Re: Wise Men

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@matrix.net>]

>But even in the earlier tradition did it name the wise men and have them
>coming from different directions?  This is the point that I am discussing
>not  the source of the Bible.  I am discussing what it says in the Bible
>which is probably what most people use for the basis of this story since

The three continent idea apparently comes from Psalm 72:10:

 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:
 the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 

That's probably also the source of the idea that there were three kings.
And that they were kings, for that matter, since the NT passage uses the
Greek word magoi, which means wise man, not king.

The names of the three wise men are only mentioned in much later traditions,
such as
 ``A sixth-century Syrian source, cited by Zoroastrian scholar Dariush
 Jahanian, names the Three Kings as
 "Hormizdah king of Persia, Yazdegerd King of Saba, and Perozadh King of
 Sheba," but those names are all Persian, not Sabaean or Arab.''

 http://www.pyracantha.com/Z/3magi.html

John S. Quarterman <jsq@matrix.net>
[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html