Wise Men From The East

Matthew 2:1-2

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

This is part of the opening account of the birth of Jesus Christ. At Christmas, many nativity scenes are displayed throughout the world. We see the baby Jesus surrounded by Mary and Joseph, his earthly parents. Usually barnyard animals accompany the scene, but none can escape the wise men gathered around with gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh in hand.

Who were these men from the "East"? We have little information to go on, but the Bible says they traveled from the East, from distant lands to Jerusalem to worship the newly born King of Kings. The phrase "from the East" leaves a wide door to possible travelers. To the east of Jerusalem was any country past the Euphrates.River. 

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Could it be that some of these wise men from Asia? I believe the possibility is there. In the distant east lay the Parthian Empire, little known today, but it rivaled the Roman Empire for hegemony of the world at the time. Parthia included all the conquered lands of Babylon, Persia, Bactria, and many other countries on the east side of the Euphrates River. It was to these lands that the Assyrians had exiled some of the ancient house of Israel, and many of their descendants had remained in the region.

There are many theories and speculations of the origin of not only who where these wise men, but also, how many wise men there were. Scripture never actually says there were only 3 wise men, but simple; "wise men from the East". It is quite possible that these men could have been a conglomerate of nationalities, given the significance of the event. Most importantly, it would not be beyond reason to assume the Far East of Asia was among the representatives.

In recent tradition the Magi have been portrayed as three kings, or noble men, of different origin. One from Western Europe (usually Celtic-like from the British Isles or France), another of African Origin (usually Abyssinian, Ethiopian), the last from Asia either from the Arabian Peninsula (e.g. Yemen or Oman) or the Far East (usually China). The European is often portrayed with the gold as the other two gifts were native to Africa and Asia so the myrrh and frankincense vary between "King".


There was a tradition that the Central Asian Naimans and their Christian Kerait relatives were descended from the Biblical Magi. This heritage passed to the Mongol dynasty of Genghis Khan when Sorghaghtani, niece of the Kerait ruler Toghrul, married Tolui the youngest son of Genghis and became the mother of Möngke Khan and his younger brother and successor, Kublai Khan. Toghrul became identified with the legendary Central Asian Christian king, Prester John, whose Mongol descendants were sought as allies against the Muslims by contemporary European monarchs and popes

In any event, I believe that China also has a prominent role at Jesus' birth!