The Wise Men from the East – a mystery solved?

Jan 6, 2019 by Jill

by Philip Foster, TCW:

TODAY is Epiphany, when the visit of the Wise Men to the infant Jesus is remembered. For nearly two millennia there has been speculation and much legend-making about this event, recorded in Matthew’s gospel (Matthew ch.2vv1-12).

Can the many mysteries be resolved? I believe they can. Whence did they come? We are told: from the East. Why? Because they had seen the star which signified the birth of a Jewish king. How did they know about such an event in the first place? They must have known about the Jews and their Scriptures.

This gives us an important clue. The only likely place ‘in the east’ was Babylon. It was here that some 500 years before, the Jewish people had lived in exile, taking with them their Scriptures. Unlike everyone else in Babylon (excepting the elite) they were all literate. This was noticed by the Babylonian rulers who recruited some of them for their Civil Service – a kind of École (College) nationale d’administration. The book of Daniel records some of the stories about this.

Read here

Read also: Is the story of Epiphany plausible? by Ian Paul, Psephizo