Friday, December 18, 2020

The Star

 


Why did the Magi connect the star with the birth of a king of the Jews? There was a Jewish population in Babylonia then, and the Magi would have had a knowledge of the prophecy: "There shall come a Star out of Jacob." (Numbers 24:17) Even in the Gentile world there was anticipation of a great deliverer or savior to arise, and regardless of whether the "star" is intended to refer to a literal star or a great ruler, if this prophecy was recognized as coming from a Hebrew document and referring to Jews it would have been natural for Babylonian Magi to look toward Jerusalem when they saw some brilliant new star in the sky. (Matthew 2:1-9)

Matthew 2:9 has aroused much conjecture, especially as to how the "star ... stood over where the young child was." Jehovah’s Witnesses say it was a demon. But the language or wording used here is of the same character as that which we use when speaking of the rising and setting of the sun or the moon. Whether it was a comet (the Greek word for "star" also applies to comets) or a nova or other celestial phenomenon, apparently the star was near the horizon and thus would easily appear to stand "over where the child was."

 

Further reading:

WITNESSING TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

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