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7 Then Herod summoned the magi privately and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and carefully search for the child. Bring news to me when you find him, so I too may go and honor him.” 9 After their audience with the king, they set out, and behold, the star they had seen rising proceeded them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 11 When they entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they fell to their knees and did him honor. Opening their treasures they present him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 Then they returned to their country by a different route, for they had been warned in a dream not to return to Herod.

Comments

Mt makes no mention of the names of the magi, or how many of them there were. The traditional names Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar, while delightful, have no basis in Scripture. It is assumed that there were three of them, corresponding to their three gifts, but this is not certain. Nor is it certain that all of them were men. Greek, like most gendered languages, uses masculine plural endings to indicate mixed-gender groups. Some of the “wise men” might actually have been “wise women.”

It is not clear how the star would have led them to Bethlehem. Stars and astronomical events do not indicate positions on the ground. Perhaps Mt is implying the star acted in a supernatural way, or that it led them in the sense that the magi were able to use some arcane method to determine the child’s location based on the star’s characteristics. Regardless, the star’s behavior is less important than Mt’s theological message.

The three gifts have special significance. The Messiah was expected to be the ultimate priest, prophet, and king. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh each correspond to one of these offices. Gold represents kingship, in that it is the traditional material for crowns. Frankincense (i.e. a type of incense) represents priesthood, since incense, then and now, is burned as part of religious worship. Myrrh, an aromatic resin, was used in the ancient world, among other things, to anoint dead bodies. Because of this association with death, myrrh represents prophethood, since by Jesus’ day the martyrdom of the prophets had become proverbial (cf. Mt 23.30 and 23.37). Unlike Herod, who can only see in Jesus a possible threat to his status, the foreign magi are able to see the Christ child for who he truly is.