Star of Bethlehem

[flaja]

1. The star was visible to the Wise Men, but not to Herod’s astrologers so only the Wise Men reacted to it.

2. The star was visible to both the Wise Men and Herod’s astrologers then:

The Wise Men placed significance on the event, but Herod’s astrologers did not;

or

Both the Wise Men and Herod’s astrologers placed significance on the star and both knew that it meant a new King of the Jews. It should be assumed that Herod’s astrologers would have prepared regular reports for Herod because that is what they were paid to do, so if they saw anything of any importance (apart from a new king of the Jews) they would have told Herod. Since they didn’t tell Herod they must have refrained from telling him about the star out of fear of how he would react.

Note: We can reasonably assume that astrologers elsewhere in the Roman Empire would have likely been in the same situation as Herod’s were, but we have nothing to indicate Wise Men from the West. So either the star was not visible anywhere west of Judea, or it elicited the same reaction it got from Herod’s astrologers.

Any other possibilities?

As for the star itself:

It must have been visible for some time- at least long enough for the Wise Men to recognize its significance and make the trip to Judea. If the Wise Men came from no farther away than Mesopotamia, their travel time wouldn’t have been very much because of long-established and well-traveled trade routes and the short distance between Mesopotamia and Judea.

It must have been something of a moving star since it seemingly lead the Wise Men to the place where they could find the Christ Child.

It likely was not a comet because in the ancient world comets were seen as harbingers of evil and death, not birth or royalty.

Wise Men:

If the Wise Men came only from Mesopotamia, they likely could have known where a King of the Jews was supposed to be born since the Jews had spent so much time in Mesopotamia during the Babylonian Exile. But, it is hard to believe that anyone who hadn’t had some contact with things Jewish would have cared about a new Jewish King. There is some evidence for a Jewish community as far away as India, but I think this settlement was not made until after the birth of Christ.

 

[marvmax]

I think that it is Option 2. Some other thoughts on this topic. Although the creches which portray the birth of Christ at Christmas time show a babe with the wise men men it probably was not like that.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
11 ¶ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

It specifically does not call Christ a babe here as it did in Luke. Then there is the reaction of Herod when the wise men did not return.

16 ¶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

Apparently the wise men told Herod that they had first seen the star 2 years previously and had been traveling since that time. Herod to make sure that he got the new king killed everyone below a certain age. I'm sure he errored on the side of safety. so I'd say it took them 1-1.5 years to get there up to 2 years. I'd say they came from much farther than Mesopotamia.

As a side note I really don't know what to make of the fact that the star seemed to move. Doesn't bother me I just don't know how to explain it.

 

[flaja]

I think that it is Option 2. Some other thoughts on this topic. Although the creches which portray the birth of Christ at Christmas time show a babe with the wise men men it probably was not like that.


It specifically does not call Christ a babe here as it did in Luke. Then there is the reaction of Herod when the wise men did not return.


Apparently the wise men told Herod that they had first seen the star 2 years previously and had been traveling since that time. Herod to make sure that he got the new king killed everyone below a certain age. I'm sure he errored on the side of safety. so I'd say it took them 1-1.5 years to get there up to 2 years. I'd say they came from much farther than Mesopotamia.

As a side note I really don't know what to make of the fact that the star seemed to move. Doesn't bother me I just don't know how to explain it.

I am familiar with this interpretation. The late Ernest L. Martin (The Star That Astonished the World) proposed that Christ was really born around the year 1 AD (and not the 4 BC that is generally assumed) and that the Wise Men arrived a year or so after Jesus was born and they just happened to arrive around Hannakah- the traditional time for giving present to Jewish children- which happened to fall on December 25 that year.

Nearby planets appear as stars when they are viewed from the earth and as the earth and these planets move in their respective orbits around the sun the planets do appear to be moving stars. And since the orbits are not the same these planets often appear to reverse directions. So the moving star is easily explained; it’s just a matter of figuring which planets and stars were involved and how their appearance from the earth should be interpreted. Michael Molnar (The star of Bethlehem the legacy of the Magi) proposed that the Wise Men came from Mesopotamia and that they were following Greek astrology- but he didn’t explain how Herod’s astrologers, who would likewise have been following Greek astrology, didn’t know anything until the Mesopotamians arrived.

 

[ContentInHim]

I like Bullinger's interpretation in Witness of the Stars that the Star was the astrological combination of stars and planets. That way the combination would have been visible for a long time. Also Herod was not the legitimate King of the Jews and may not have had Jewish astrologers. I've heard teachings that the magi were Jewish astrologers who had been handed down teachings of Daniel and who had, sadly, remained in Babylon. The gifts they brought were from the treasure of Daniel which had also been handed down.

 

[flaja]

I like Bullinger's interpretation in Witness of the Stars that the Star was the astrological combination of stars and planets. That way the combination would have been visible for a long time. Also Herod was not the legitimate King of the Jews and may not have had Jewish astrologers. I've heard teachings that the magi were Jewish astrologers who had been handed down teachings of Daniel and who had, sadly, remained in Babylon. The gifts they brought were from the treasure of Daniel which had also been handed down.

Herod was part Jewish on his mother’s side, but that side ran through the Maccabeans- who were a priestly family and thus from the tribe of Levi rather than the kingly tribe of Judah.

And Herod could not have had any legitimate Jewish astrologers since astrology is against God’s law. But, Herod was very much a product of the Greek world so I seriously doubt that he didn’t have astrologers.