What are Magi?

The Gospel of Matthew gives us one of our two birth narratives of Jesus. In 12 verses in his version of the story Matthew gives us the account of the Magi coming to give gifts to the baby. But what are Magi? What do we know about who these people were? What does Matthew think Magi are? And how is he trying to use them in his account of the birth of Jesus? Join us today as we look at some of these questions!

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If you are interested in learning more about this topic we suggest you start here:

M. David Litwa, How the Gospels Became History: Jesus and Mediterranean Myths. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.

Peter Barthel and George van Kooten editors, The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy. Leiden: Brill, 2015.

Michael R. Molnar, The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999.

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Image Credits:

Bactrian Zoroastrian
License: Public Domain

Proskenysis
Credit: Marco Prins
License: CC0 Universal

Tang Period Sculpture
Credit: Sailko
License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Medians at Persepolis
Credit: Marco Prins
License: CC0 Universal

Syrians at Persepolis
Credit: Marco Prins
License: CC0 1.0 Universal

Persepolis East Stair
Credit: Harold Hazenburg
License: CC0 Universal

Approach Path, Rock-cut Tombs of Qizqapan
Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Qizqapan Tomb
Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Qizqapan Main Carving
Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Headdress Detail
Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Face Detail
Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Winged Figure, Rock Cut Tombs of Qizqapan
Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Temple of Artemis Miniature
Credit: Zee Prime
License: CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Drawings of Magi Images from Pierre Briant, trans. Peter T. Daniels, Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, fig 33, 244.

All other images and maps in the public domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdom...) or are creative works of Beneath the Bible.

At Beneath the Bible all the images we use are for educational purposes and are used as Fair Use.

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Far Away - MK2