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mean ‘wise men’, but is a reference to the priests of the then-great Zoroastrian religion of the Persian Empire. When Matthew says they came from the east, he was alluding to the direction of Babylon and Persia. It is, of course, inconceivable that Zoroastrian priests would be in the least interested in the birth of a purported king of Judah. It is scientifically inconceivable that a star could be followed so accurately to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem and actually stand over the very house where Jesus was. However, our author (he was anonymous and very unlikely to have been called Matthew) knew that the magi were well known for their wisdom and for their knowledge of astrology, so he knew this nativity account would be plausible.

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