No way the Magi had one of those, right?

[@castusaquila4306]

Damn it, they were wizards, Matt!

[@metaleg23]

That’s it. I’m picking one of these Bibles up. I love the Bible and Dore. Cambridge did both justice.

[@Uniqdna]

The humble lamb bibles also have Dore in them of you’re looking for something smaller

[@trailrvs]

I can just hear them telling Mary and Joseph, “Remember these presents are for his birthday and Christmas!”

[@JDMcCay]

I can’t remember whether it came from one of Matt’s videos, or the podcast, but I literally can not preach a sermon or lead a bible study on Matthew 2 now without using the phrase “pagan space wizards” at least once.

[@kensmith8152]

Actually they had the book of Daniel chapter 9. When Babylon fell Daniel was still alive and actually met with Cyrus the great himself and showed where Cyrus himself was mentioned in the prophecy of Isaiah. By proxy Daniel himself became a magi.
The magi had access to the book of Daniel which predicted when the messiah would come and when the star appeared they set out to find him!

[@apurplegoldenfaith7]

😲😲😲

[@ASMRyouVEGANyet]

That was actually the second thing I saw. It looks like some of the ancient telescopes astronomers used

[@Jeffrey-Flys]

They probably used Google maps…. Def wasn’t MapQuest or they would never have arrived

[@Jeremiah6_16]

Thank so much for introducing us to this wonderful artist ❤❤❤

[@ASMRyouVEGANyet]

Did you never study this stuff (either biblical history or art history) Dore is a very famous, if not the most famous biblical artist.

[@allenarnold8721]

That's a cannon.... Seriously. Camel mounted cannon. Look it up

[@Kevin-lw2gl]

From what I researched, the wise men are named in Greek with the word "Magi" was usually used to described "wizard-like" people from Persia who were experts in astrology.

[@DanteD84]

I’m always interested and confused by the Wisemen,
They were Magi ? Like studied the celestial works stars, planets and so forth so Astronomers? But like tons of people say they were comparable to Astrologers. And they weren’t Christian obviously but they weren’t Jewish either but they knew enough to pay homage to the newborn king. I don’t get it all but I still really like it.

[@pi4t651]

"Magus" was the word for a Zoroastrian priest. Zoroastrianism was the religion of Persia (among other places). It was Pagan, but slightly closer to Judaism in that it had only a single (good) god, rather than the usual polytheism. (Unlike Judaism and Christianity, though, it was dualistic - it had a devil figure who was equal, or nearly equal, in power to the good god.) Their duties included a lot of mystical stuff, apparently including reading signs in the stars and interpreting them according to the teachings of their religion.

[@MuricaTurkey]

There's a theory that some scholars have that I think makes a lot of sense: The magi were from the area of the world where Daniel had served as a dream interpreter for Nebuchadnezzar II. Daniel had many prophecies and miracles given thru him from The Lord that impressed upon/proved to Nebuchadnezzar that The Lord was actually real and most powerful (not converting, unfortunately, but rather deciding that the Lord was "most" powerful among "the gods". So, kinda missing the point 😂 But he was pagan 🤷‍♀️ It was hard for him to see the full truth that The Lord was the ONLY God)
So, this is why the foreign pagan king valued Daniel so much.
So, why would God use his power to impress a foreign pagan ruler? Especially if that ruler was going to misunderstand the The Lord is the ONLY true God? Well, it wasn't a mistake. It definitely benefited God's plan for the salvation of Man!
Because that had to happen for these future wise men to be aware of, and even care about, this special birth coming many years later. They cared because one of their greatest kings cared about Daniel and what he had to say. They were pagan idolaters who were engaging in activities God wasn't exactly fond of.
So He used that wicked occupation to bring good into the world, by showing everyone that Jesus wasn't JUST coming to save the Jewish people; That He was important for ALL.
I like this theory because it makes logical sense, AND it's VERY consistent with God's character. This wouldn't have been the first or last time God would help or show his goodness to (to some extent) foreign pagans to show His Truth and Glory.

[@Rudol_Zeppili]

@@pi4t651Angra Mainyu as far as I’m aware of isn’t usually an equal to Ahura Mazda, just that he’s the creator of evil which is the opposite of Ahura Mazda’s alignment, but he’s weaker than Ahura Mazda. (Angra Mainyu is ultimately supposed to be beaten by Ahura Mazda due to Ahura Mazda and goodness being seen as stronger than evil.)

[@arcguardian]

​@@MuricaTurkeythat's what I heard as well. Essentially Daniel prophesied the arrival of The King Of Kings. I haven't done enough research to make it a hill I'd die on, but it makes more sense than an old man having a mini telescope and found a star they liked lol.

[@apurplegoldenfaith7]

​@@MuricaTurkey 👏 👏 👏

[@lorriegallardo8053]

They followed the stars, that's for sure.

[@sivyh]

interesting guess! p.s. dore's Bible illustrations are fascinating

[@MessianicJewJitsu]

I have a super old Bible and it is basically and entertainment center worth of appendices and art work.
Old Bibles are really choice for these works.

[@dvldog_]

That Magi is giving me Chewbacca vibes for some reason 😂 also, there's a theory that the prophet Daniel told the Magi and other "wise men" of the Persian Empire what to look for and that is why the Magi at the time of the Nativity knew what they were seeing. No idea if that's true, but it's a neat theory!

[@Keonny77]

Well that's a thing... we don't know what the star looked like. We make it bright for artistic purposes. However, we don't know that. The Magi were wise men/magicians. They may not have even been Jews. Today we might call them astromoners... These star gazers probably saw a celestrial phenomenon and if they were Jews and familiar with the prophecies of Daniel, they recognized this as sign that Messiah had been born and made their trek to Judea. I remember a Christian man on TBN stated there was a recorded celestial phenomenon around this time...between the constellations of Leo and Virgo(the Virgin gave forth a King)...and historically the first of Messiah was probably between summer or autumn...

[@here_we_go_again2571]

The Magi were astronomers/astrologers. The star
rose in the constellation of Leo --- Lion of Judah.

[@michaelwebb1939]

The magi, ancient Persians, used pools to track the stars. They were well versed in astrology, herbalism and rituals.

[@oklahoma-son]

Or the knowledge was passed down from the time of Daniel in Babylon

[@DLRS222]

I always believed that God prompted them to follow the star. So they could spread the "good news" to those unlikely to hear of it otherwise.

[@stuartmiller2526]

Astrolabe?

[@MiscMitz]

That's neat

[@davidboyer2290]

the Chinese were fairly advanced for their time.

[@arcguardian]

Were they though? Why would u call them Chinese? Was Nebuchadnezzar Chinese?

[@davidboyer2290]

@@arcguardian From the East means much further than Babylon. They knew where Babylon was but could only describe the wise men as from the East. So they were from an unknown land... otherwise they would say the nation of their origin.

[@isaiahoconnor8236]

It's Gandalf!

[@embearasedbear3694]

....pretty sure it clearly states they were aware of prophecy.... pretty sure that's literally like the first few chapters of the NT.... but w.e. that doesn't make for a good short.

[@MattisWell.20]

I'm kind of bummed this is not featured in my KJV Bible which features some Dore’s other biblical artwork.

[@kirillzapple]

Mattew, according to my sources those wise men from the East were part of the ancient worldview called Zoroastrianism even the Bible itself giving you clues to that when you read a coversation between King Herod and wise men: ...for we have seen HIS star in the east... they said. Gospel of Mattew 2:1.

[@ValidityJ]

😩 It's exhausting Matt. The Orthodox Church has these answers already. They dont need a theory, they have the 2000 year old tradition.

[@MattWhitmanTMBH]

Okay.

[@corneleggberry4167]

Wow