NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWO

Part I (con’t)

At this point in Matthew’s biography of Jesus, King Herod Antipas becomes the main character. He was considered by most as having been nothing more than a servant of king Hyrcanus II. The Jewish leaders did not have a very high regard for Herod. As a matter of fact, in the Babylonian Talmud we find this sordid story of one incident in his life. “Herod was the slave of the Hasmonean house, and had set his eyes on a certain maiden of that house. One day he heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Every slave that rebels now will succeed.’ So he rose and killed all the members of his master’s household, but spared that maiden. When she saw that he wanted to marry her, she ran up on to a roof and yelled out, ‘Whoever comes and pretends they are from the house of Hasmonean, is a slave, since I am the only one left, I am throwing myself down from this roof.’ Herod preserved her body in honey for seven years. Some say…his reason was that people might say that he had married a king’s daughter.”¹ This maiden’s name was Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, a son of Aristobulus II. According to Josephus, she was actually put to death by Herod after being married to him several years.² As a matter of fact another Jewish historian tells us that: “Before going to Egypt to meet with Octavian, and thinking that he may meet his death there, Herod had given secret orders to execute his wife Mariamne and her mother Alexandra, the last survivors of the Hasmonean dynasty, should he not come back alive. These orders came to be known to Mariamne who then hated her husband Herod more than ever. And he could not reconcile the matter with her after he came back from Egypt. Herod’s sister, the wicked Salome who hated Mariamne, took this opportunity to make false claims that Mariamne intended to poison her husband, and she got her brother’s approval to have her executed without trial.”³ Is it any wonder then that this same Herod would show no fear or hesitation in slaughtering all newborn infants boys up to the age of two, just based on the word of some visiting eastern astrologers?

Now Matthew turns his attention to the strange visitors who showed up looking for the new king of the Judeans. Contrary to the way they are depicted in most manger scenes at Christmas time, these travelers from the east were not well thought of by the Jews in those days. The word among the Jews was quite negative: One Rabbi referred to them as sorcerers while another called them blasphemers. In fact, one Rabbi went so far as to say: “He who learns a single thing from a magian is worthy of death.” Such astrologers were dismissed because they did not give credit to God for arranging the stars and galaxies in the heavens, which violates the Scriptures.⁴ This is confirmed by what another Rabbi said: “They regard not the work of the Lord, neither have they considered the operation of His hands.⁵ Not only that, but the Jews refer to what else the Scriptures had to say as to why the Torah was more dependable than the stars. This was Moses’ message to the children of Israel: “Look, I have taught you laws and rulings, just as Adonai my God ordered me, so that you can behave accordingly in the land where you are going in order to take possession of it. Therefore, observe them; and follow them; for then all peoples will see you as having wisdom and understanding. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘This great nation is surely a wise and understanding people.’”⁶ The reason, because in all the nations except Israel, wisdom and understanding was sought in the “science of cycles and planets.”⁷ In addition, when discussing what to call certain Jews who were negligent and did not faithfully observed Jewish customs and traditions, we read that such magi were included in a negative way: “It has been reported, If one has learning of Scripture and Mishnah but was not taught by Rabbinical scholars…he is an ‘Am ha-arez’ [Lit., ‘people of the earth’; the description of those Jews who are careless about religious duties]. Rabbi Samuel ben Nahmani says such people are boors; Rabbi Jannai says they are Samaritans; And their bread and wine must not be used by an observant Jew. Rabbi Aha ben Jacob says they are magicians who deceive the people. Rabbi Nahman ben Isaac said: The definition of Rabbi Aba ben Jacob appears the most probable; because there is a popular saying: The magician mumbles and knows not what he says; the scholar recites and knows not what he says.”⁸ To the people of Jesus’s day, all such wizardry and magic came from the east. We are told that: “During the time between ancestors Eber, and Peleg and the building of the tower of Babel and the first city after the flood – which was founded in its actual building – came the beginning of taking of counsel, and of ideology. For Nimrod the son of Cush the Ethiopian, the father of Asshur, ruled as a king. His kingdom arose in Orech, Arphal and Chalana, and he also founded Tiras, Tubal and Laban in Assyria. The Greeks say that it is the Zoroaster who went on further to the east and became the original settler of Bactria. The world’s transgressions were spread abroad from there, for Nimrod was the originator of wrong doctrine, astrology and magic – which is what some say of Zoroaster.”⁹ I’m sharing this so that you get a taste of how these astrologers were looked at, not looked up to by the Jews. Also, historian Herodotus includes them among the Medes as follows: “Deïokes then united the Median race alone, and was their ruler: and of the Medes there are the tribes as follows: namely, Busai, Paretakenians, Struchates, Arizantians, Budians, Magians: the tribes of the Medes are so many in number.”¹⁰ However, some scholars dispute this as being the name of a tribe. Instead, they see it as the possible name of an office or profession. In any case, this term seems to fit that of the Magi. Yet others say that the term “magi” is of Persian origin and is their word for “priest.” In fact, a Latin-language prose writer states: “If what I read in a large number of authors is true, namely, that magician is the Persian word for priest, what is there criminal in being a priest and having due knowledge, science, and skill in all ceremonial law, sacrificial duties, and the binding rules of religion, at least if magic consists in that which Plato sets forth in his description of the methods employed by the Persians in the education of their young princes? I remember the very words of that divine philosopher. Let me recall them to your memory.”¹¹ Also, mid-eastern documents we read about what these Magi were responsible for. Xenophon, a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, and student of Socrates, born around 429 BC, was certainly aware of what their function was before they ever showed up in search for Jesus. Here is what he shares: “Now at dawn of day the first thing that Cyrus did was to call the magi and bid them select the gifts ordained for the gods in acknowledgment of such success.”¹² He goes on to say: “In the first place, set other things apart for the gods whatever the magi direct, as they interpret the will of the gods.”¹³ He follows this with: “And then the Medes came in, after they had delivered to the magi what the magi had directed them to set apart for the gods.”¹⁴ So we can see that such magi were gift bearers to the gods. Also, in the works of a Neoplatonic philosopher we read: “Among the Persians they that were wise concerning God, and worshipped him, were called ‘Magi’, for so ‘Magus’ signifies in their country dialect; and so august and venerable were this sort of men accounted with the Persians, that Darius, the son of Hystaspis, ordered this, among other things, to be inscribed on his monument, that he was the master of the Magi.”¹⁵ All of this is to give you as a reader of the Scriptures a better understanding of who these visitors from the east were seen as. From some of these references we learn to a certain degree that these men called magi were considered holy, revered, and highly respected for their study of the galaxies, so as to earn the title, “wise men” in their homeland. No doubt this is why Luther and the English translators of the Bible decided to call them “wise men.” Also a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul and constitutionalist, considered one of Rome’s greatest orators and prose stylists, made this comment on the magi: “Among the Persians the prophets and diviners are the magi, who assemble regularly in a sacred place for practice and consultation, just as formerly you priests used to do on certain days of the month. Indeed, no one can become king of the Persians until he has learned the theory and the practice of the magi. Moreover, you may see whole families and tribes devoted to this art. For example, Telmessus in Caria is a city noted for its cultivation of the soothsayer’s art, and there is also Elis in Peloponnesus, which has permanently set aside two families as soothsayers, the Iamidae and the Clutidae, who are distinguished for superior skill in their art. In Syria the Chaldeans are pre-eminent for their knowledge of astronomy and for their quickness of mind.”¹⁶ Adding to that, another Roman author and teacher of rhetoric, shared this story about the magi: “The wisdom of the Persian Magi was (besides other things proper to them) conversant in prediction: They foretold the cruelty of Ochus towards his subjects, and his bloody disposition, which they collected from some secret signs. For when Ochus, upon the death of his father Artaxerxes, came to the crown, the Magi charged one of the eunuchs that were next him to observe upon what things, when the table was set before him, he first laid hands; who watching intently, Ochus reached forth both his hands, and with his right laid hold of a knife that lay by, with the other took a great loaf, which he laid upon the meat, and did cut and eat greedily. The Magi, hearing this, foretold that there would be plenty during his reign, and much blood shed. In which they were correct.”¹⁷ So they were also seen as soothsayers and predictors of future events, much like we read about in Daniel: “So the king called his wise men to come to him. They used magic and watched the stars. They did this to try to interpret dreams and to learn what would happen in the future. The king wanted them to tell him what he had dreamed, so they came in and stood in front of him.”¹⁸ Therefore, many Bible scholars accept the possibility that the magi who came to find Jesus, came from Persia (today’s Iran). No doubt this is why they had such an affect on king Herod’s thinking and plotting. There is a possibility, that because of these non-Jewish astrologers looking for the new king of the Judeans, that a foreign power was involved.

Based on the time of their arrival; Joseph then being warned and taking Jesus and Mary into Egypt, and the plot being carried out, it is calculated by many scholars to have occurred close to two years after Jesus birth. So, it wasn’t any factor of royalty represented in these magi, nor that they were rich. But that they were known as predictors of the future and were tied closely to foreign kings as religious advisers. So Herod had much to fear because of their talent to predict correctly. This is also attested to by one of the early church fathers who writes: “And that he was God as soon as he was born and not a mere man, the magi will plainly show. For after a period of two years – as they told Herod the time the star had risen, ‘two years ago at the most’ – they came to Jerusalem.”¹⁹ Dr. John Lightfoot, a highly respected British theologian and rabbinical scholar agrees with this assessment, as we will see in his commentary on verse 16.

NOTE: A little lesson on stars so that you can get a better idea of what the Magi may have followed on their way to Jerusalem:

A star is a ball of burning gases, mostly hydrogen and helium. A star shines or glows because its gravity causes its gases to fuse together. This process releases energy, hence the “shine”. Our Sun is only a medium-sized star. There are stars that are bigger, smaller, hotter, and cooler. However, the Earth is very small compared to the Sun. More than a million Earths could fit into the Sun. Therefore, if what the Magi saw was a star, it had to be far away in the galaxy, otherwise it would have competed with our own star, the sun. It is good to remember, while all sky objects appear bright, some stars and galaxies radiate light, while the others only reflect light. The stars make their own light. The Moon, planets, asteroids, natural satellites, and comets shine by light reflected from the Sun. Our closest star is 4½ light years away, which means when you look up into the sky at night, the lights you see from the stars is already old. The further away the star, the older the light. In fact, the light from many stars reaching us just now started out toward earth long before Jesus was born. Just as scientists cannot fathom a fish that could swallow Jonah and keep him alive for three days, neither can they reconcile a star in the sky that stayed in place for almost two years and then disappeared. Rather than dismissing these as objects of our imagination, we can certainly advocate that only God could create and control such things. When we add this to the virgin birth of Jesus after a visit by an angel, it is certainly a level of understanding that can only be attain through faith. Could it be that the star spoken of by the prophets was ignited when it was decided by the Father for Him to come to earth as the Messiah, and it’s light arrived just in time to lead the Magi to their destination. Think about it!

1 Babylonian Talmud, op. cit., Seder Nezikin, Masekhet Bava Bathra, folio 3b

2 Josephus op. cit., Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. 15, Ch. 7:6-7

3 Abraham Zacuto, “Seder Olam Zutta,” Year 3731 – 29 BC, “Death of Mariamne and Alexandra”

4 Deuteronomy 18:8

5 Isaiah 5:12

6 Deuteronomy 4:5-6 – Complete Jewish Bible

7 Babylonian Talmud, Seder Mo’ed, Masekhet Shabbath, folio 75a

8 Ibid., Masekhet Sotah, folio 22a

9 The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Book I, Anacephalaeosis I, Hellenism 3:1-3

10 Histories, Book I, Clio 101

11 Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (124-170 AD, Apologia, Sec. I, Part 25

12 Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, Bk. 4, Ch. 5:14

13 Ibid., Book 4, 5:51

14 Ibid, Book 4, 6:11

15 Porphyry of Tyre (234-305 AD), Abstentia From Animal Food, Vol., 1, Bk., 4, Ver. 16

16 Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), On Divination, Book I, Sec. 41

17 Claudius Aelianus (circa 175-235 AD), Varia Historia, Vol 2, Chap. 17

18 Daniel 2:2

19 Epiphanius of Salamis, The Panarion of Epiphanius, Sec. II, 30, Contra Ebonites, 29, 1