The Wise Men From the East

Question: Are there only 3 wise men who visited the infant Jesus in Bethlehem?

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
-Matthew 2:1-2

Answer: The only book in the Bible that recounts the visitation of the wise men from the east is the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:1-12). However, the book did not mentioned the exact number of wise men present on that event. Thus, these men who followed the star (Matthew 2:2, 7, 9-10) towards Bethlehem and worshiped the infant Jesus in the manger (Matthew 2:2, 11), could have been more than three contrary to what the tradition claimed.

The tradition that holds that there are three wise men was probably attributed to the fact that they presented three gifts as they paid homage to the baby. These gifts were gold, myrrh and frankincense (Matthew 2:11). Over the course of the centuries, however, there were also three names given to these wise men, namely Melchior, Gaspar (Caspar) and Balthazar. These names started to appear in a 6th century mosaic in Ravenna (Italy) which then became the common usage throughout the Christendom.


The Three Wise Men from the East

The Bible is completely silent on the exact location on the east, from where these wise men came. However, Catholic believed that they may be part of the priestly caste of ancient Persia called the magi. These men were revered to be soothsayers and sages, who have knowledge on astrology, demonology and magic. Actually, the word "magic" was derived from the word magi.On the other hand, some scholars believed that these wise men holds noble status and even part of the eastern royalty. Thus, they were also called the three kings.