d of astrology, and as experts in magic. Given Old Testament prohibitions against sorcery, it\u2019s surprising that Matthew included these wise men as part of the history of Christ because they could be viewed negatively in the eyes of his Jewish readers. The only real reason for Matthew to include them in his account is simply because they were actually there\u2014regardless of what people would think of that fact.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/a><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[JHT, 27, 29]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/span><\/p>\n

About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No one knows for sure who the Magi were that brought gifts to the baby Jesus, or exactly what their country of origin was. Matthew simply says they came \u201cfrom the east,\u201d first going to Jerusalem and then on to Bethlehem. Still, scholars generally believe these \u201cwise men\u201d likely came from one of three places…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":571,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,2],"tags":[35,36,34,37],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-historicalbackgrounds","category-matthew","tag-christmas","tag-jesus-birth","tag-magi","tag-wise-men"],"yoast_head":"\nMatthew 2:1-12; The Visit of the Magi (Historical Background) - For Bible Study Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/05\/matthew-21-12-the-visit-of-the-magi-historical-background.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matthew 2:1-12; The Visit of the Magi (Historical Background) - For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No one knows for sure who the Magi were that brought gifts to the baby Jesus, or exactly what their country of origin was. 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