Who Were These Guys?

I just finished reading a new book this last week - Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem by Brent Landau. It was an interesting read if for no other reasons that it introduces a number of different elements into the traditional story of these strange unknown visitors scripture in written in Greek calls "magos", which of course we've translated as Magi.

Here's the scripture: Matthew 2:1-12 (NASB)
2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
6 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.'"
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him."
9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The story in scripture reveals an unknown number of people from another culture coming to Jerusalem to inquire of the birth of a new King. Tradition from the Catholic Church said there were three - largely based on the number of gifts they gave. Tradition has it that they were astrologers who followed the stars and saw in this unusual star something totally different. What isn't apparent is how they knew from observing this one star that a King had been born in Jerusalem.

This is where the book above gets interesting. Landau, among other things says of the Magi:
•The Magi are described as coming from a land called Shir, "located in the extreme east of the world, at the shore of the Great Ocean." In other ancient texts, Shir is referred to "as a place where silk comes from," says Landau, suggesting that the references were to China.

•In Syriac, the word Magi means "to pray in silence." Landau says it has no relationship to magicians or astrologers, sometimes cited in stories today. Instead they were descendents of Adam's son Seth and were inheritors of an ancient promise that someday God would reveal to these people the coming of God among his creation as a King to restore the world to the creation state of Eden. That century after century this people passed along to each generation the need to prayerfully await the revelation of the light as a star.

•The text names 12 Magi, not three, while other parts of the text suggest that "a group the size of a small army" traveled to Bethlehem.

Where Landau got his information from was an ancient Syriac text discovered in the Vatican library written from the 3rd to 8th centuries.

As I said, it's a short, interesting read. From my own background in Church History it doesn't surprise me that an account like this exists. There were many different stories written in the 2nd - 4th century that purported to be accounts of scripture. Many fall into the realm of Gnostic writings, and it's entirely possible that this is one more of the Gnostic pieces of literature from this period of time. Still, it's not going to ruin someone's faith to read it.

Having said that, I also don't believe it's an authoritative detail of the visit of the wise men that now replaces the traditional story. I've long ago jettisoned the idea that there were only three, but beyond that, there's not much information as to who, or what these ancient visitors were.

What I do believe is that Matthew includes the story of their visit to make it clear that Jesus' coming as Immanuel, God among us, signals the way for a salvation that extends to all mankind. Jesus came into this world of ours because "God so loved the world that he gave (sent) his one and only Son..." Jesus is our redemption and the fact that "wise men seek him" is still true today.