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."
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