My Dear People,

The word magi originally described members of the Median and Persian priestly caste who advised the king and interpreted dreams. The term later was used more broadly to denote those who possessed mystical knowledge as priests, astrologers, soothsayers, or sages. Their popular association with kings today may be based on Old Testament passages that recount kings bringing gifts to the royal Davidic son (Ps. 72:10-11), including gifts of gold and frankincense (Isa. 60:3-6).  In the Jewish tradition, magi would bring to mind the opponents of Daniel in Babylon, who were associated with enchanters and sorcerers and claimed to interpret dreams and signs (Dan. 1:20; 2:2: 4:6-7). Hence, one would not expect magi from the east to be among the first to pay homage to the Jewish messiah. This account thus sets up a theme that will be repeated throughout Matthew’s Gospel: Israel’s king is welcomed by those whom one would least expect while Jewish leaders work against him (2:4).

The account of the magi following a star and searching for a king underscores Jesus’ kingship by recalling the prophecy of Balaam in Num. 24. In this episode, the Moabite king, Balak, called upon a seer named Balaam to pronounce a curse on Israel. However, each time Balaam tried to curse Israel, God took control of his speech and words of blessing came out of his mouth instead. In his last attempt to curse Israel, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied about a future king arising out of Israel. According to this oracle, a star would be the sign for the great king’s arrival (Num. 24:17).

All this foreshadows the events associated with Herod, the magi, and the birth of Jesus. Just as Balak sought to use the pagan seer Balaam to destroy Israel, so Herod seeks to use the pagan magi to destroy the Christ child. And just as Balaam failed to cooperate with the king’s plan, uttering blessings instead of curses, so the magi fail to assist Herod in his plot to destroy Jesus, paying the child homage instead of reporting his location to Herod. Balaam prophesized about a star heralding the coming of a great king to Israel; the magi see that star and come to worship the newborn king. Thus, the magi stand as “successors to Balaam” in the sense that they pay homage to the king that Balaam foretold long ago.

The idea of a star signaling the birth of a great person or king was popular in the ancient world. Various explanations have been offered as to what this star guiding the magi was: (1) it was a comet, such as Halley’s comet that appeared in 12- 11 BC; (2) it was a planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn which gave the appearance of a bright, single star in 7 BC; or (3) the star was a stellar explosion—a nova—which is reported to have been sighted in 5-4 BC. One shortcoming of these naturalistic explanations is that the star in Matthew’s Gospel leads the magi and then comes to rest over a house (2:9)—things ordinary stars do not do. This suggests that—whatever the nature of the star in Matt. 2 might have been—God intervened in an extraordinary way to lead the magi to the Messiah. One interesting proposal is that the star guiding the magi represents an angelic figure. In the Jewish tradition, stars were associated with angels, and the guiding star in Matthew’s Gospel recalls the angel God sent to guide people in the desert on their way to the promised land (Exod. 14:19). Thus, while some natural stellar phenomenon might have initially led the magi in search of a king. Matthew is telling us that God is providing a supernatural guide to lead the magi to Christ, just as he provided Israel with an angel to lead them through the desert.

When news about the magi’s quest reaches Jerusalem, King Herod becomes greatly troubled. Herod was not born king of the Jews. He was an Idumean, whose family got itself appointed by Rome to rule over the Jews. Magi following a star and seeking the newborn king of the Jews would have been quite alarming to the ethnically non-Jewish Herod in these later years of his life when he was violently paranoid about any potential rival to his throne.

After Herod gathered the chief priests and the scribes, who were part of the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem under Herod, and inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born, they tell Herod that the Messiah is expected to be born in Bethlehem, a city charged with Davidic hopes. This was the place where David was born, and according to the prophet Micah, the new Davidic king was expected to come from this city (Mic. 5:1). The Jewish leaders quote this passage and then go on to say that this ruler will shepherd my people Israel—an echo of God’s words to David at the beginning of his reign (2 Sam.5:2). 

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente