What is jw theory on magi?

by badboy 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  badboy

  how many were there?

  origin?

  other things?
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  jaguarbass

  They were the 3 wise man you see in the Christmas displays bringing gifts to the manger.

  Christmas displays are from the devil, they are not allowed, so the 3 wise men are bad.
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  badboy

  I understand that the bible never says how many they were
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  jaguarbass

  Then you have to listen to the Christmas carol for that information.
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  blondie

  *** it-1 pp. 206-207 Astrologers ***

  Who

  weretheMagithatvisitedtheyoungchildJesus?

  Astrologers (Gr., ma´goi;"Magi,"AS ftn, CC,We; "Magians," ED) brought gifts to the young child Jesus. (Mt 2:1-16) Commenting on who these ma´goi were, TheImperialBible-Dictionary (Vol. II, p. 139) says: "According to Herodotus the magi were a tribe of the Medes [I, 101], who professed to interpret dreams, and had the official charge of sacred rites . . . they were, in short, the learned and priestly class, and having, as was supposed, the skill of deriving from books and the observation of the stars a supernatural insight into coming events . . . Later investigations tend rather to make Babylon than Media and Persia the centre of full-blown magianism. ‘Originally, the Median priests were not called magi . . . From the Chaldeans, however, they received the name of magi for their priestly caste, and it is thus we are to explain what Herodotus says of the magi being a Median tribe’ . . . (J. C. Müller in Herzog’s Encl.)."—Edited by P. Fairbairn, London, 1874.

  Rightly, then, Justin Martyr, Origen, and Tertullian, when reading Matthew 2:1, thought of ma´goi as astrologers. Wrote Tertullian ("On Idolatry," IX): "We know the mutual alliance of magic and astrology. The interpreters of the stars, then, were the first . . . to present Him [Jesus] ‘gifts.’" (TheAnte-NiceneFathers, 1957, Vol. III, p. 65) The name Magi became current "as a generic term for astrologers in the East."—TheNewFunk&WagnallsEncyclopedia, 1952, Vol. 22, p. 8076.

  So the circumstantial evidence is strong that the ma´goi who visited the infant Jesus were astrologers. Thus TheNewTestament translated by C. B. Williams reads "star-gazers," with a footnote in explanation: "This is, students of stars in relation to events on earth." Fittingly, then, modern English translations read "astrologers" at Matthew 2:1.—AT,NE,NW,Ph.

  How many of these astrologers "from eastern parts" brought "gold and frankincense and myrrh" to the child Jesus is not disclosed; there is no factual basis for the traditional notion that there were three. (Mt 2:1, 11) As astrologers, they were servants of false gods and were, wittingly or unwittingly, led by what appeared to them as a moving "star." They alerted Herod to the fact that the "king of the Jews" had been born, and Herod, in turn, sought to have Jesus killed. The plot, however, failed. Jehovah intervened and proved superior to the demon gods of the astrologers, so instead of returning to Herod, the astrologers headed home another way after being given "divine warning in a dream."—Mt 2:2, 12.
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  Leolaia

  What is interesting about the Magi is that they constitute one out of many links between the Matthean story of the birth of Jesus and OT/haggadaic stories about the birth of Moses. Herod in the gospel narrative takes the place of Pharaoh, and the Pharaoh's advisors were identified in midrash as Magi (cf. Philo of Alexandria, Vita Mosis 1.92; b. Sanhedrin 101a; Midrash Rabbah 1.9), and one of these Magi was Balaam son of Beor (cf. Eusebius, Supplementa Quaestionum ad Stephanum; b. Sotah 11a; Sefer Zikhronot 44.9; cf. Diodore of Tarsus on Balaam as an astrologer), who was thought to be the ancestor of all the later Magi (cf. Origen, Homilies on Numbers 13.7; Eusebius, Supplementa Quaestionum ad Stephanum), and whose servants or sons were two other magicians of Pharaoh, Jannes and Jambres (cf. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Exodus 1:15-16 & Numbers 22:22, Sefer Zikhronot, 45.2, 47.6). The connection with Balaam is fascinating because not only do the Magi bless Jesus in a similar way that Balaam blesses Israel, but Balaam's own blessing prophesied a star and sceptre rising in Israel (Numbers 24:17). This was a popular messianic proof-text of the era (cf. Damascus Document 7:18-26, Testament of Levi 18:3, Josephus, Bellum Judaicum 6.312, and cf. Rabbi Aqiva's naming of Simon bar-Kochba as the messiah) and it also provided the exegetical basis of the star in Matthew's birth narrative (cf. Justin Martyr, Dialogue 106, Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 3.9.3, Origen, Contra Celsum 1.60).

  In the various related traditions about the birth of Moses, (1) Pharaoh receives a disturbing omen in a dream (cf. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus 1:15, Midrash ha-Gadol on Exodus 1:22, Sefer Zikhronot, 43.1), (2) Pharaoh's advisors/magicians/Magi interpret the dream and inform him that an Israelite boy would soon be born who would overthrow the power of Egypt (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 2.205, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus 1:15, Pirqei R. Eliezer 48, Exodus Rabbah 1.18, Sefer Zikhronot, 43.2), (3) Pharaoh panics and orders all male infants to be put to death and a massacre of Israelite children ensues (cf. Exodus 1:16, Philo, Vita Mosis 1:8, Josephus, Antiquities 2.206, Pseudo-Philo 9:1, Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.23.2, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus 1:16, Pirqei R. Eliezer 48, Exodus Rabbah 1.18, Sefer Zikhronot, 43.2-3), (4) Moses' parents Amram and Jochebed, along with other Israelite couples, divorce each other so they would not contribute to the massacre (cf. Pseudo-Philo 9:2, Sotah 12a, Midrash ha-Gadol on Deuteronomy 26:7, Baba Batra 60b, Sefer Zikhronot, 44.1), in some versions of the story Jochebed was already pregnant with Moses when Amram divorced her (cf. Sotah 12a, Sekel Tob 2:2), (5) Amram despairs on account of the divorce but he receives a dream vision in which he is told that Jochebed was to give birth to the future deliverer of the Israelites (cf. 4QVision of Amram, Josephus, Antiquities 2.212-215), in some versions of the story it is Miriam that receives the annunciation dream vision or prophecy (cf. Pseudo-Philo 9:10, Megillah 14a, Sotah 12a, Midrash ha-Gadol on Exodus 2:1, Sefer Zikhronot, 43.2), (6) Amram remarries Jochebed privately and in some versions Jochebed was already three months pregnant when Amram took her back (Pseudo-Philo 9:9, Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon b. Yohai, Sanya 2.4; Sefer Zikhronot, 44.2), and (7) Jochebed gives birth to Moses, and in some versions of the story the magicians/Magi unwittingly fail to help Pharaoh in discovering the child (Josephus, Antiquities 2.218, Sotah 12b, Pirqei de R. Eliezer 48, Sefer Zikhronot, 44.2). There are three main differences between these traditions and the story in Matthew: the omen being a star leading the Magi to Jesus instead of a dream, the reason for the divorce, and the reversed order between divorce and massacre. The motif of the star appears not in Moses haggadah but in messianic interpretations of the Balaam oracle in Numbers 24:17, but the identification of Balaam as one of the magicians of Pharaoh and as the founder of the Magi gives one plausible reason for a relationship between the messianic star motif and the nativity traditions of Moses. The theme of the star going before to Magi, leading them to Jesus has another parallel with the story of Moses, namely, the pillar of cloud and fire that went before the Israelites to lead them out of Egypt (Exodus 13:21-22, 14:24). The novel reason for the divorce probably incorporates a piece of independent Jesus tradition responding to the claim that Mary's pregnancy as illegitimate (already echoed in the genealogy in Matthew 1:3, 5-6 and attested in the "Pandera" tradition in Origin, Contra Celsum 1.28-33, Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses 3.78.7, b. Yebamoth 49a). This different reason for the divorce also allows the divorce to come before the massacre, whereas in the Moses haggadah the divorce is a consequence of Pharaoh's decree.

  The material that follows the story of the Magi in Matthew 2:1-12 no longer parallels midrash on Moses' birth and instead takes up material pertaining to Moses and the exodus from the OT itself: (8) in v. 13-14 Jesus taken from his homeland because Herod endeavored to kill him, just as Moses fled from the land of his birth because Pharaoh sought to kill him (cf. Exodus 2:15), (9) v. 14-15 is also closely paralleled by 1 Kings 11:40, with Jeroboam fleeing to Egypt to escape from Solomon and staying there until Solomon's death, (10) the citation of Hosea 11:1 in v. 15 reflects the tradition of the Israelite exodus from Egypt in that text, and the author was probably led to that text by Balaam's oracle in Numbers 24:8 which has similar wording, (11) the use of teleuté to refer to the death of Herod in v. 15 is a hapax legomenon in the NT but reflects the wording in Exodus 4:19 LXX: "the king of Egypt died (eteleutésen)", (12) the massacre of male children related in v. 16 pertains to both the massacre of male children in Exodus 1:22 as well as Pharaoh seeking to kill Moses specifically in Exodus 2:15, (13) the command to Joseph to return to the land of his birth in v. 20 reproduces almost verbatim the text of Exodus 4:19 LXX (M: tethnékasin gar hoi zétountes tén psukhén tou paidiou; LXX: tethnékasin gar pantes hoi zétountes sou tén psukhén), even incorporating the plural hoi zétountes even though it has only a singular "Herod" as its grammatical antecedent, and (14) in v. 21 Joseph took his son and wife and returned to Israel, just as Moses took his wife and sons and returned to Egypt in Exodus 4:20.

  One interesting property of the Matthean parallels to Moses traditions is their absence from the Lukan account of the birth of Jesus. The Magi, the star associated with the Magi, King Herod panicking at ominous news and desiring to kill the newborn threatening his rulership, the divorcing between Joseph and Mary, the massacre of the infants, the flight from Egypt, and the call to return to Egypt -- these elements are wholly absent in Luke's story. This can be simply accounted for by supposing that the author of Matthew drew on Moses traditions whereas the author of Luke did not.

  The narrative focus on Moses in Matthew may reflect the author's interest in portraying Jesus as the fulfiller of the Law, as the rabbi who finally delivers the true understanding of the Torah (cf. especially ch. 5 and 23), thus making him a natural counterpart of Moses. But I do wonder if there is a deeper mythological theme independent of the Moses traditions that led tradents to develop the story along these lines. I refer here to the curious parallels between Matthew 1-2, Revelation 12, the Apocalypse of Adam, and Ignatius of Antioch on the one hand, and between Revelation 12 and Hellenistic Egyptian mythology on the other. The star accompanying Mary's pregnancy is related in Ignatius, Ephesians 19:2-3 in rather mythological terms (the star outshining all others and leading other stars together with the sun and moon to circle around it in a chorus, cf. the variant account in the Protevangelium of James 21:2) as occurring at the moment when the evil heavenly aeons were thrown into utter disarray -- this hints at a Chaoskampf theme in which the power of evil is defeated by divine providence. In Revelation 12, we have the birth of the messiah child occuring at the same time "a great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven" (v. 1), and the pregnant mother of the messiah is described in astral terms with "a crown of twelve stars on her head" with the sun and moon, paralleling the chorus of sun, moon, and stars in Ignatius (and cf. Isis as the "queen of heaven" associated with the sun, moon, and stars). But also interesting is the fact that the birth of the messiah child is threatened by the Dragon (= the Devil) who wants to kill the child "the moment it was born" (v. 5), and then the child was snatched into safety into God's presence and the mother "fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God" (v. 6). This constitutes a strong parallel with Matthew's plot of Herod endeavoring to kill Jesus and Mary fleeing with the child into Egypt (= the desert). The same story also relates a classic Chaoskampf battle between the angels of heaven (= the aeons of Ignatius) and the Dragon, with the Dragon defeated at the time the child's mother fled into the desert with the help of an eagle (v. 7-9, 13-14). The seemingly independent myth about the coming of the Savior in the Apocalypse of Adam parallels both Revelation and Matthew, without an overt Chaoskampf motif: "He came from a virgin womb. He was cast out of his city, he and his mother; he was brought to a desert place... And a bird came, took the child who was born and brought him onto a high mountain. And he was nourished by the bird of heaven. An angel came forth there and said to him, 'Arise, God has given you glory,' and thus he received glory and power" (78:6-26). So it is possible that the plot of sign in heaven during birth pangs > virgin birth > child threatened by forces of evil > child and mother escape to a desert place is an older mytheme that has different expressions in Revelation, Ignatius, the Apocalypse of Adam, and Matthew -- where in the case of the latter Herod takes the role that the Devil has in Revelation 12. But what is interesting about the myth in Revelation 12 is that it shows multiple parallels with the Egyptian myth of Horus Harpocrates-Isis-Typhon and the Greek myth of Apollo-Leto-Python. Herodotus (Historiae 2.156) in the fifth century BC showed that the Greek myth was a version of the Egyptian one, and the story was elsewhere related in variant forms in the Metternich Stele, Plutarch, De Iside 355-358, Lucan, Pharsalia 5.80-98, and Hyginus, Fabulae 140. In these stories, Leto/Isis -- pregnant by Zeus/Osiris -- was pursued by the great dragon Python/Typhon because he has learned that she would bear a child who would kill him, and she flees to a secret place with the help of the south wind (cf. the similar role of the wings of an eagle in Revelation) and the god Poseidon, and she gives birth to Apollo/Horus who then returns and defeats Python/Typhon and takes his authority to rule as king. It is certainly unclear whether the Leto/Isis myth underlies the whole birth > threat > flight plot pertaining to the birth of Jesus, since John of Patmos could have secondarily employed it in Revelation (along with some influence from Genesis 2-3) just as the author of Matthew secondarily appealed to traditions of the birth of Moses. But since the story in Matthew is so interested in Egypt both in terms of Moses and in terms of Jesus fleeing there, it is possible that the Egyptian myth (or some Hellenistic version of it) is not irrelevant to the Matthean story but played some role in the development of its underlying traditions.

  But other possibilities are not impossible either, including the historical King Herod taking some sort of tyrannical action against Jews looking for a messianic fulfillment of Numbers 24:17 (of course, there is no evidence whatsoever that such a thing happened outside of what is related in Matthew), which then led to a narrative that compares Herod to the Pharaoh of the OT story of Moses. What is interesting about Numbers 24:17 is that it looked to a messiah coming from within Israel whereas another messianic proof-text, Genesis 49:10 (in conjunction with Daniel 9:26) was used by the Herodian party to legitimize Herod as a Gentile messiah coming from outside Israel (cf. Epiphanius, Adversus Haereses 1.20.1.6, Origen, Commentary on Matthew 40, Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica 8.2.37, 8.2.102-103, Historia Ecclesiastica 1.6.5, Slavonic Josephus, Bellum Judaica 1.364-370). If it was Herodian propaganda to point to Genesis 49:10 and Daniel 9:26 to justify a Gentile ruler over Judea, the concurrent popularity of Numbers 24:17 (a prophecy made by a Gentile no less) as a messianic oracle may reflect its use as anti-Herodian propaganda by the king's political adversaries. There is also an interesting resonance with the story in Matthew 2 and what the historical Herod himself experienced. In 41 BC, the king of the Parthians (whose advisors included the Magi) came from the East and invaded Judea and overthrew the ruling priest-king Hyrcanus who was a puppet of the Romans. Herod, who was a loyal ally of Octavian (Augustus Caesar) and Mark Antony, fled Judea and escaped to Egypt and Queen Cleopatra arranged for him to meet the emperor in Rome. After a short exile, Herod received Roman backing and was made king of Judea in 40 BC and with the help of Roman legions he returned to Judea and fought against anti-Roman Jews loyal to the Parthians, finally ousting the Parthians in 38 BC but only through a bloody massacre was he able to secure Jerusalem and the throne of Judea in the summer of 37 BC. So in his rise to power, Herod experienced the arrival of Pathians from the East, a flight from Judea to Egypt followed by a return, and a grim massacre of the population at his own hands. Could there be a propagandistic reflection of these events in the story in Matthew? Maybe. What is also interesting is that the myth in Revelation 12 is historically situated by John of Patmos by describing the Dragon cast down to earth in ch. 12 as starting a line of kings (the seven heads of the Beast) in ch. 13, 17 that rule the earth from Rome. The five kings that have fallen seem to refer as a group to the five emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero), the king who "is" would correspond to Vespasian (passing over the three interregnal usurpers), and the king who would rule for a short while corresponds to Titus (who ruled from AD 79-81). That leaves Domitian as the last king (the second "Beast"), which fits well with the traditional date of the book. This reading is confirmed by the cognate expectation in the Sibylline Oracles that "Beliar will come from the Sebastenoi" as an antichrist figure (3:46-47), i.e. from the line of Augustus Caesar. So it is possible that the author of Revelation saw the events of ch. 12 as occurring at the time Augustus Caesar received his power, inasmuch as the first "head" or emperor was established following the casting down of the Devil to the earth. In 42 BC, Augustus was proclaimed Divus Iulius and Divi filius "Son of God", he became emperor in 27 BC, he became Pater Patriae in 2 BC, and he became ruler of the province of Judea in AD 6. I doubt any sort of chronological precision was intended by John of Patmos who left things appropriately vague. But it is interesting that the birth narrative in Luke imho best fits the situation in AD 6, whereas the account in Matthew must be placed within the reign of Herod the Great (who died in 4 BC).

  Anyway, sorry to ramble a bit, but it is a fascinating subject.
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  Jim_TX

  (Of course... the preceding posters have much better insight to the JW way of 'think' - and are to be read for the real answers... what follows is just my .02 worth)

  I grew up a JW... and always heard the JW line of thought on the birth of Jesus. If I remember it correctly... he was about 2 years old when these 'wisemen' came and gave him the gifts.

  If I recall correctly - it was accepted by the JWs that these magi - or wisemen - made an acknowledgement of the birth of Jesus... although... they seemed quick to dismiss it - as the magi were led there by a star - which was supposedly from satan. (Confusing to me... but I just thought that I didn't fully understand it)

  Of course... these magi... then left to go home - and then lo and behold the great Jehover gives them a dream - which diverts them from reporting to Herod and giving up the location of baby Jesus (evidently he was in the 'witness protection program').

  Soooo... Jehover CAN intervene - when HE feels like it. Otherwise... we're on our own?? (yeah... I know... it was his own son being born - supposedly... but he later didn't intervene... yeah... I know prophecy had to be fulfilled, etc... still... it just didn't make too much sense to me...)

  Sorry... I don't think I answered your question... I just ranted.

  Regards,

  Jim TX
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  badboy

  BTTTT
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  peacefulpete

  Leolaia..Hello btw!...remember also the Abraham midrash that parallels the tale in many ways.

  THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM

  Terah married Emtelai, the daughter of Karnabo, and the offspring of their union was Abraham. His birth had been read in the stars by Nimrod, for this impious king was a cunning astrologer, and it was manifest to him that a man would be born in his day who would rise up against him and triumphantly give the lie to his religion. In his terror at the fate foretold him in the stars, he sent for his princes and governors, and asked them to advise him in the matter. They answered, and said: "Our unanimous advice is that thou shouldst build a great house, station a guard at the entrance thereof, and make known in the whole of thy realm that all pregnant women shall repair thither together with their midwives, who are to remain with them when they are delivered. When the days of a woman to be delivered are fulfilled, and the child is born, it shall be the duty of the midwife to kill it, if it be a boy. But if the child be a girl, it shall be kept alive, and the mother shall receive gifts and costly garments, and a herald shall proclaim, 'Thus is done unto the woman who bears a daughter!' "

  The king was pleased with this counsel, and he had a proclamation published throughout his whole kingdom, summoning all the architects to build a great house for him, sixty ells high and eighty wide. After it was completed, he issued a second proclamation, summoning all pregnant women thither, and there they were to remain until their confinement. Officers were appointed to take the women to the house, and guards were stationed in it and about it, to prevent the women from escaping thence. He furthermore sent midwives to the house, and commanded them to slay the men children at their mothers' breasts. But if a woman bore a girl, she was to be arrayed in byssus, silk, and embroidered garments, and led forth from the house of detention amid great honors. No less than seventy thousand children were slaughtered thus. Then the angels appeared before God, and spoke, "Seest Thou not what he doth, yon sinner and blasphemer, Nimrod son of Canaarl, who slays so many innocent babes that have done no harm?" God answered, and said: "Ye holy angels, I know it and I see it, for I neither slumber nor sleep. I behold and I know the secret things and the things that are revealed, and ye shall witness what I will do unto this sinner and blasphemer, for I will turn My hand against him to chastise him."

  It was about this time that Terah espoused the mother of Abraham, and she was with child. When her body grew large at the end of three months of pregnancy, and her countenance became pale, Terah said unto her, "What ails thee, my wife, that thy countenance is so pale and thy body so swollen?" She answered, and said, "Every year I suffer with this malady." But Terah would not be put off thus. He insisted: "Show me thy body. It seems to me thou art big with child. If that be so, it behooves us not to violate the command of our god Nimrod." When he passed his hand over her body, there happened a miracle. The child rose until it lay beneath her breasts, and Terah could feel nothing with his hands. He said to his wife, "Thou didst speak truly," and naught became visible until the day of her delivery.

  When her time approached, she left the city in great terror and wandered toward the desert, walking along the edge of a valley, until she happened across a cave. She entered this refuge, and on the next day she was seized with throes, and she gave birth to a son. The whole cave was filled with the light of the child's countenance as with the splendor of the sun, and the mother rejoiced exceedingly. The babe she bore was our father Abraham.

  His mother lamented, and said to her son: "Alas that I bore thee at a time when Nimrod is king. For thy sake seventy thousand men children were slaughtered, and I am seized with terror on account of thee, that he hear of thy existence, and slay thee. Better thou shouldst perish here in this cave than my eye should behold thee dead at my breast." She took the garment in which she was clothed, and wrapped it about the boy. Then she abandoned him in the cave, saying, "May the Lord be with thee, may He not fail thee nor forsake thee."

  Its all part of a larger motif isn't it.
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  Leolaia

  Wonderful to see you in these parts!

  The Abraham-Nimrod legend is an excellent parallel....it shows that traditions developed within Moses haggadah can be applied to other figures (as was done in the case of Jesus in Matthew). BTW, there is two books on the subject I have rather enjoyed of late ... The Origins and Evolution of the Moses Nativity Story by Jonathan Cohen (Brill, 1993) and Matthew 1-2 and the Virginal Conception: In Light of Palestinian and Hellenistic Judaic Traditions on the Birth of Israel's First Redeemer, Moses by Roger David Aus (2004, University Press of America). Cohen's work is especially valuable, as it analytically covers the entirety of the Moses tradition in all its detail.