Bible Question: WHERE DID THE MAGI'S THAT PRESENTED THE LORD GIFTS CAME FROM, AND WHAT WAS THEIR RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND? |
Bible Answer: I had to look this one up, I never thought about that question before. Good question PYLE! ............................ MAGI (Gr. magoi). Originally a religious caste among the Persians. Their devotion to astrology, divination, and the interpretation of dreams led to an extension in the meaning of the word, and by the first century B.C. the terms "magi" and "Chaldean" were applied generally to fortune tellers and the exponents of esoteric religious cults throughout the Mediterranean world. Magus or "sorcerer" is the name given to Simon (Acts 8:9), Bar-Jesus (13:6), and Elymas (13:8). The "wise men from the East" (Matt 2) are often referred to as "the Magi." Nothing is known of their land of origin, but it is a likely theory that they came from Arabia Felix (Southern Arabia). Astrology was practiced there, and a tradition of Israelite messianic expectation may have survived in the region since the days of the Queen of Sheba. Early legend connects Southern Arabia with Solomon's Israel, but the legend of "the Three Kings" is late and medieval. (NIV Bible Dictionary) |