NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWO

Part II

Verse 2: “They asked people, ‘Where is the child who has been born to be the king of the Judeans? We saw His star that announced His birth. We saw it rise in the sky in the east and have come to worship Him.’” Most Jewish historians and scholars object to use of the English phrase here: “king of the Jews” instead of the proper term: “king of the Judeans.” One Jewish scholar gives a brief but clear explanation: “On the cross on which Jesus was crucified the words ‘Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Judaeans’ were inscribed in Hebrew.” He goes on to say that the words Messiah and Christ were synonymous in their minds with ‘son of David’ and ‘king of the Judeans‘.¹

Once the wise men arrived in Jerusalem, they started asking around about Jesus. Jerusalem, after all, was the capital city of Judea. This is where a visitor most likely would go to find a new king. You also notice, they stated: “We have seen His star.” In the Greek this is a personal possessive pronoun. These religious astrologers were not only well acquainted with the galaxies, but also the many stories connected with their significance. The wording here by Matthew of the magi saying, “We saw it rise in the sky in the east,” has been the cause for some misinterpretation. Since they had to travel from east to west, that would have put the star behind them and led them in the opposite direction. A paraphrase will make it clearer: “From where we were in the east, we saw the star rise in the sky and followed it here to worship Him.” Dr. John Lightfoot, in his commentary on Matthew, gives this explanation: “We, being in the east, have seen his star: – that heavenly light.” But it also leaves open the possibility that when the star was first seen on the horizon in the east, that as the earth turned – which to them seemed to be the other way around, that the star was moving – it went toward the west, signifying that they were supposed to go that way and follow its light. This means that they could only follow it at night. It also appears that these magi may have had access to some of the Jewish Scriptures, such as the Torah, where they read: “I see him coming, but not now. I see him coming, but not soon. A star will come from the family of Jacob. A new ruler will come from the Israelites.”² Not only that, but this was said by a fellow astrologer. Even Jewish rabbis connected this to the Messiah. In a well-known Jewish Targum we read: “I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but it is not near. When the mighty King of Jakob’s house shall reign, and the Meshiha (Aramaic for Messiah), the Power-sceptre of Israel, be anointed.”³ It is interesting that they leave out any mention of the star, no doubt because by the time this was written (circa 1550 AD) they knew that this star had become associated with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Also, a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, and Bible commentator was sure the Messiah had already come. In spite of opposition, this Rabbi remained constant in his efforts to “reveal the day of redemption in the ears of the sons of Judah.” He also states: “Signs of the forthcoming upheaval could be found in many places, not least of which are the stars.” This Rabbi was convinced that the Messiah had already come sometime before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.⁴ He was in fact right, for Jesus was born some 75 years before the Temple was destroyed. When examining the statement by Balaam we referenced before,⁵ one medieval Jewish Rabbi says that Balaam’s statement that a star will step forth from Jacob, should be taken as “an allusion to the great name that the Messiah will make for Himself on the whole globe.”⁶ So there is no question that this star was to accompany the appearance of the Messiah, but when it was applied to Jesus of Nazareth, many Jewish scholars became defensive. In fact, Aaron, the son of a medieval Jewish physician, offers the following speech as spoken by the wise men to Herod, when conversing with him about star: “A certain person, say they, of great note with us, in a book which he composed, warned us in it, mentioning these things; a child that will descend from heaven, will be born in Palestine, whom the greatest part of the world will serve, and the sign of his appearance will be this; you will see a strange star, which will direct you where he is; when you shall see this, take gold, myrrh and frankincense, and go and offer them to him, and worship him, and then return, lest a great calamity befall you. Now the star has appeared unto us, and we are come to perform what was commanded us.”⁷ This is backed up by another writer who quoted the same message.⁸ This “certain person of great note” is actually his defense of Balaam’s prophecy, He goes on to say:

“That a remarkable star should appear. This prediction was delivered by Balaam,⁹ ‘There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.’ That this is a prediction of the Messiah is acknowledged by Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and Aben Ezra who say that many interpret it as the Messiah. Our people still expect the appearance of a star at the coming of Messiah. Hence we read of one whose name was Bar Cochvah, i. e. the Son of a star, who claimed to be the Messiah, and had many followers; but, after his death, and not rising again from the dead, they became convinced that he had been a deceiver, and therefore called him Bar Cosivah, i. e. the son of a lie. Abulpharagius,¹⁰ an Arabic writer, tells us that Zoroastres, who lived four or five hundred years before Christ, instructed his magicians of the coming of Messiah, and that at his birth there should appear a wonderful star, which would shine by day as well as by night; and therefore left it on command with them, that when that star appeared they should follow its direction, and go to the place where he was to be born, and there offer gifts and pay their adoration’s to him. Now this Zoroaster appears to have been a Jew, both by birth and religion, and servant to one of the prophets of Israel, and well versed in the sacred writings, and therefore may well be supposed to have learned all this from the prophecy of Balaam. All this was remarkably fulfilled in Jesus Christ. At his birth an unusual star appeared, which led the magi, or wise men, from the East to Bethlehem, where they found the holy child Jesus, ‘and they fell down and worshiped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh’:¹¹ and thus another Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, ‘the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.’¹² This leads me to notice two other circumstances, which, though perhaps not directly prophecies, yet may be said to be fulfilled in Jesus”.¹³

This mention of the gifts can also be found in Greek writings. We read: “Unto him shall priests convey and offer gold, and myrrh, and frankincense; for all these things he’ll also bring to pass.”¹⁴ In addition, a 4th-century philosopher (and possibly a Christian) states: “There is also a more venerable and sacred history, which speaks of the rising of a certain unusual star; not foretelling diseases and deaths, but the descent of a venerable God, born for the sake of human conversation, and the affairs of mortals; which star truly, when the wise men of the Chaldeans saw in their journey by night, and being very expert in the consideration of celestial things, are said to inquire after the birth of the new Deity, and having found the infant majesty, to worship him, and pay their vows worthy of such a God.”¹⁵ The end purpose for these Magi in taking such a long journey is clearly established from many sources. They were there to pay their respects to the fulfillment of a long standing prophecy. They were convinced by an extraordinary appearance of an unusual star that led them to believe that it had taken place. This was no overnight phenomenon, it was two years in the making, including their travels. How ironic that these religious astrologers from the east were more impressed with the coming of a new Judean king than were the residents of the very land in which he was born. So, there was a general expectancy of a coming world monarch. This star was the sign He had arrived. But where? With all the intricacies involved in the interpretation, the journey, the timing, the location and the circumstances, their success gives hint to the involvement of a higher power rather than the mere sagacity of these Magi. One can be assured that the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient One was involved in their motivation to follow the star. After all, it was His Son being born a human!¹⁶ The events of this chapter have a striking similarity to the plight of Israel as a nation: Jesus unusual birth; His flight into Egypt; His crucifixion and resurrection and promise of His return could be paralleled with the Children of Israel being born through the miracle baby, Isaac, the only legitimate son of Abraham; their flight into Egyptian bondage; and the promise that they would return again from exile to settle in the Promised Land of the New Israel. One might go further by recalling that as the Romans crucified the Son of God, so were the Jews crucified in like manner by the Romans, just 40 years later in 70 AD when the Roman general Titus took Jerusalem. The Magi did not ask for a Messiah, or a Savior, or a Prophet, but explicitly referred to the One they were looking for as “King of the Judeans.” He did not become King by birth in a royal, human family; He was already a divine King born to inherit a heavenly kingdom already promised through His royal ancestor David.