The Magi

Herod the Toparch, that is, the King of Judaea, was informed in that year that magicians from Persia had arrived and had entered the Judaean country (and ordered them seized) The magicians came from Persia, having been instructed by an announcement which they had received, for a star had appeared to them, which had announced to them that in the East Christ the Savior had become god-man. They brought him gifts as to a great victorious king.

John Malala, (Historian from Antioch in the sixth century), Chronography 10.229

Magi: Persian sages or religious leaders who practiced a mixture of sorcery and astrology. The Jewish people in New Testament times identified the sorcerers in Pharaoh’s court as magi (Exod. 7–9) along with Balaam (Num. 22–24) and Nebuchadnezzar’s ineffective dream interpreters (Dan. 2). In the New Testament, magi are found in Matthew 2; Acts 8:9–24; 13:6–12.

Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament (2nd Edition), p.7

The story of the Magi is found in Matthew 2:1-12, and Raymond Brown sees the framework for composition taken from the Balaam prophecy found in Numbers:

A narrative of magi from the East who saw the star of the King of the Jews at its rising and were led by it to Bethlehem. While this narrative reflects the general belief that the birth of great men was augured by astronomical phenomena, its immediate inspiration came from the story of Balaam in Num 22-24, a man with magical powers who came from the East and predicted that a star would rise from Jacob. [*]

Although the framework for the story was built upon the Tanakh, as most gospel narratives are ex eventu Tanakh allusions, the real inspiration for this story came from the Magi that attended Nero’s court.

‘Magi’ is a transliteration of the Greek word magos which in turn came from old Persian word magus (“powerful”), a term used for Zoroastrian priests and astrologers of the later Persian Empire. The story of the Magi in Matthews gospel [original meaning Zoroastrian priests and not wise men or Kings as understood by modern readers] may have been inspired by a visit of the Magi to Nero in worshipping Nero as a god.

There were many ‘buffer states’ between the two superpowers of the east- the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire. States such as Armenia, Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene, etc were all Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West. [1] Since the days of Cassius and his five legions who were wiped out by Parthia, Rome was wary of this superpower.
There was a major Roman–Parthian War (58–63 CE) over one such ‘buffer state’: Armenia. This was fought over Armenian succession, where the Roman client kingdom had lost out to Parthia in 52/53 CE, and Parthia had installed Tiridates as King.
In 60 CE, Corbulo [famous Roman general of Rhine fame, now legate of Syria] overcame the forces loyal to Tiridates and the unpopular Tigranes VI was appointed King of Greater Armenia. [2] All neighbouring buffer states were on the alert to support him militarily. Tigranes caused trouble with Adiebene, so Monobazus II of Adiabene got Vologaeses I of Parthia to help. Nero sent Paetus to annex Armenia in 63CE. This campaign was defeated by the Parthians, thus ensuring Tiradates became king. [3]
After the defeat of the Romans in Rhandeia in 62 CE, an arrangement was made between them and the Parthians, according to which the Romans recognized Tiridates as King of Armenia, and Tiridates agreed to come to Rome and receive his crown from the hands of Nero. [4]

Domitius Corbulo had achieved a compromise with the Parthians over Armenia (63 CE): Tiridates, brother of the Persian king Vologeses I, could rule Armenia if he put aside his diadem and received it in Rome—in 66 CE, as it happened—from the hand of Nero (Dio 62.23.3; 63.4.1). [5]
“Both in Apollonius of Tyana (Life I.4) and Matthews birth narrative were “inspired by the visit of Tiridates I [of Arminia] and his train to Nero that culminated in their reverencing him as a god. Matthew’s tale belongs to a body of material that attributes to Jesus titles and claims characteristic of the Emperors and their cults. People said that Tiridates and his magi had initiated Nero in their mysteries and secret meals. The gospel story implies that Jesus needed no initiation: he was the predestined ruler of the magi, as well as of the Jews; but unlike the ignorant Jews the magi knew this. They understood the star that signalled his coming and came themselves to meet him, make their submission, and offer the gifts due their ruler.” [6]
Cassio Dio reports a story of three Anatolian client Kings turning up at Neros birth and announcing, “Master I am a descendent of Arsacres, brother of the kings Vologaseus and Pacorus, and your slave. And I have come to you, my God, to worship you as I do Mithras.” When they were done they went back to their country by another way, much like Matthew said of the Magi. (Cassio Dio, Roman History LXIII.5.2).

“The picture of magi coming from the East to pay homage to a king and bring him royal gifts (vs. 11) would not have struck Matthew’s readers as naively romantic. When King Herod completed the building of Caesarea Maritima in 10-9 B.C., envoys from many nations came to Palestine with gifts (Josephus Ant. XVI v 1;##136-41). In A.D. 44 Queen Helen of Adiabene, a kingdom that paid tribute to the Parthians, converted to Judaism and came to Jerusalem with bounteous gifts for those affected by the famine which was devastating the land. In A.D. 66 there took place an event that captured the imagination of Rome (Dio Cassius Roman History Ixiii 1-7; Suetonius Nero 13). Tiridates, king of Armenia (a kingdom that was neighbor to Commagene-came to Italy with the sons of three neighboring Parthian rulers in his entourage. Their journey from the East (the Euphrates) was like a triumphal procession. The entire city of Rome was decorated with lights and garlands, and the rooftops filled with onlookers, as Tiridates came forward and paid homage to Nero. Tiridates identified himself as a descendant of Arsaces, founder of the Parthian Empire, and said, “I have come to you, my god, to pay homage, as I do to Mithras.” .After Nero had confirmed him as king of Armenia, ”the king did not return by the route he had followed in coming,” but sailed back a different way. It is significant that Pliny (Natural History XXX vi 16-17) refers to Tiridates and his companions as magi.” [7]
The three gifts they bring are symbolic:

“gold, as to a king; myrrh, as to one who was mortal; and incense, as to a God.” (Origen, Contra Celsum 1.60)

Gold is obvious, a gift fit for a king. Myrrh was used as an embalming ointment, a symbol of his death and frankincense an incense, as a symbol of deity. The Syrian King Seleucus I Nicator is recorded to have offered gold, frankincense and myrrh (among other items) to Apollo in his temple at Didyma near Miletus in 288/7 BC. (Greek inscription RC 5 (OGIS 214))

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[*] Raymond Brown, The Birth of the Messiah: : a commentary on the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke: new updated edition, (First published 1993), p.117

[1] Michał Marciak, Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene, Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West, (Brill, 2017).

[2] Tigranes was grandson to Alexander (Marimeme I’s son strangled by Herod the Great).

[3] Kokkinos, The Herodian Dynasty, (Spink, 2010), p.248-250; cf Tacitus Annals 14-15.28.

[4] Menahem Mor, The Second Jewish Revolt, The Bar Kokhba War, 132–136 CE,
p.11

[5] Steve Mason, Judean War 2, p6.

[6] Morton Smith, Jesus the Magician, p.96.

[7] Raymond Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, p.174.