By George Potter
For more information on George Potter’s research go to www.nephiproject.com
Since I was a child, I have wondered about the story in the gospel of Matthew of the wise men. Traditionally it is thought that there were three Magi, but the actual number the Bible does not tell us. All we know is that some time after the birth of Jesus Christ the wise men “from the east” (Matthew 2:1) came to “Jerusalem”, and then continue following a “star” until they eventually found the Christ child, presented him gifts, and worshiped Him.
Perhaps you also found that this story raises many questions in your mind. Matthew wrote that the wise men saw “his star” and came to “worship him” (Matthew 2:1). Note carefully! The story does not say an angel visited them and announced that the star indicated that a Messiah had been born. Nor does the account say that they had a revelation or a dream, as when they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod (Matthew 2:13). Wouldn’t you think that if the wise men had had such divine interventions that Matthew would have recorded these miracles?
Instead, we are simply told that they saw the star and came to worship the King of the Jews? For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that they did not receive this knowledge in the form of divine inspiration, but inherited this information from the oral and written traditions of their forefathers. The LDS dictionary states of the wise men: “Their knowledge was precise and accurate.” (see Magi) If so, what was the source of their precise and accurate information?
The wise men’s knowledge was precise and accurate, but it does not appear to have been widely distributed. One could argue that the knowledge of the Lord’s birth could have been foretold to prophets in other lands. However, outside of the Book of Mormon there is absolutely no evidence to the theory that sacred scriptures in some other distant land told of the Messiah’s birth. Bruce R. McConkie wrote: “The sign of the star was given to announce the birth of the Star of Israel, but only those who had faith, those who were waiting for the Consolation of Israel — the wise men from the East and a cluster of faithful souls in Palestine and in the Americas — only these few knew what it meant.”[i]
Knowing where the wise men came from could help us find the source of this knowledge. There are seven clues text that can help us pinpoint the origins of the magi.
First, they came “from the east”. In the Bible, east did not mean a land to the east of Jerusalem, i.e. central Asia or China or any other land in a eastward direction from Jerusalem. Rather, it was the name of a place, Arabia. In the Old Testament the Arabs were called “the Children of the East” (LDS Bible Dictionary). Perhaps this is the reason the wise men are traditionally associated with camels. Several of Abraham’s sons and grandsons by his concubine wives established kingdoms in Arabia (Ishmael (Mecca), Kedar, Dumah, Dedan, Sheba, and Tema. Genesis 25:6 states that “Abrahram sent away the sons of his concubines eastward to the Land of the East”. History tells us that all these ancient kingdoms were found in Arabia (see LDS Bible Maps, Ancient World at the Time of The Patriarchs).
Second, throughout history, the Israelites held in high regard the business skills of the Arab merchants, and thought of these businessmen as “wise”. Biblical scholar James Montgomery writes:
If Edom is specially singled out as a home of wisdom, we have to remember that it lay across the great trade-routes of northwest Arabia and so could have enjoyed a privilege in culture such as that possessed by Edom’s successor, the Nabatean folk, and its ancient neighbor, the North-Minaean coly in Midian. In addition to these allusions to the Wise Men of the East there are two biblical passages which one tradition of interpretation assigns to an Arabian home, namely, Proverbs 30, and 31:1-9. By a different construction the title of the latter can be made to read, more sensibly than by the Masoretic construction, “the words of Lemuel the king of Massa,: i.e., the latter word as the name of the Arabian tribe to the east of Palestine.[ii]
Montgomery’s belief that the Isrealites considered the Arab merchants as possessing “wisdom” seems to be confirmed by the Biblical words of Job, when he describes his friend the Temanite Elizphaz. (Tema is located in northwest Arabia, and was a key trading center along the important incense trail). Job wrote that the Temanite received traditions “from wise men and their fathers” (Job 15:18). Eliphaz the Temanite seems to have taught that in ancient times there was a perceived relationship between wisdom and business success: “Eliphaz the Temanite”, said, “Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he reason with unprofitable talk?” (Job 15:1-3). Indeed the Bible declares that the Arab merchants of Tema “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?” (Jeremiah 49:6).
Even Solomon’s divine gift of wisdom seems to be in part a result of God blessing him in his clever trading relationships with the Arabs. Recall how Solomon established his kingdom as the principle middleman for the overland incense trade. 1 Kings Chapter 10 tells of his dealings with the Queen of Sheba, the ruler of the wealthy southern Arabia frankincense kingdom. She came to Solomon on what we call today a “trade mission”. As a result of this meeting, both Solomon and Arab kingdom of Sheba prospered,
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen Sheba gave to king Solomon. (1 Kings 10:10)
And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desires, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. (1 Kings 10:13)
And what was the bottom line of Solomon’s trade relations with Arabia? “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom” (1 Kings 10:22).
Third, the wise men followed a star. In other words, they knew stellar navigation. This clue definitely ties the wise men to Arabia, and the star to Lehi’s prophecy. Stellar navigation was not common knowledge in the ancient world. The first to learn this skill were the Arab caravaneers who used the stars to guide them through the featureless wasteland of the Arabian deserts. This knowledge was later utilized by the Arab ship captains to navigate the open seas, the first to do so using the stars to guide them[iii].
It is even possible that the ability of the Arabs in recognizing a “new star arise” (Helaman 14:5), was passed down to them from generation to generation starting with Abraham, the father of most Arabs. If so, the necessity to navigate in featureless deserts by stellar navigationa would have forced the Arabs to retain this vital skill. The Arabic Qur’an states that Abraham was an observer of the heavens: “When the night covered him [Abraham], he saw a star.When he saw the moon rising in splendor.When he saw the sun rising.” (Qur’an 6:75-78). We know that it was “given” unto Abraham to “know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light”(Book of Abraham 3:10). Of course, Abraham did not worship the stars, rather according to the Qur’an Abraham “saw a star, .but when it set, he said, “I love not those that set'” (Qur’an 6: 76). Does this imply then that Abraham loved only the star that didn’t set, the one that would remained above Palestine to mark the Messiah’s birth? And what better sign to give the sky observing Arab wise men than a new star?
Fourth, the oral tradition of southern Arabia holds that the Magi were from that land. The British Explorer Barbara Toy studied the origins of the Magi and retraced their journey from a monument in southeastern Yemen where by tradition the Magi began their journey to Jerusalem. She writes:
It was from here that the Three Wise Men began their journey to follow the bright star to Bethlehem with their tributes of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And it was around here also it is believed, that three hundred years later the emissaries of the Empress Helena came searching for ‘Sessania Adrumatorum’ – the Azzan of today. They found the bones of the Magi and took them to Constantinople where they stayed until later taken to Constantinople where they stayed until later taken to Milan, and finally in the twelfth century to Colonge.[iv]
Fifth, the wise men brought gold with them. The wise men must have been wealthy tribal leaders with stores of gold. During that period of history, it is widely believed that the frankincense trade had made southern Arabia the wealthiest region in the world. Gold, probably traded by Indians for Frankincense, was abundant in the region. Isaiah talks of great wealth of the southern Arabs (Sheba) noting that they bring with them, gold and incense (Isaiah 60:6). Daniel Peterson writes:
“The great wealth of Arabian merchants is mentioned in several places in the Bible. “Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? Asks the Song of Solomon (Songs of Solomon 3:6) Ezekiel refers to “Sabaeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads” (Ezekiel 23:42). Arabian merchants are routinely linked by the Old Testament with gold and silver, incense, spices, and precious stones (2 Chronicles, Isaiah 60:6, Jeremiah 6:29, Ezekiel 27:22).”[v]
Sixth, the wise men brought precious incense with them, specifically frankincense and myrrh. In antiquity the exclusive source of these incenses was southern Arabia. The incense was usually carried on the backs of camels to the north. In Genesis we read how Joseph was sold by his brothers to an Ishmaelite (Arab) caravan bearing spicery, balm and myrrh (Genesis 37:25). LDS scholar John Tvedtnes writes:
Some have speculated that the wise men came from Arabia because two of the gifts they brought to Bethlehem, frankincense and myrrh, derive from the sap of trees that grow in southern Arabia[1], and are known to have possessed gold and other precious goods earned from the incense trade.[2] This was the view of early Church fathers such as Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho 77-78), Tertullian (Against the Jews 9), and Epiphanius (Exposition of the Faith 8).[3]
Seventh, the LDS Bible Dictionary states that the wise men were “likely…representatives of a branch of the Lord’s people” (see Magi). This would seem to imply that the wise men were Jews, or at least Hebrews (as are most Arabs). Assuming the former, historical records indicate that several sizable Jewish settlements were located in Arabia dating back at least to the time of Jeremiah. Of course, the Jewish diaspora had started long before the birth of Christ, thus Jewish communities existed in other locations in the Roman Empire; however, the Arabian Jewish communities were large and had existed in Arabia for centuries before the Lord’s birth.
I believe it is possible to conclude with a relatively high confidence level that the wise men came from southern Arabia. Knowing this, we can now return to our question, “How did the wise men obtain a precise and accurate knowledge of Christ birth?” Let’s start by reviewing information we know they possessed.
1) When they saw the star the wise men knew it was a ‘sign’, indeed, it was “his star” (Matthew 2:2). Since they were the only people who apparently saw the star in the old world, they must have known ‘when’ to look for it. Indeed, it seems they had been waiting a great time for the sign, for when the saw it “they rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (Matthew 2:10).
2) They knew that a King would be born to the “Jews” (Matthew 2:2). Thus they came to Jerusalem and Herod – the land of the Jews.
3) Although they knew the Christ child was to be born to the Jews, they didn’t know the exact location in Judah. Thus we read of them asking Herod , “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). They finally ended up following the star to the location of the child (Matthew 2:9).
Prior to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in the modern era, Christendom had no explanation of how Arab wise men could have obtained this knowledge. However, the Book of Mormon provides a simple explanation of how this knowledge could have reached southern Arabia, or at least the Jewish communities in the peninsula. We know that Lehi was in route to Bountiful for eight years (1 Nephi 17:4), and undoubtedly spent a few more years in southern Arabia while Nephi built his ship. During this time Nephi, and probably Lehi, taught the gospel (D&C 33:7,8). Possibly they preached exclusively to the Jewish communities in Arabia, but this is not necessarily the case since the gospel seems to have been found among the Arabs as will as the Jews. For example, Jethro, a Midianite (northwest Arabia) held the Holy Priesthood (D&C 84:6) and Arabs were present at the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:11). Thus, there were no shortage of Hebrews, Jews and Arabs, to whom Nephi and Lehi could have shared the gospel.
So what new knowledge did Lehi and Nephi carry with them into southern Arabia? In the valley of Lemuel, Lehi received a revelation containing information on the Saviors birth: “Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews – even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world” (1 Nephi 10:4). Certainly, Lehi and Nephi would have transferred this exciting and profound information to the people they converted in Arabia.
Next, we see from the above verse that Lehi knew where the Messiah would be born — “among the Jews”. It is curious that Nephi did not record that a new star would appear. There are two possible reasons why this information was omitted. 1) the Lord didn’t give this information to Lehi, knowing it was unnecessary, since the sky tracking Arab wise men would recognized a new non-setting star over Palestine, the land where Lehi had told them the Messiah would be born. 2) Nephi knew it was inappropriate to explain the meaning of the star in his text noting about his father’s revelation that there were “many more things which I do not write in this book” (1 Nephi 10:15). Bruce R McConkie states: “There shall also be other signs, signs in the heavens above and in the earth beneath, wondrous portents that identify and bear record of things that are happening among men that affect their eternal salvation. But these also are understood only by those who have the gift and power of the Holy Ghost.[vi]” In other words, if heavenly sign can only be understood by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, Lehi would have been forbidden to have taught them meaning of the new star, and Nephi would not have been allowed to record this sacred information, for it is only to be revealed by the Holy Ghost.
Next, we see from the above verse that Lehi knew where the Messiah would be born — “among the Jews”. Think of it! The star would have only provided the direction – which was toward the land of the Jew, thus confirming that the Messiah Lehi had prophesied had been born.
Finally, Lehi could have taught the wise men that they should worship the child. To Old Testament monotheists, this would have been a revolutionary concept.worshiping someone besides the one true God, Our Father in Heaven. Lehi knew that Jesus would be more than just another prophet, he would be the Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of the world (1 Nephi 10:4,5). At first glance this seems to contradict what the wise men said, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? This suggests that they were looking for a political figure. However, they followed this by noting that they “are come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). Thus, the wise men must have known that the child was the Son of God, the Messiah. It is interesting to note that Joseph Smith corrected the translation, rephrasing Matthew 2:2 as follows, “Where is the child that is born, the Messiah of the Jews?” It is clear from Joseph Smith’s translation that the wise men knew that the appearance of a star that year meant that the Messiah had been born. This knowledge could have come through Lehi, who was taught by the Lord that “a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews – even a Messiah”. (1 Nephi 10:4).
John Tvedtnes suggests that we take a deeper look at the word worship as used in Matthew. “But the English term “worship” merely means ‘to serve’ (its original form was work-ship). They believed they would find the king of the Jews, and one does serve the king. Indeed, the Hebrew term generally rendered ‘servant’ (like the Arabic cognate, it really means ‘slave’) is used in both ‘servant of the king’ and ‘servant of the Lord.’ But of course in the Matthew passage, we are dealing with the Greek word of which Strong’s concordance says; ‘proskuneo (pros-koo-neh’-o), Greek verb, Possible Definitions;
1) to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence; hence among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an _expression of profound reverence; in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication.”(unpublished)
Whether in Greek or English, the meaning of Matthew’s worship points to Arab wise men, who came to worship a divine being. From the being of recorded time, Arabs worship by falling upon their knees and touching the ground with their foreheads. They later exported this form of worship to the rest of the Muslim world. Also, the Arabs believe that to truly worship God you must be his “slave”. To this day nearly all the names of Arab men refer to themselves as being the servant or slave of God. We see this in the name of the current ruler of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdullah, (the slave of God).
The knowledge possessed by the wise men was precious, and they must have acquired this information in their homeland, undoubtedly Arabia. To this date the Christian world has only one explanation of how this information was transferred to the Arab forefathers of the wise men. The Book of Mormon holds the key.
[1] Cf. Song of Solomon 3:6/ Genesis 37:25.
[2] The Bible mentions gold and other riches in connection with various peoples from the Arabian peninsula (Judges 8:24-26, 2 Chronicles 9:1, Isaiah 60:6; Ezekiel 23:42;27:22).
[3] John Tvedtnes, correspondence with the author, November 2003, paragraph from his soon to be published book on the first Christmas.
[i] Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, Vol.2, p.223
[ii] Montgomery, 171.
[iii] S.B. Miles, The Countries and Tribes of the Gulf, 2nd Ed. (London: Frank Case & Co., 1966), 357.
[iv] Barbara Toy, The Highway of the Three Kings, Arabia – From South to North (London: John Murray, 1968), 19.
[v] Daniel Peterson, Abraham Divided, An LDS Perspective on the Middle East, (Salt Lake City: Aspen Books, 1995) 49.
[vi] McConkie, 223.
