What is the meaning of the wise men visiting Jesus?

Answer

The Bible is almost completely silent on this, and as there are no other records of the "wise men" (they did not, for example, return to the East and write about their legendary journey), we can only speculate.

The Bible actually says almost nothing aboit the wise men. What are "wise men," anyway? Astrologers? Scholars? Just very sensible people? And what is the East? Iraq? India? China? Japan? Through inference and studies of the original languages of the Bible (NOT English), especially the word "Magus" (plural "Magi"), it is speculated that they are pagan priests of a Middle Eastern culture. The Bible does not even give us a number; the "three" wise men are infered through the number of gifts they bear.

As to why? In the Bible, they go to Herod seeking a king, so they apparently knew what was up. But the book does not elaborate. So they went West because they saw a star and recognized it as an important event. How or why they recognized this, but no one else did, is unanswered.

Addendum

Relying on the Bible limits knowledge. Herodotos in his Histories deals with the Magi not speculatively but as a caste or tribe of the Medes, the members of which had certain religious and funerary duties in the Persian empire and in its official religion Zoroastrianism (from which Judaism and consequently Christianity gained its Resurrection doctrine). They were also dream-interpreters, which gave rise to the 'wise' tag. They also gave rise to the words magic and magician.

The Biblical story is one incorporated by the gospel writers from the array of religious stories available to them when they composed their accounts a few generations later, with the purpose of demonstrating the change of an era and a predestined cosmic event.

First answer by ID1255678432. Last edit by Nevwik. Contributor trust: 46 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 89 [recommend question]