Christmas
words -- Three Wise Men
Posted by ESC on December
03, 2001 We were discussing this at work -- what were the names
of the three wise men who came to see Baby Jesus. This is what I found online:
bibleinfo.com
WISE
MEN Date: 11/18/1999
http://www.bibleinfo.com/Asp/DisplayFullFAQ.asp?FAQid=40
What
were the names of the three wise men?
It would appear that one can call the
wise men who visited Jesus by any name one would wish, but the tradition has it
they were named Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior.
Here is the Bible Commentary
article on the wise men: Wise men, Gr. magoi, which designated men of the various
educated classes. Our word "magicians" comes from this root. But these "wise men"
were not magicians in the modern sense of sleight-of-hand performers. They were
of noble birth, educated, wealthy, and influential. They were the philosophers,
the counselors of the realm, learned in all the wisdom of the ancient East. The
"wise men" who came seeking the Christ-child were not idolaters; they were upright
men of integrity (Desire of Ages, pages 59,61).
They studied the Hebrew Scriptures
and there found a clearer transcript of truth. In particular, the Messianic prophecies
of the Old Testament claimed their attention, and among these they found the words
of Balaam: "There shall come a Star out of Jacob," (Numbers 24:17). They probably
also knew and understood the time prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 9:25,26), and came
to the conclusion that the Messiah's coming was near. (See Desire of Ages, pages
61 & 62.)
On the night of Christ's birth, a mysterious light appeared in the
sky which became a luminous star that persisted in the western heavens (see Desire
of Ages, page 60). Impressed with its import, the wise men turned once more to
the sacred scrolls. As they sought to understand the meaning of the sacred writings,
they were instructed in dreams to go in search of the Messiah. Like Abraham, they
knew not at first where they were to go, but followed as the guiding star led
them on their way.
The tradition that there were but three wise men arose from
the fact that there were three gifts (Matthew 2:11), but is without support in
Scripture. An interesting, but worthless, legend gives their names as Gaspar,
Balthasar, and Melchior. The unfounded idea that they were kings was deduced from
Isaiah 60:3 (cf. Revelation 21:24).
Nichol, Francis D., The Seventh-day Adventist
Bible Commentary, (Washington, D.C., Review and Herald Publishing Association),
1978.
URBAN LEGENDS REFERENCE PAGE
http://www.snopes2.com/holidays/christmas/3wisemen.asp
Claim:
The Bible says that exactly three wise men travelled from afar on camels to visit
the infant Jesus as he lay in the manger.
Status: False.
Origins: As Santa
Claus and his reindeer are to the secular celebration of Christmas, so the three
wise men and the creche are to the religious celebration. Even most of the non-religious
(or non-Christian) among us recognize the symbolism of the nativity scene: it
depicts the biblical account of three wise men from the east who rode atop camels
and followed a star to Bethlehem, bearing gifts for the newborn Christ child who
lay in a manger.
The truth is, the Bible contains virtually none of these details.
They have all been added over the years from sources outside the Bible.
Matthew
2:1 tells us:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of
Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem . . .
That's
it. Matthew doesn't say how many wise men came from the east, doesn't mention
their names, and doesn't provide any details about how they made their journey.
It has generally been assumed that the wise men (or magi) were three in number
because Matthew 2:11 makes mention of three gifts: " . . . they presented unto
him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh." The number of wise men is not specified
in the Bible, however, and some Eastern religions have claimed up to twelve of
them made the journey to Bethlehem. The names of the wis
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