Vincent Word Studies - Matthew 2:1 - 2:1

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Vincent Word Studies - Matthew 2:1 - 2:1


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Bethlehem

Hebrew, House of Bread, probably from its fertility. The birthplace of him who calls himself the Bread of Life (Joh 6:35), and identified with the history of his human ancestry through Ruth, who was here married to Boaz, and was the ancestress of David (Mat 1:5, Mat 1:6), and through David himself, who was born there, and anointed king by Samuel (compare Luk 2:11, city of David).

Wise men, or Magi (μάγοι)

Wycliffe renders kings. A priestly caste among the Persians and Medes, which occupied itself principally with the secrets of nature, astrology, and medicine. Daniel became president of such an order in Babylon (Dan 2:48). The word became transferred, without distinction of country, to all who had devoted themselves to those sciences, which were, however, frequently accompanied with the practice of magic and jugglery; and, under the form magician, it has come to be naturalized in many of the languages of Europe. Many absurd traditions and guesses respecting these visitors to our Lord's cradle have found their way into popular belief and into Christian art. They were said to be kings, and three in number; they were said to be representatives of the three families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and therefore one of them is pictured as an Ethiopian; their names are given as Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior, and their three skulls, said to have been discovered in the twelfth century by Bishop Reinald of Cologne, are exhibited in a priceless casket in the great cathedral of that city.