OK You Guys?

I have read that the three wise men were Melchior, king of Arabia, Gaspar, king of Tharsis, and Balthazar,king of Ethiopia. Can any of the seminarians on this board tell me where did this information come from? It's not in the bible. If they were kings, shouldn't there be a record of their reigns? Also, how did they know that Jesus was going to be born in Bethlehem?

Jazzman

-- Anonymous, December 24, 2003

Answers

The following link is a FAQ about the 3 wisemen (or magi) that I came across. It has some fascinating facts. The names of the wisemen are tradition of the later western church (around 7th century) and not part of the canon of scripture.

http://users.rcn.com/tlclcms/magifaq.htm

-- Anonymous, December 24, 2003

The Bible does not say there were three wise men, it says "some" wise men called "magi". I think we consider the three types of gifts, gold, etc. that there were three. Travel was very dangerous in those days so most likely there were much more than three and they probably had guards also.

Be Blessed

-- Anonymous, December 24, 2003