The 3 Wise Men: Ancient Magicians?

"Wise men" or "Magi?" What did this mean for the inhabitants of the ancient Mediterranean?

Twitter: @andrewmarkhenry

Sources and Media Attributions Below!

[shodan]

I was raised in an Arab Christian family, and the Arabic translation of the bible uses the word "Majoos" for the three wise men. "Majoos" in Arabic is the term used to describe Zoroastrians, even till this day. So to me, and probably all Arab Christians who were raised reading the Arabic translation, the three wise men were always Zoroastrians l.

[satansjihad]

I live in Brazil, and here these characters are indeed known as the Three Magician Kings.

[zibarozibaro]

As a Persian historian I agree 100%
Nice job

[alvinlaiman]

A close reading of the text will reveal many popular misconceptions of this story.
1. The number of magi was not recorded, probs wasnt 3.
2. They didnt "follow" the star. The star was an astrological sign rather than a road map. They were looking for a Jewish king and went straight to the royal capital where they got directions to Bethlehem.
3. They were used in the text as a political critique of Herod "where is the one born king of the Jews" (i.e. tell us where the real king is).
4. The story of the magi alludes and parallels other jewish traditions of foreign religious priests paying homage to Yah. (E.g. Melchizedek and Abraham, Jethro and Moses.)

[campbmichael]

The story makes me think of the Tibetan Buddhist practice of going out looking for the new Buddha after the death of the old Buddha. The Magi leave their homeland looking for signs to find a new spiritual leader.

[ashleyc]

Well this is interesting. In spanish bibles the three wise men are actually called Los tres Reyes Magos which would translate to three magical kings so nothing about being wise. Just thought I would add that to this been seeing some of your past videos.

[melledevries]

My favourite supporting characters are the various farm animals that are present in some retellings for children

[pheebsbee]

I urge anyone to read the comments section of Religion for Breakfast as it is as dynamic and interesting as the videos.

[diedertspijkerboer]

To me, it was obvious that the three "wise" men were astrologers. Any Bible reader could have derived this fact from the text which says that they saw a new star in the east and concluded this indicated the birth of a king.
Funnily enough, there are various references against astrologers in the old testament.

[Theshamanomar]

The three Wiseman known as the three kings or the three magi, are Zoroastrian priests/Shaman’s. The high priest or the high magi, worked with a somatic medicine known as “Hoama”, a dmt based tea chemically identical to Ayahuasca.

[timothyodaniell]

I'm amazed at how well you speak and your keen intellect. You have obviously spent several thousand hours in classroom instruction and you would make a great professor yourself. well done!

[jacopoarmini]

in italian they are called the "mage kings" and are often referred to as astrologists and mages.

[alfredthegreatkingofwessex]

“These characters are known as the magician kings”

Latin Americans “you… you didn’t know that?”

[thebanished]

At a Christmas play, my teacher gave me the role of Magi... I took it seriously for the rest my life.

[kaloarepo]

It has been suggested that the story of the 3 wise men in some of the gospels was inspired by the visit of king Tiridates of Armenia to Rome in the reign of the emperor Nero.Armenia was then Zoroastrian and it was the bone of contention between the Roman and Parthian empires which also was Zoroastrian.The embassy stirred up a lot of interest in Rome and may have also given rise to the Mithraic cult, also of Persian origins which had some parallels to Christianity.An Indo-Parthian king was called Gondaphares which may have provided the name for Caspar one of the magi or 3 wise men.The Gospel of Thomas mentions this king as St Thomas was believed to have been one of the evangelisers in the Indian region.

[vanapple]

In addition to the three magi in the Gospel of Matthew, the writer of Acts tells the story of Simon Magus. According to Acts 8:9-13, the apostle Peter and the magus Simon both performed “great miracles” (δυνάμεις μεγάλας) that “amazed” (ἐξίστημι) the people. Bible translators often fudge this parallel -- the KJV renders the same Greek words as ‘amazing miracles’ when done by Peter but ‘bewitching sorcery’ for Simon.

[CadaverSplatter]

Great stuff, glad you're doing these. I am a student of Assyriology, and if I may offer a small detail.The Neo-Babylonian version of the word Magi (since it is in fact a loan from Old-Persion) includes the Case ending (as do all Akkadian words, except most proper-names), which is lexically rendered on the nominative as "Magushu" (Accus. Magusha; Genit. Magushi.) Anyway, thanks for doing these, I love all of the ancient world, even outside of my particular field. Keep going.

[CocTheElf]

Here in Mexico we call them "Los Tres Reyes Magos", which translates to: The Three King-Mages. We even have a special holiday where they bring gifts to children.

[johnnydez]

They allegedly saw a special star which some think was the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter . This grand conjunction happened recently for the first time in 2000 years.

[patmullarkey]

They are my favorites in the story. Where I live they are the main characters in holiday events. No Santa at the mall but one of the Wise Men. Decorations are of them, as the parade.