Bible Scholar Brent Landau Asks “Who Were the Magi”?
Revelation of the Magi text gives wise men’s view of the Christmas story
A lost Syriac manuscript, the Revelation of the Magi, recently translated into English by Bible scholar Brent Landau, may help answer that key question from the Christmas story: “Who were the magi?”
Who were the magi, those gift-bearing wise men from the east who are so central to the traditional telling of the Christmas story? Bible scholar Brent Landau believes he has found at least one answer to this age-old question.
The Bible tells us very little about the magi. Their story appears but once, in the Gospel of Matthew (2:1–12), where they are described as mysterious visitors “from the east” who come to Jerusalem looking for the child whose star they observed “at its rising.” After meeting with King Herod, who feigns an intention to worship the child but actually plans to destroy him, the magi follow the same star to Bethlehem. There, upon seeing the baby Jesus and his mother Mary, the magi kneel down and worship him, presenting him with their three famous gifts—gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then, without reporting to Herod, they depart for their homeland, never to be heard from again.
For early Christians, the seemingly pivotal yet unexplained background of the mysterious magi provided abundant room to shape new narratives around the question, “Who were the magi?” One of the most compelling, recently translated into English by Brent Landau, professor of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma, is the so-called Revelation of the Magi, an apocryphal account of the traditional Christmas story that purports to have been written by the magi themselves.
The account is preserved in an eighth-century C.E. Syriac manuscript held in the Vatican Library, although Brent Landau believes the earliest versions of the text may have been written as early as the mid-second century, less than a hundred years after Matthew’s gospel was composed. Written in the first person, the Revelation of the Magi narrates the mystical origins of the magi, their miraculous encounter with the luminous star and their equally miraculous journey to Bethlehem to worship the child. The magi then return home and preach the Christian faith to their brethren, ultimately being baptized by the apostle Thomas…
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Bible Scholar Brent Landau Asks “Who Were the Magi”? – Bible History Daily
Bible Scholar Brent Landau Asks “Who Were the Magi”?
Greg, thank you for pointing out this article. I don't have an account so I can't readily comment there. Here is a very interesting study of the matter you may want to read and then pass on over there: Who Were the Magi? by Chuck Missler. Thanks again. Bill
N.B.— This is NOT an endorsement of Chuck Missler.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the Churches. I am both the root and stock of David, and the bright star of the morning!” ~ Revelation 22:16 (J.B. Phillips)
Posted by: Bill Liles | 12/06/2011 at 01:01 PM