Who were the THREE MEN?

Written by Benoît Santos - Updated on Oct 27, 2024

Do you know about the Three Wise Men? Have you ever looked for the origin of the Three Wise Men? Do you want to know how the Three Wise Men have evolved over time?

We are interested in the three wise men. We will be able to provide you with everything you need regarding this subject. In a few words:

Traditionally, the Marginal Kings are the visitors featured in an episode of the Gospel according to Matthew. After learning of the birth of Jesus, they went to Bethlehem to pay him homage and bring him gifts.

After reading this document, you will be able to:

To say who the Magi were;
What was their origin;
Know the history of the Magi.

If you want to know more about the story of Jesus' birth, here are several articles that might interest you:

Enough wasting time, let's start the article now!

Who were the Three Wise Men?

Find out everything about these three characters who are so important to the Christian tradition (and beyond)

Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar . We know them as the three Magi who undertook a long journey from the distant lands of the East, following the star of the comet, to bring their gifts to the baby Jesus. But who were these Magi?

It is necessary to clarify a little the situation of these three illustrious gentlemen, bearers of the gifts of gold,

of frankincense and myrrh, in this little stable in the city of Bethlehem.

How many are the Three Wise Men? Three, four,...

First of all, are we really sure that there were three of them? According to what Francesca Fabris writes in Famiglia Cristiana, the number of the Magi is associated only with the number of gifts they bring. The number three is therefore not random: in the Gospels, the reference to three is very frequent, like the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Legend has it that along with Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar , a fourth magician set out.

There are different versions of the story, but the best known tells us that when they set out on their camels, the fourth sorcerer decided to bring the baby Jesus a pearl necklace. On his way to Israel, however, he met several people in need, to whom he decided to give a pearl, so that it would help them fight poverty. His generosity, however, cost him all his gift: halfway there, the fourth sorcerer realized that he had no more pearls and - to avoid the shame of presenting himself empty-handed to the child indicated by the comet - the man reluctantly decided to interrupt his journey.

However, reports Francesca Fabris, the fourth magician had a dream, in which he saw the baby Jesus thanking him for giving him the pearls. The meaning of this legend is that every time you make a gesture of generosity towards people in need, you

The Origin of the Three Wise Men

The figure of the Three Wise Men is surrounded by many stories and legends because, in reality, very little is known about them.

Some say that they were rich men of science, as powerful as a king. Their origin is indicated only in the Gospel of Matthew, in which a generic "Orient" is written. An indication too imprecise, so much so that tradition wanted to clarify things by giving them names typical of the lands of the East.

Let's take an example in Italy: if a child is called Ambrogio, it will probably be thought that he was born in Milan, if he is called Salvatore, it will be thought that he came from Palermo. Following the same reasoning, tradition has attributed to the Magi the names of Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar . Caspar would derive from the Greek Galgalath, which means "lord of Sheba", a legendary kingdom in the south of the Arabian peninsula, in Yemen, Melchior would be the Italianized version of the name Melech, which in ancient Semitic culture indicated the title of "King". Melech could therefore come from a family that spoke Arabic, Hebrew or Canaanite-Phoenician. Finally, Balthazar, from Balthazar, the name of the mythical king of Babylon.

Other names of the Three Wise Men

There are many interpretations of the names of the Three Wise Men . Some scholars, delving deeper into the etymology of their names, instead of formulating hypotheses about their origin , would propose a different translation, so that each name would indicate a kind of wish for the baby Jesus.

This interpretation would derive from the meaning that the names would have in the ancient Persian language. In fact, Caspar would mean "venerable master", Melchior, on the contrary, would mean "My king is light", while Balthazar would derive from a kind of invocation: "Bel, protect the king". A prayer in which there is a reference to the Assyrian divinity, Bel.

But were these real names?

Apparently, these illustrious lords of the East would change their names according to the tradition of reference. In Syria, for example, the names by which the Magi are identified are not Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, but Larvandad, Hormisdas and Gushnasaph.

What you need to know about Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar

The term "Magi", singular of "Magi", is a title used to indicate the role of the wise man. Experts believe that scientists, the keepers of astronomical knowledge, were commonly called Magi. The confirmation comes from the Gospel of Matthew, in which they are described as wise men able to read the signs of the sky. It is no coincidence that the reason for their journey is to visit with gifts the child indicated by the Star Comet ; the presence of these Magi in the Gospel narrative is very brief, so everything that relates to their figure has a symbolic value, a teaching to give to the readers.

Unlike King Herod and all the powerful men of the time, the Magi recognize the greatness of the fact that a star in the sky moves only to indicate the birth of a child . A privilege worthy of a king! In light of this, the Magi decide to undertake the long journey, strengthened by their powers of observation and intelligence, aware that they are going to encounter something beyond their imagination. That is why they take nothing for granted: they search for the child of the Comet in rich and sumptuous places, as well as in the most humble ones that are not considered by anyone.

It is they, strangers in a strange land, who recognize and welcome the child Jesus as the King of the Jews, unlike King Herod , who knew his own kingdom like the back of his hand.

Who decided that they were three wise men?

The third-century writer and theologian Origen, an important Christian theologian, is given the responsibility of proposing that there are three Wise Men in relation to the gifts Jesus received at birth : gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

From the beginning of the second century, they were depicted only as Persian nobles, as can be seen in the paintings of the Catacombs of Saint Priscilla. Then they began to be presented as kings in art from the 8th century.

During this same century, the Magi received the names of Bithisarea, Melchior and Gathaspa until they became the current Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar. Already in the Middle Ages, they were even venerated as saints. As we can see, their figure has mutated over time to adapt to the beliefs, needs and customs of each historical period. Today, they are part of popular culture and are considered friendly characters that bring illusion to every home where there is a child willing to receive a gift to start the year with lots of happiness.

History of the Three Wise Men

The first people who came to meet the newborn Jesus were shepherds. And then came the Three Wise Men. "Wise men came from the East to Jerusalem and asked where the King of the Jews was born." The scriptures only mention "a few" wise men, but they do not tell us that there were three of them, that is, as many as the gifts mentioned (gold, frankincense and myrrh), and even less that their names were Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior.

To find the names of the Magi, we must in fact turn to the Armenian Infancy Gospel, apocryphal and therefore heretical: " The Magi were three brothers: the first, Melkon, reigned over the Persians, the second, Balthasar, reigned over the Indians, and the third, Caspar, possessed the land of the Arabs. Being united by the command of God, they arrived at the moment when the virgin became a mother." It is interesting to note in this regard that in 1985, archaeologists found in some Coptic monasteries in the desert, in Egypt, cells with graffiti from the 7th century, bearing inscriptions with names very similar to those transmitted to us by tradition.

The three kings were priests, wise men and astrologers. And Pope Ratzinger agrees with this: "They belonged to the Persian priestly caste, perhaps they were astronomers. They were wise men who came from the East." So they came from Persia and are thought to have been "Zoroastrians".

In the "Arabic Gospel of the Infancy", still apocryphal, therefore heretical, we read: "The Magi came to Jerusalem, as Zarathustra had predicted, bringing gifts with them". The essential foundation of Zoroaster's (630 BC - 750 AD) dualism was the distinction between good and evil, which concerns not only men, but the whole world. Zoroaster advocates the need to constantly fight against evil and to constantly seek the truth. Since the first centuries of Christianity, the presence of the Magi has been recognized as having a strong positivity, linked to the philosophy of the search for spiritual light and the rejection of darkness that they followed. They were therefore priests, that is, men of prayer.

It is commonly assumed that these characters, so enigmatic, had nothing to do with the story of Jesus and even less with its context, located in first-century Palestine. But this is not the case. If the Magi did in fact come from Persia, it is equally certain that there was a very close link between the two cultures and religions: Judaism and Zoroastrianism. First of all, it must be remembered that there was at that time a strong Jewish community in Persia (as there still is today), resulting from the Babylonian diaspora, that is to say the deportations of Jews to Persia, which began in 597 BC. And let's not forget that the most widely spoken language in Palestine, following this and the return of a large group of Jews in 396 BC, was Aramaic, a language of Persian origin spoken by Jesus himself.

THE THREE MEN FOLLOWED A STAR:

"And behold, the star which the Magi had seen rising went before them until it

he came and stood over where the child was." The Chinese astronomical annals report, according to experts, the appearance of a luminous object in February/March of 5 BC. It was visible for about 70 days between the constellations of Aquila and Capricorn and therefore observable from Jerusalem , heading south towards Bethlehem .

That this conjunction was known and followed with great interest is attested by the discovery by archaeologists of two important finds. The first is an Egyptian papyrus, now in Berlin, which records the movements of the planets between 17 and 10 A.D. The other is a clay tablet written in cuneiform characters, found in the city of Sippar, north of Babylon, which contains a series of astronomical predictions for the year 7 B.C.

Both discoveries mention the extraordinary conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn that occurred that year. An event that only occurs every 805 years.

Another record of the Christmas star is that of the famous Polish astronomer Kepler. He witnessed the spectacular explosion of a supernova (conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pisces) that occurred a few days before Christmas 1603. On that occasion, the scientist reported that the same phenomenon had also occurred in 7 BC. He reports that this event, which can last up to a month, was very rare, because Jupiter and Saturn approached the constellation Pisces three times, up to about one degree of angular separation (twice the apparent size of the full Moon), on May 29, September 29 and December 4 of that year, respectively. Regarding these testimonies, it is worth remembering that the most probable date of birth attributed to Jesus is between 4 and 7 BC, since Herod, who was alive at the birth of Jesus, died in 4 BC.

POPE RATZINGER AGREES WITH THE ABOVE:

"The great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the zodiacal sign of Pisces in the years 7-6 BC seems to be an established fact. The determination of the date of Jesus' birth dates back to the monk Dionysius the Small, who in his calculations, fixing it at 1 BC, was clearly mistaken by a few years, The historical date of Jesus' birth is therefore a few years earlier." But the Gospels continue: "When the Magi saw the star, they were delighted. And when they entered the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling down, they worshiped him. A star is born , today we would say: Jesus is born .

The first to attest to his birth - as we have seen - were therefore the shepherds and the Magi, figures who, at the time, had no legal capacity or reliability. The Three Kings because they were not Jewish. The shepherds because in Jewish culture they were considered "unclean" and therefore had no right to appear in court as witnesses.

Therefore, the attestation of the birth of Jesus by both of them had no value. This detail, reported by the evangelists, to the total detriment of the credibility of their writings, would confirm, for this same reason, their reliability.

GOSPEL REASON.

What reason would the evangelists have in fact to report such an embarrassing circumstance?

Finally, it is interesting to recall that Marco Polo, in his "Il Milione", declares having visited the tombs of the Magi in the city of Saba, south of Tehran, around 1270:

"In Persia is the city called Saba, from whence departed the three kings who went to worship God at his birth. In this city the three Magi are buried in a beautiful cemetery, and they are still there, in one piece, with beard and hair: one was called Beltesar, the other Caspar, the third Melquior. Sir Mark asked several questions in this city about these third kings: no one could tell him anything about them, except that they were third kings buried in antiquity.

So the astrologers and wise men of the East set out, because they were absolutely sure that a royal figure would be born at that time in Israel and that this would have given way to a new era of humanity and justice and that it would have been a stellar conjunction to show them the way: and so it was, so much so that even today history is divided into before and after him and the most clicked name on the web is his: Jesus.

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The Three Wise Men and the Sharing of Gifts

Now you know everything there is to know about the three margins ! They were the first people who came to meet the newborn Jesus Christ ; during their passages, they brought three symbolic gifts. Nowadays, they are part of popular culture and are considered characters who bring illusion to every home where there is a child ready to receive a gift to start the year with full of happiness.