“In the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him,’” Matthew 2:1b-2, KJV.
Who were these “Wise Men from the East”?
The Greek word here translated “wise men” is from magos, defined by Strong’s Concordance as “an Oriental scientist; by implication, a magician: – sorcerer, wise man.” Yet, in this instance, Strong’s concordance seems to be in error.
In historical context of the times they were not “Oriental scientists” nor magicians, but rather the sages from the Jewish colony in Babylon, east of Jerusalem.
The Babylonian Jews
This colony of Jews had remained in Babylon dating from the captivity when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and Judea in 605 BC. Although a remnant of them had returned to Palestine after seventy years, as prophesied, the majority of them had remained in Babylon and prospered as international merchants. This large colony, although in disobedience to God, continued to call themselves “Jews” and their priests and Rabbis maintained a strong school of Biblical studies. It was here that they began to re-interpret the Scriptures to conform to their situation without a temple and without the land. These interpretations later became known as their ‘traditions’ which developed over time into the doctrines of the Pharisees, the supposed “oral law” and the written Babylonian Talmud.
They called these scholars sages, that is, “wise men.”
In Babylon these sages were the Biblical scholars, or intelligentsia, of their colony and they claimed for themselves the authority of interpretation. They knew the written Scriptures and the priestly lore of the time-telling heavens. Thus they would have been able to determine which astronomical events would mark the time foretold for the birth of the Messiah. It was these men who understood that it was time for the “King of the Jews” to be born. Thus, they would have recognized the “star” that announced this event.
They became “believers.”*
These particular “wise men” probably were sincere in their desire to worship the new-born Messiah, Matthew 2:2, 11. They were truly guided by their knowledge of the Scriptures and of the stars and had the spiritual insight to hear and obey the warning of God, (vs. 12). They were, therefore, the first, or among the first, Jewish converts to Christianity and bore a powerful witness to the deity of Jesus Christ. When they returned to Babylon, they would have announced the “Good News” that the Messiah had indeed been born in Bethlehem of Judea, as foretold by the Prophets.
Thus it is much more likely and more in keeping with the Biblical record that these men were Jewish priests and Rabbis from the colony in Babylon, about 500 miles east of Jerusalem, than to think that they were “Oriental scientists or magicians”.
*Acts 12:17 reports that Peter left Jerusalem and “went into another place.” It may have been that Peter went to this colony in Babylon and established a Church there, I Peter 5:13.