How did the wise men know that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem?

Answer 1

AnswerIn ancient times, the sudden appearance of a star was believed to be evidence of some momentous event, such as the birth or death of a king. Matthew 2:2 says that the magi (wise men) saw one such star in the east and followed it westwards to Jerusalem. After they met King Herod, the star turned around and led them south-east to Bethlehem, where it stood over the very house where Jesus lived with Mary and Joseph. We now know that the stars that seemed to suddenly appear in the sky were usually comets or supernovas, which of course were unrelated to events on earth and which are far too distant to identify a town, or even a specific house, as in Matthew's Gospel.

Ian Wilson (Jesus: The Evidence) says the hard reality is that the Matthew nativity story does not offer sufficient historicity for anyone to be confident that there was a star at all, and John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) says that among people he knows in New Testament circles, the universal assumption is that the wise men were not actual people. There were no wise men and there was no star. Matthew's story was Christian misrash.

Answer 2

A:The story of the magi ('wise men') is in Matthew's Gospel, which does not say just when they visited, but leave the impression that they probably came some short time after his birth. The passage in which King Herod sought to kill all the boys under two years old in the hope of killing Jesus, would mean that Jesus was securely less than two when the magi arrived, but how much less is open to speculation.

In an attempt to harmonise this nativity story with that in Luke, some place the visit at about two years after Jesus' birth, thus allowing time for the events in Luke to occur. This overlooks the problem that Luke indicates that the family never returned to Bethlehem, and in fact they had no good reason ever to do so. The best explanation is given by John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus), who says that neither birth story contains any historical truth. On that view, we need not concern ourselves about when the magi visited Jesus.

A:The Bible does not say WHEN the 'wise men'(astrologers) visited Jesus, only that by the time they found him, he was a 'young child' in a 'house' (Matthew 2:11), and no longer in a stable.

Answer 3

These wise men belonged to the learned class, those who were advisers to the kings. They came from Babylon or the country beyond. They were perhaps familiar with Jewish Scriptures and knew of the expectation of a coming Messianic King. It is also possible they knew of Daniel's prophecies.

Answer 4

The wisemen were exited at seeing the baby Jesus. We must remember it took them very very long to find the baby Jesus. So they knelt down and gave him gifts.

Answer 5

because they followed the star :)
because they saw a star in the sky that guided them to the birth of Jesus.
A star in the east.

Answer 6

The bright star lead them to Bethlehem and baby Jesus.

Answer 7

yes, that is why they came to see him