What WAS the Star of Bethlehem? And who exactly were the Magi?

The term "Magi" is the only Persian word in the Bible, and its record of these Wise Men is slim on the details. Most likely, they were priests of the Zoroastrian religion, which was the main religion of Persia (Iran) at that time. These gentlemen were on a quest to visit the infant Jesus, and this journey was no small feat. In order to reach Bethlehem (via a stop at Herod's palace in Jerusalem), they had to travel over 1,200 miles from Tehran. If they covered 20 miles a day, they would be riding camels for two months straight. Can you imagine how your glutes would feel after that trip? No thank you.

Their names -- Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar -- are not recorded in the Bible, but first appear in a circa-500 A.D. chronicle called the "Excerpta Latina Barbari," and later traditions and stories associated these men with the Magi.

"In Matthew's Gospel, the Magi appear to be noble and respected figures, whose esoteric talents are employed in the service of Truth and God," writes Paul Roberts in a New York Times article. He continues,

"True, Matthew restricts the visitors' occult feats to the necessities of his story. They deliver their gifts, display a little astrological skill when questioned by King Herod and then leave. It is almost as if they make Matthew nervous. But they have to be there, as a kind of payment for a debt. After all, in a text now known as the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus, Zoroaster had predicted the miraculous birth of a Messiah to human parents." (NYT, Secret Lives of the Wise Men, by Paul William Roberts, Dec. 25, 1995).

The Catholic Church celebrates each January 6th as Epiphany, commemorating the Magi's arrival and visit to Jesus in Bethlehem, an event that may have occurred twelve days after Jesus's birth. It marks the revelation (ephipany) of Christ to the Gentiles

Star Theory 1

So what star were they chasing? Was it even one particular star? This phenomena is debated in astrology circles to this day. One possibility is it was a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces in 7 B.C. This rare event involved three separate conjunctions (close approaches) of these two planets over the course of a year.

Star Theory 2

Then four years later in 3 B.C., Jupiter and Venus conjuncted very tightly together, which also would have appeared as one big, bright star.

Star Theory 3

But there is a third theory postulated by lawyer/researcher Rick Larson who made a 2007 documentary about his findings embedded in the below YouTube video. He believes that the Star of Bethlehem phenomena was actually the meeting of Jupiter with the star Regulus as it was observed over Bethlehem during its triple conjunction on December 25, 2 BC. Regulus means "Little King," ironically. This theory actually meets the nine different criteria described by Matthew -- that this "star"

1. signified birth,

2. it signified kingship,

3. it was related to the Jewish nation,

4. it "rose in the East,"

5. it was not known to Herod,

6. it appeared at a specific time,

7. it maintained its position in the night sky over time,

8. it was before the Magi as they traveled south to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and then, according to the Matthew,

9. it stopped over the city of Bethlehem.

   
   

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