February 12, 2004
Magi madness in the UK
The story of the Three Magi (aka Wise Men, Kings, etc) has long been regarded with considerable skepticism by biblical historians. Nonetheless, the Church of England has managed to put them in the news once again -- not by questioning their historicity, but by abandoning the King James' "Wise Men" for "Magi". Which mightn't have been such a big deal, were it not for statements such as this:
The revision committee said: "While it seems very unlikely that these Persian court officials were female, the possibility that one or more of the Magi were female cannot be excluded completely". . . the prayer has been changed to use the word Magi on the grounds that "the visitors were not necessarily wise and not necessarily men."From CNN (hat tip to Chris Simmons). Meanwhile, the Washington Times notes:
The decision gave rise to much merriment yesterday in British newspapers and television broadcasts. "Magi may have been queens," noted Sky News. "The Three Fairly Sagacious Persons," headlined the Daily Telegraph.
Posted by David on February 12, 2004 6:26 PM
I wonder if anyone thought to ask the opinion on possible female Magi from London's sizeable Parsi community? They'd be the ones who'd know.
Posted by: Michael Tinkler on February 12, 2004 7:19 PM
I am by no means an expert on Zoroastrians, but one of my professors once told me the about his own experiences with some practising Zoroastrians (with whom he took Avestan classes during his PhD at Harvard).
Without going into too much detail, they (Zoroastrians) seem to be bordering on obsessive compulsive in terms of "purity" and "cleanliness". A woman is often traditionally seen as "unclean" during her period of menstruation and would therefore be an odd choice as a high priest or Magi.
If everything my professor said can be believed then perhaps she would be considerd pure and clean if she bathed in bull urine. However, I doubt that fresh bull urine is always readily available (this question has often bothered me in relation to the two aforementioned Zoroastrians studying at Harvard, after all I cannot imagine that there are many bovine excrement dealers around the halls of Cambridge).
Posted by: anders on February 13, 2004 4:17 AM
And why three, while we're about it? No number is specified and IIRC, the Orthodox tradition has twelve.
Posted by: chris on February 13, 2004 7:41 AM
The second chapter of Matthew states there were three categories of gifts:
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.When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, "And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 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.
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. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
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.
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
By the plural "wise men", there were at least two giftbearers, but we don't know how many separate gifts there were, or how many individuals were in the entire group.
And to address one more misconception:
And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."
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 inquired of the wise men.
Thus Jesus may have been a walking, talking toddler by the time of the wise men's visit, not necessarily a baby in a manger.
Posted by: Peter Shriner on February 14, 2004 12:19 AM
I've commented on the story over at PaleoJudaica in two postings:
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2004_02_08_paleojudaica_archive.html#107640929430617327
http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2004_02_08_paleojudaica_archive.html#107658193751594004
[Editorially linkified -- D.]
Posted by: Jim Davila on February 14, 2004 4:31 AM
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