Star of Bethlehem

Biblical Text and Content

This star appears only in Matthew 2:1-12. In the days of King Herod, wise men from the east come to Jerusalem and ask, "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" (Matthew 2:2). Herod inquires of the wise men diligently what time the star appeared (Matthew 2:7). When the wise men set out for Bethlehem, the star they had seen before goes ahead of them and stands over the place where the young child is, and when they see the star they rejoice with exceedingly great joy (Matthew 2:9-10). The account of Herod killing the children two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men (Matthew 2:16), is also connected with this star.

"Star of Bethlehem" is not a biblical expression but a name given later. The birth narrative in the Gospel of Luke does not mention a star.

Background

The Greek word magoi, translated "wise men," is understood to refer to a class of Eastern scholars and priests who observed and interpreted the heavenly bodies. The text does not specify exactly where "the east" was. Some scholars hold that the phrase "in the east" in Matthew 2:2 can also be rendered from the original as "at its rising." In the text, it is not the star that reveals where the child is to be born but the prophecy of Micah quoted by the scribes (Matthew 2:5-6); the star then leads the wise men to the house where the child is.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Many interpreters read the prophecy of Balaam, "there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17), as background to this star. In the New Testament, Jesus calls himself "the bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16). Matthew is understood to use this scene to draw a contrast: the Gentiles are the first to recognize the Messiah and come to worship him, while Jerusalem is troubled.

Interpretations and Debates

• Miraculous sign view: This view holds that the description of a star moving ahead of the travelers and stopping over a particular house is difficult to explain as a natural celestial body, and it understands the star as a light specially shown by God. Some early Church Fathers regarded it as an angel or as a light of divine power.
• Astronomical phenomenon view: Proposals have included a conjunction in which Jupiter and Saturn appeared to overlap, a comet, and a nova (a star that suddenly brightens). The seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler is said to have drawn attention to a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Scholars differ on which phenomenon it was and on its date.
• Theological symbol view: Some scholars read the account as a symbolic narrative against the background of Numbers 24:17.
• With regard to Old Testament texts that forbid astrology (Isaiah 47:13 and others), the common interpretation is that God's use of the wise men's observation of the stars does not imply an endorsement of astrology.

The ideas that there were three wise men or that they were kings, and the image of the star standing over a stable, are later traditions not found in the text. The text states that the wise men entered a "house" (Matthew 2:11).

In the Korean Church

At Christmas, a star is widely placed atop church Christmas trees, and the wise men and the star appear frequently in Christmas pageants and Christmas hymns. In the liturgical calendar of the Western church, the visit of the wise men is associated with Epiphany around January 6, and churches that follow the liturgical calendar sometimes read this passage at that time.