Where did the wise come from?

Answer 1

The author of Matthew's Gospel did not use the term 'wise men', he said that magi followed a star from the east, and even then, he still does not say there were three of them.

The magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion which the Jews had encountered during the Babylonian Exile. So, the 'wise men', or magi would have come from Persia or Babylon (Iran or Iraq in modern terms) where Zoroastrianism was practised.

John Shelby Spong (A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) says that among people he knows in New Testament circles, the universal assumption is that Matthew's magi, or wise men, were not actual people. Matthew, by having the priests come to worship Jesus, wanted to show that even the priests of this great religion looked up to Jesus.

In more recent times, the Zoroastrian connection became less important, and the priests began to be called wise men. So, historically, the wise men were a literary fiction and did not really come from anywhere.

Another Answer:

Concerning the Magi's place of origin, Matthew uses two Greek expressions for areas east of Palestine. He first says the Magi are from "the East" (or "eastern parts"-Greek, ton anatolon ), or the distant East. Secondly he says the Magi saw the star in "the East" (Greek, te anatole )-west of the Magi's home, but east from Palestine's viewpoint, in the near East.

With this in mind, some biblical scholars believe that the Magi came from Parthia - a great empire east of the Euphrates-biblically "the distant east." This empire conquered the lands east of the Euphrates area, had Babylon as its capital and included the areas of Persia, Bactria, etc. It ruled the whole area and was the empire of the East-the land of the Magi.

The Parthians rose to power around 250 B.C. in and around the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. That was the very land into which the house of Israel-not Judah-had been taken captive by the Assyrians (see 2 Kings chapters 15,17, and 18 and here about the tribe of Reuben:

1 Chronicles 5:6New King James Version (NKJV)

6 and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria carried into captivity. He was leader of the Reubenites.

Taken then to the next logical step, these 'Parthians' appear to have been the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel who Josephus noted in the 1st Century AD that they were a massive group of peoples in the area north and east of Jerusalem. Wouldn't it have been quite proper for the children of Israel all - and not just Judah where Christ was born - to come and pay homage to their King? If this is the real story-line then the Magi were 12 in number representing each of the tribes of Israel bringing the three gifts to the child Jesus.

The 'Wise Men' are more appropriately called the 'Magi.' Concerning the Magi's place of origin, Matthew uses two Greek expressions for areas east of Palestine. He first says the Magi are from "the East" (or "eastern parts"-Greek, ton anatolon ), or the distant East. Secondly he says the Magi saw the star in "the East" (Greek, te anatole )-west of the Magi's home, but east from Palestine's viewpoint, in the near East.

With this in mind, some biblical scholars believe that the Magi came from Parthia - a great empire east of the Euphrates-biblically "the distant east." This empire conquered the lands east of the Euphrates area, had Babylon as its capital and included the areas of Persia, Bactria, etc. It ruled the whole area and was the empire of the East-the land of the Magi.

The Parthians rose to power around 250 B.C. in and around the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. That was the very land into which the house of Israel-not Judah-had been taken captive by the Assyrians (see 2 Kings chapters 15,17, and 18 and here about the tribe of Reuben:

1 Chronicles 5:6New King James Version (NKJV)

6 and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria carried into captivity. He was leader of the Reubenites.

Taken then to the next logical step, these 'Parthians' appear to have been the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel who Josephus noted in the 1st Century AD that they were a massive group of peoples in the area north and east of Jerusalem. Wouldn't it have been quite proper for the children of Israel all - and not just Judah where Christ was born - to come and pay homage to their King? If this is the real story-line then the Magi were 12 in number representing each of the tribes of Israel bringing the three gifts to the child Jesus.

Who_were_the_Wise_Men_in_the_Gospel

Answer 2

The wise men came from the east, but the country is not mentioned in The Bible, it could be Babylon, as they were aware of a Messiah to be born. But we must remember that Jews were in Babylon , like Daniel and others.

Answer 3

The Wise Men found Jesus in Bethlehem. They arrived when Jesus was approximately two years old and visited him in his family home.