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Categories: NEW TESTAMENTHow many wise men were there?Sincerely,
Abacus
Dear Abacus,
All the Scriptures ever tell us is that there were wise men... that’s plural (Matt 2:1). We don’t know whether there were two wise men or two hundred wise men. The fact that they brought three types of gifts (gold, myrrh, and frankincense – Matt 2:11) does not necessarily mean that there were three men. Nativity scenes across the globe have spread the false picture that there were three wise men who visited Jesus when He was a baby in a manger… but that isn’t what the Bible says.
In fact, the Scriptures seem to point toward the idea of a multitude of wise men that came from the East. When the wise men came to Jerusalem, they were a highly noticeable entourage – significant enough for Herod, the king, to notice them (Matt 2:1-3). The Scriptures also show that the wise men didn’t visit Jesus when He was in the manger! By the time they got there (as much as two years later – Matt 2:16), Joseph and Mary were staying in a permanent dwelling (Matt 2:11). It just goes to show that popular religious culture is no substitute for what the Bible says.
