Were the Wise men from the east Nabateans?

image Stellar House Publishing

It is a bit like a detective story challenge - who were the Wise men from the East?  Gospel of Matthew gives their identity vaguely but the story contains a few interesting clues that may reflect their background.


CLUE 1
Magi from the east

Τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ γεννηθέντος ἐν Βηθλέεμ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐν ἡμέραις Ἡρῴδου τοῦ βασιλέως, ἰδοὺ μάγοι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν παρεγένοντο εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
Matthew 2:1

The Gospel uses in this context a unique Greek word that does not appear elsewhere in the Scriptures μάγοι, magoi, and adds ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν apo anatolon. Both Greek expressions have found their way to many languages and developed meanings such as magic, magician, Anatolia and so on. The word magoi is borrowed to Greek language from ancient Persian and was used there for respected men in the know of stars, sciences, healing powers - wise men indeed..

Popularly the Wise men in Matthew 2 are taught to refer to persons from the regions of modern day Iran or Iraq. They are naturally linked to Astrology as they saw and understood the significance of the star of the birth of the Great King in the west. They are depicted in art riding camels. Although Matthew makes no such mention the ship of the desert was the only animal that could cross the over 1000 km trip from Irak or even more from Iran.


CLUE 2
The visit to Herod's palace in Jerusalem
The Wise men are important enough for King Herod the Great (74/73 BC – 4 BC) to invite them to his palace that was located near the area where the Old City Jaffa Gate stands today. (The gate is so called because from there began the main road from Jerusalem to the harbor city Jaffa on the eastern shore of Mediterranean.)


CLUE 3
The gifts
Interestingly, while telling about how the Wise men worshiped the child Matthew describes in great detail the gifts they brought to him.

καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν εἶδον τὸ παιδίον μετὰ Μαρίας τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα, χρυσὸν καὶ λίβανον καὶ σμύρναν.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11

Because there are three different kinds of gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, Church traditions have it that there were three Wise men. As each gift is of great value they must have been kings. So we get traditions about the Three Kings

• Melchior - Persian scholar
• Caspar - Indian scholar
• Balthazar - Babylonian scholar

Nabateans
The problem is that Gospels do not mention the Nabatean Kingdom and it is otherwise also known mainly to history buffs. It has a short history from 169 BC to 106 AD when Emperor Trajan conquered it and called the region Arabia Petrea. Its area covered the mostly desert regions from borders of Euphrates to the Red Sea. The capital was the amazing rock city Petra, Old Testament Sela.

King Aretas whose etnarch apostle Paul had to escape from Damascus is Aretas IV Philopatres (9 BC -  40 AD). His daughter princess Phasaelis was married to the son of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas.

We know about Nabatean rulers and their history from Josephus Antiquities and Wars. Their Arabic language and aspects of their material culture, religious imagery and other things are known from archaeological excavations mostly conducted in Jordan, especially Petra itself, and in northern Negev in Israel.

Nabateans are famous for been able to cultivate the desert, their well-maintained spring system along long routes, their inventing the camel saddle and the trade routes supported by strings of towns. (The Hebrew University has special units trying to solve the secrets of Nabatean desert agriculture).

With the help of the camels and the water well network they built, the Nabateans were able to drive their caravans across the deadly salt deserts in southern Jordan so aptly filmed in Arabian Lawrence (1962).

These advances gave them the Spice Route for bringing incense from Yemen to Petra and from there across Arava valley to Makhtes Ramon via a number of towns. From there the main route continued to Gaza harbor, where Roman ships were waiting for the precious cargo to take it to the capital and to many cities.

In fact, imports from Hadramaut such as  frankincense, myrrh and perhaps also an incense zahav (translated as gold) made the Nabateans wealthy. They were the Arabian oil sheikhs of the classical era.


Were the Wise men from the East Nabateans?
This blog provides you, the Detective, with some clues in the Gospel of Matthew and some information in nutshell about the Nabatean people.

If the question interests you, learning more about this amazing people would be one blessing Gospel of Matthew story can bring to your life!

This goes especially to Arab Christians who may, in fact, belong to the first non-Jewish people to worship the baby born in the little town of Bethlehem. A mighty heritage that should not be ignored!

Nativity story fiction?

Since the scientific and technological revolution began in 19th century there has been a strong atheist ground in the work of many important New Testament scholars. Academic purity, validity, proper methodologies and correct interpretations of the texts are evaluated on this deep basis.. It is not always very obvious, though, as the impact of the frozen ground below can have subtle effects on the research.

Atheism in NT studies is not theoretical but practical. The following statements define this philosophy in relation to the Nativity stories in Luke and Matthew

since there is no God who controls the flow of history, past, present and future, the pattern of prophecy-fulfillment is false. The so called prophecies relate to events in the life time of the prophet and there is no organic or real connection to the late interpretation of these texts which are essentially falsifications of the true meaning of the prophetic text.

Matthew and Luke are both driven with the need to demonstrate that Jesus is the promised Messiah King.

Isaiah writes that a virgin gives birth to a boy and gives to this child titles worthy of an Assyrian Great King. The Hebrew betulah, young woman, virgin, is translated parthenos. virgin, in Greek.

According to the atheist view it is simply impossible that a virgin would become pregnant and there is certain vagueness in Isaiah which could be translated young woman (in these days it is not as obvious as in the past that young women are also virgins). Because of this, the stories about Mary's pregnancy must be pious fiction

Luke cooks up an impressive scenery in Nazareth while Matthew just mentions that Mary was pregnant before the consumption of marriage with Joseph.

A sticking point is where the Messiah is born. So Luke cooks up an unhistorical story about Roman census and the going of Joseph and pregnant Mary to the City of David, Bethlehem.

Matthew, on the other hand, knows that Joseph has a house in Bethlehem so no problem there. But how he became known as the Nazarene?  To solve this Matthew invents the story of escape to Egypt and return from there to the city of Nazareth, citing a prophecy in this context too.

In all these modern critical-historical understandings of the Nativity stories the deep underlying ground is atheism. There is no God in charge of events, no angels giving messages, no purpose in what happens - it is all fiction and Early Christianity imagination.

This continues, of course, all the way from the Manger to the Garden Tomb, with the denial of resurrection as there is no God able to raise the dead.

Comments
1. God is.
2- It is truly difficult to identify a Roman period or even a modern writer genius enough to invent something like the Nativity story in the Gospel of Luke.

Star of Bethlehem - Wise men from the East

Early morning in Bethlehem 2015 Venus and Jupiter
Image ML

The Gospel of Matthew tells about wise men from East. None of the other four gospels mentions them.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.“‘

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 2:1-12 NIV

Three Kings
The fascinating story has grasped the interest of Christians from early on and many legends and additions have been interwoven into the basic text. The number three is from the presents. The story evolved in early Church and in Medieval times until we got even the names of the Three Kings: Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. May all kings fall down before him (Psalm 72:11).

Astrology
Modern Christianity rejects Astrology which claims that the movements and positions of heavenly bodies have deep impact on the life of humans. There are many good reasons for the criticism when service of the weak elementary forces of this world overshadows the freedom under the sovereignty of God, the Father (Galatians 4:9).

Therefore it is important to remember that the Bible contains many significant texts about stars. Daniel himself is called the head of Babylonian wise men and astrologers. The matter is not all that simple as some ancient star gazers did actually worship Sun, Moon and the five visible planets but also made careful observations that were crucial for keeping festive calendars (Moon in the Bible) tracking time (Sun and Moon) and navigating (stars and constellations).

Astrology is the Astronomy of pre-scientific times.

Sign
Astrological observations were used in Near East as well as in the Greco-Roman world for making decision on favorable conditions and avoiding them if the stars positions were not promising.

Modern astrology is widely known for the way it associates positions of heavenly bodies at the moment of birth. In which House you were born tells what kind of person you are. These horoscopes are immensely popular even among those who do not take foundations Astrology seriously. Kind of Chinese fortune cookies are there typed by by the newspaper reporters for today's events without even looking at a single planet position!

Matthew tells about something else altogether. "We saw his star in the east" expresses the identification of a heavenly object with a Great King. The Star of Bethlehem shows the direction to where this King has been born. This is not normal Astrology, not ancient and not modern, although the birth of Caesar Augustus was apparently associated with a special star.


Background
Wise men are in Greek magoi ex anatole using as loanword the old Persian title magi.

Without going into details, the story of the wise men suggests that somewhere there in the East was among star gazers a living tradition about the Great King. As far as I know, ancient astrological sources from Mesopotamia or Iran do not contain such a tradition. Of course, there is no systematic presentation or complete dictionary of the concepts prevalent in those times.

The final guidance was not given by the special star, whatever it was, but rather by the ancient Jewish Scriptures that predict the birth of the King in the little town of Bethlehem

Saint Paul and Intelligent Design

"Fesoj - Papilio machaon (by)" by fesoj
Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20 NIV

Modern Intelligent Design movement criticizes the prevalent view often heard from natural scientist that randomness and chance underlie all creation, physical and biological.

The words quoted from Paul's Epistle to the Christians in Rome around 55 or 57 AD are definitely in agreement with the emphasis of ID leaning scientists on the deep order and mathematical genius visible in Nature for all to see.

However, to my mind Saint Paul's words cannot be categorized as ID as there are a number of fundamental differences between his approach and what Intelligent Design people present.

1. St. Paul does not write in secular terms about some attribute in Nature. Instead, there is an intensively personal God whose enormous power and deep wisdom all people can see in His works and who cares what people think about Him.
2. Despite of the clear and overwhelming evidence of God's wisdom in Creation humans do not worship Him nor give Him the glory that belongs to Him.  
3. The epistle is here not about studying Nature in the style of Greek and Roman scientists asking nicely that also God should be added to the picture. Instead. the focus is on the significance to the moral state of humanity and anger of God as humans do not give glory Him for his divine works of Creation.

Intelligent Design gently tries to convince scientific community - and those deciding about school curriculum - that there is no way chaotic systems could automatically create the complexity of Universe and life, Instead of apologetic attempts to convince people, Paul goes on direct attack for the lack of respect towards the God of Israel, Father of Jesus Christ.

Consequently, we suggest that natural scientists continue doing what they do best, study the Nature with all the means available for them (ethical means, that is) and that they - and we all studying their work and benefiting from it - remember to praise God when it is time to do so. It is dangerous to try to mix God with science as if we would be able to do that. But it is also dangerous to attribute the Nature to random chance because it raises the anger of God.

Johann Sebastian Bach marked all his musical works with SDG - sola dei gloria - and we can hear God's blessing and the joy of angels in his masterpieces, even in the secular ones, the flow of musical life.

A natural scientist who in the appropriate context praises God the Creator will experience the same result - by this behavior he pleases God by doing what we humans have been created to do: to give glory to the God in Heaven.

gloria in excelsis deo 

et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis