NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWO

Part III (con’t)

Verse 11: “The magi came to the house where the young child was with his mother Mary. They bowed in reverence to Him. Then they opened the boxes of gifts they had brought for Him. The gifts they gave Him included gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” It is interesting to note that the Magi found Jesus in a “house,” not the stable, and Jesus is referred to as a young child. This indicates that their coming was quite a number of months after Jesus’ birth. The Law of Moses gave Mary and Joseph the procedure to follow after His birth.¹ From the scripture it is apparent that this had already been accomplished. Therefore, based on those requirements the arrival of the Magi was at the very earliest 40 days after Christ’s birth, but based on when they saw the star it could have taken as many as two years for them to get there.² Ironically, it is from the presentation of gifts that the theory for the number of Magi was formed. They brought many gifts, and among them the most expensive were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This has led some to speculate that this constituted one gift per Magi. All of this is hypothesis, and should not be taken as a settled fact. As a matter of fact, in one of the oldest Hebrew versions of Matthew, this verse reads that they “opened their sacks, and brought to him gifts made of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”³ Hence, the Magi were elevated by some to the level of kings in fulfillment of prophecy.⁴ In the distinct gifts, Gold has been associated with Jesus as a sign of His being a King; Frankincense, as a symbol of His being a High Priest; and Myrrh as representative of His being a kinsman Redeemer. What the Psalmist wished for Solomon, was now being applied to One greater than Solomon, “May all the people who live in the desert bow down to him. May all his enemies bow before him with their faces in the dirt. May the kings of Tarshish and all the faraway lands by the sea bring gifts to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring their tribute to him.”⁵

One thing to keep in mind is that often English words that are connotative with current definitions, may not be conveying the same message as they did in the days when the original words in Hebrew or Greek were written. One of them is the word “worship,” as used in the KJV and NIV, when it comes to paying honor and respect to persons of high rank or royalty. In fact, the Greek word proskyneō used here means: “To kiss the person’s hand as one bows in respect before them, as well as to fall on one’s knees and though the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence.” If we were to keep this definition for our use of the worship today, it appears that we fall woefully short when compared to what we do in the house of God and call it worship. As a boy I learned that when it came to the Queen of England, every man who came before her was expected to kneel on one knee, or curtsy if they were a woman. When the Magi came into the presence of the young Jesus, who was about two years old at the time, since He was considered a king, they showed their custom of bowing before Him out of honor and respect. It does not mean they worshiped Him as some god or idol. In our own society it was considered a sign of respect when someone curtsied before a teacher, elder or highly respected individual. Today this custom of bowing is more pronounced in Asia than on any other continent. In this case with the Magi, their bowing was also part of the ceremony of giving gifts to royalty.

Such was the case when Jacob sent his sons into Egypt to see Pharaoh, and they ended up giving them unknowingly to their brother Joseph.⁶ We also know that when the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon, she too brought gifts, “She traveled to Jerusalem with a very large group of servants. There were many camels carrying spices, jewels, and a lot of gold,”⁷ as did the Psalmist wish for Solomon, “May the kings of Tarshish and all the faraway lands by the sea bring gifts to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring their tribute to him. May all kings bow down to our king. May all nations serve him”.⁸ This last reference has been taken also as a hidden prophecy concerning the Messiah, and together with Isaiah,⁹ we see added: “They will bring gold and frankincense.” We are told by historians that these valuable items were standard gifts to honor a king or deity in the ancient world: gold as a precious metal, frankincense as perfume or incense, and myrrh as anointing oil. In fact, these same items were apparently among the gifts, recorded in ancient inscriptions, that King Seleucus II Callinicus offered to the god Apollo at the temple in Miletus in 243 BC. Rabbi David Kimchi, even though he used the Psalms and other O.T. Scriptures against Christians who took them as references for Jesus as the Messiah, agrees that gold and frankincense would be brought privately as presents to the king Messiah.¹⁰

It is also worthwhile to note that in Isaiah’s prophecy it says: “Jerusalem, get up and shine! Your Light is coming! The Glory of the Lord will shine on you. the Lord will shine on you, and his Glory will appear over you….Then the nations will come to your light…Herds of camels from Midian and Ephah will cross your land. Long lines of camels will come from Sheba. They will bring gold and incense. People will sing praises to the Lord.”¹¹ There is the linguistic possibility brought on by translation, that Isaiah said these camels and their riders would come from the direction of Midian and Ephah, which are both in the direction of Persia. It all depends on how they were led by the star. Although the New Testament does not give us the names for these Magi, nor how many there were, and only mentions that they brought gifts containing gold, frankincense and myrrh, there has been a lot of speculation. The Encyclopedia Britannica, under Magi (biblical figures), tells us that the names given to these magi were “derive from a Greek manuscript probably composed in Alexandria, Egypt around 500 AD, and which has been translated into Latin.¹² Also, German historian Hugo Kehrer quotes from the Latin chronicle: “At that time in the reign of Augustus, on 1st January the Magi brought him gifts and worshipped him. The Latin names of the Magi were Bithisarea, Melichior and Gathaspa.” He continues to say that the first magus, named Melchior, was an old white-haired man, with a full beard and hair, the king gave gold to our Lord. The second one, named Caspar, was a beardless boy, who gave frankincense. The third one, a dark-haired man with a full beard, named Balthasar, gave myrhh. The clothes of all three were Syrian-style. Kehrer also found that in that document, Melchior was considered to be a Persian scholar. The second magi, Caspar, was thought to be an Indian scholar. The third magi, Balthasar, was identified as an Arabian scholar. It goes on to say that the name “Jasper” or “Caspar” comes from France. It originated as part of a dialect spoken in the Cologne area of Germany, which includes the other names: Melcior and Baltazar.”¹³ In a Greek document from the 8^th century, of presumed Irish origin, and translated into Latin with the title “Collection of Flowers,” the tradition of three kings and their names is continued. However, according to Hiob Ludolph, these three magi were given different names in other languages. The one who gave gold was named “Annoson;” the one that brought frankincense was “Allytar;” and the one that offered myrrh was “Kyssad.”¹⁴ Church history also tells us that Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 AD. It has grown ever since to include animals and individuals who could not have possible been there to join Joseph, Mary, Jesus, the mid-wife, and the donkey, that brought them from Nazareth, in the manger. But rather than criticizing such displays, it is better to take them as composite to recognize all those who eventually showed up to honor our Lord at the time of His birth and as a young child. In like manner, when we all gather around the throne of God in heaven, to worship the Lamb who was slain, it will not consist merely of those who initially arrived, but of everyone who came to the cross for salvation, from the first to the last. This should remind us of that grand old hymn sung many years ago that says: “Though millions have come, there is still room for one, there’s room at the cross for you.”