Bible Dictionaries
Magi

　　MAGI ( ‘wise men’).—The only reference to Magi in the Gospels occurs in Matthew 2, where we have the well-known story of the visit of the Oriental Magi to the infant Jesus. The following article will deal with (1) certain difficulties in the narrative, (2) the historical value of the narrative, (3) the legendary additions to the narrative.

　　1. The difficulties are occasioned chiefly by the vague and indefinite character of the record. The first question that suggests itself is, What class of people had the Evangelist in his mind when he used the term [Note: BE Sacred Books of the East.] iv. pp. lxii, lxiii), and as religious instructors of the Persian kings (Cic. de Divin. i. 41; Philo, de Special. Leg. 18; Pliny, HN xxx. 1). The introduction of this Magian priesthood is ascribed to Cyrns (Xen. Cyr. viii. 1. 23); and classical writers conversant with Persian affairs use the word magus as synonymous with ‘priest’ (Apul. Apol. i. 25, 26; cf. Strabo, pp. 732, 733; Philo, Quod omn. prob. lib. 11; Dio Chrysost. Or. 36, p. 449, 49, p. 538; Diog. Laert. proœm. 6; Porphyr. de Abstinent, iv. 16; and the lexicons of Hesych. and Suidas). Darius Hystaspis made Mazdaism the religion of the Empire (Behistun inser., and Sayce, Ancient Empires of the East), and from his time, at any rate,—for how long before, if at all, is disputed,—the Magi are identified with the Zoroastrian worship, and are represented as the disciples of Zoroaster (Plato, Alcib. i. 122; Plutarch, de Is. et Os. 46, 47; Pliny, HN xxx. 1; Apul. Apol. 26; Diog. Laert. proœm. 2; Amm. Marc. 23:6; Agathias, ii. 24; Aug. de Civ. Dei, xxi. 14). In the Avesta, however, the priests are called, not magi, but âthravans; though even in the sacred texts the word ‘magi’ is found in a few instances. Finally, it may be noted that these Median magi are credited with skill in philosophy (Strabo, pp. 23, 24; Nicol. Damasc. fr. 66; Diog. Laert. proœm. 1), natural science (Philo, Quod omn. prob. lib. 11; Dio Chrysost. Or. 49, p. 538), and medicine (Pliny, HN xxx. 1, cf. xxiv. 17). They are also described as interpreters of dreams (Herod. i. 107, 120, vii. 19), astrologers (ib. vii. 37; Pliny, HN xxxvii. 9; Amm. Marc. xxiii. 6), soothsayers and diviners (Cic. de Divin. i. 41; Strabo, p. 762; Pliny, HN xxx. 2; Diog. Laert. proœm. 7; Aelian, Var. Hist. ii. 17; Amm. Marc. xxiii. 6).

　　In a technical sense, then, magi denoted the members of the sacerdotal class in the Persian Empire. But in the LXX Septuagint [Note: Persian.] 46 (15); Justin, xii. 13). The latter term, however, is properly used in Daniel (Daniel 1:4; Daniel 2:2; Daniel 2:4-5; Daniel 2:10; Daniel 4:7; Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:11) and by classical authorities (Herod. i. 181, 183; Diod. Sic. ii. 29–31) to represent a class, or the class, of Babylonian priests or learned men (Driver, Daniel, pp. 12–16), renowned for their skill in astronomy, astrology, and sorcery (Cic. de Divin. i. 41, de Fato, 8, 9; Diod. Sic. ii. 29–31; Strabo, p. 762; Curtius, v. 1; Apul. Flor. 15; Porph. Vit. Pyth. 6; Diog. Laert. proœm. 6; cf. Lenormant, La magie chez les Chaldéens; R. C. Thompson, Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon; W. L. King, Babylonian Magic and Sorcery; Chantepie de la Saussaye, Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte; Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria).

　　Lastly, the words magi and Chaldœi came to be applied not only to the members of a sacerdotal caste, but in a secondary sense to all those who cultivated magic arts (Soph. Œd. Tyr. 387; Tac. Ann. ii. 27, xii. 22, 59; Juv. Sat. x. 94, with Mayor’s note; Dio Chrysost. Or. 36, p. 449). In Rabbinical writers this bad sense is predominant (Edersheim, Life and Times, i. p. 210), and the same may be said of the passages in the NT (other than Matthew 2) in which magi are referred to (Acts 8:9; Acts 8:11 Simon Magus, Acts 13:6; Acts 13:8 Elymas). In the LXX Septuagintμάγοι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, i.e. ‘Oriental magi.’ The expression is quite indefinite (cf. Matthew 8:11; Matthew 24:27, Luke 13:29, Revelation 21:13). Various attempts have been made, however, to identify the particular part of the East whence the Magi may have come (Patritius, de Evang. iii. p. 315 ff.; Spanheim, Dub. Evang. ii. p. 291 ff.). The oldest opinion inclines to Arabia (Justin M. Dial. 77, 78; Tertull. Judges 1:9; Epiphan. Exp Fid. 8, and most Roman commentators, e.g. Corn. a Lapide, in loc.), partly on account of references such as Psalms 72:10, Isaiah 60:5, partly on account of the character of the gifts, partly by reason of the close intercourse that subsisted between Arabia and Palestine (Edersheim, i. p. 203). On the other hand, Arabia is to the south rather than the east of Judaea (cf. Matthew 12:42 [Note: circa, about.] Cels. i. 58), Parthia (Wetstein, in loc.; Hyde, Rel. Vet. Pers. [Note: BE Sacred Books of the East.] iv. p. xxxvii); nor is it probable that an independent tradition of Balaam’s prophecy (Numbers 24:17) had been preserved by their ancestors and handed down to them (Origen, c. translation translation by W. Wright in the Journal of Sacred Literature, vols. ix., x., 1866, from a 6th cent. British Museum codex, Add. 17, 142. The title is, ‘Concerning the star; showing how and through what the Magi recognized the star, and that Joseph did not take Mary as his wife.’ This tractate relates that the prophecy of Balaam about the star was recorded in a letter written by Balak to the king of Assyria, and preserved in the Assyrian archives. At last, in the reign of king Pir Shabour, the star appeared, and the Magi were sent with great pomp to do homage to the Messiah. The colophon at the end states: ‘And in the year 430 (= a.d. 119), in the reign of Hadrianus Caesar.… this concern arose in (the minds of) men acquainted with the Holy Books; and through the pains of the great men in various places this history was sought for and found and written in the tongue of those who took this care.’ As to the meaning of this statement, however, critics are not agreed (see F. C. Conybeare, Guardian, April 29, 1903; and, on the other side, Church Quarterly Review, July 1904, p. 389). The more probable explanation seems to be that ‘the Holy Books’ refers, not to the OT but to the narrative in Matthew 2, already, therefore, incorporated in the Gospel in a.d. 119; and that the ‘history’ is not Matthew 2, but the legend about the preservation of Balak’s letter and the coming of the Magi in the reign of Pir Shabour.

　　To conclude this part of the subject, it may be pointed out that the story of the Magi must stand or fall with the other Matthaean narratives of the Infancy. All were probably drawn from some written source, Jewish-Christian in character, and perhaps originally Aramaic in language. The value of this source cannot here be determined (see artt. Birth of Christ, Matthew). It is sufficient to point out that if a Palestinian or semi-Palestinian origin of the narratives can be sustained, the hypothesis of direct pagan influence in their formation must be rejected.

　　3. Of the legendary accretions to the story of the Magi, the following deserve notice. From the 6th cent., if not before (Tert. Marc. iii. 13, Judges 1:9 are not decisive), the opinion prevailed that the Magi were kings. This belief is first unambiguously stated in a sermon ascribed to Caesarius of Arles (Aug. Opp. v. Append. Serm. 139. 3); and it prevailed universally during the Middle Ages (cf. Paschasius, Exp. in Mt. ii. 2). Hence the festival of Epiphany received the name Festum Trium Regum. The idea would, of course, find support in such passages as Psalms 68:29; Psalms 68:31; Psalms 72:10, Isaiah 49:7; Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 60:3; Isaiah 60:10; Isaiah 60:16; but there is no suggestion of it in the Evangelic narrative. (For discussions see Patritius, iii. p. 320 ff.; Spanheim, ii. p. 273 ff.; Barradius, Com. ix. c. 8).

　　The number of the Magi is not specified in the Gospel. Eastern tradition fixed it at twelve (Op. Imp. in Matthew 2 ap. Chrysost. vi.; cf. the curious MS fragment quoted in Classical studies in honour of Henry Drisler, p. 31—‘Twelve kings set out from Persia to go to Jerusalem,’ etc.), or thirteen (Bar Bahlul in Hyde, Rcl. Vet. Pers.ἀστήρ); and according to Greg. of Tours it was still, in his time, to be seen in a well at Bethlehem (Mirac. i. 1). Similarly a mass of details were invented about the Magi themselves, their journey, and their later life and death. Here it need only be noticed that they are reported to have been baptized by St. Thomas. (A full account of the Magi-legends will be found in Crombach’s monumental monograph, Primitiœ gentium sive historia et encomium SS. Trium Magorum. See also the epitome in the Quarterly Review, vol. lxxviii. p. 433 ff., of the mediaeval stories collected by John of Hildesheim; and the Boll. AA. SS. Jan. d. i. vi, and xi.).

　　The bodies of the Magi are said to have been discovered in the East in the 4th cent. (according to one tradition, by St. Helena herself), and to have been brought to Constantinople and deposited in the Church of St. Sofia. When Eustorgius became bishop of Milan, they were transferred to that city, whence, in the year 1162, they were again removed by Frederic Barbarossa to Cologne (Boll. AA. SS. Jan. d. vi.). The festival of Epiphany (the celebration of which in the West is mentioned first by Amm. Marc. xxi. 2) commemorated originally Christ’s manifestation to the Magi, together with His baptism, His miracle at Cana (Max. Taur. Hom. 29; Isid. de Off. Eccl. i. 27; Abelard, Serm. 4), and the miracle of feeding the 5000 ([Aug.] Append. Serm. 36. 1). But soon the manifestation to the Magi became in the West, if not exclusively, yet principally, dwelt upon (see, e.g., Leo’s Epiphany Sermons); and the common Western synonym for Epiphany was Festum Trium Regum (Bingham, Ant. xx. 4; DCA [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , vol. viii. art. ‘Magier’; Encyc. Bibl. art. ‘Nativity’; Kraus, RE, vol. ii. art. ‘Magier’; Moroni’s Dizionario, vol. xli. art. ‘Magi’; Hamburger’s RE, art. ‘Zauberei’; Smith’s DBμάγος; Winer, Biblisches Realwörterbuch, vol. ii. artt. ‘Magier,’ ‘Stem der Weisen’; Hone, Everyday Book, Jan. 6; and the various Comm. on Matthew. An English monograph by F. W. Upham, The Wise Men, is of little value. The discussions of Spanheim and Patritius should be consulted, while Crombach’s elaborate study is a treasury of curious information.

　　F. Homes Dudden.