What happened to the three wise men?

Answer 1

The author of Matthew's Gospel did not use the term 'wise men', he said that magi followed a star from the east, and even then, he still does not say there were three of them.

The magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion which the Jews had encountered during the Babylonian Exile. So, the 'wise men', or magi would have come from Persia or Babylon (Iran or Iraq in modern terms) where Zoroastrianism was practised.

John Shelby Spong (A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus) says that among people he knows in New Testament circles, the universal assumption is that Matthew's magi, or wise men, were not actual people. Matthew, by having the priests come to worship Jesus, wanted to show that even the priests of this great religion looked up to Jesus.

In more recent times, the Zoroastrian connection became less important, and the priests began to be called wise men. Historically, the wise men were a literary fiction.

Answer 2

A:In Matthew's Gospel, the wise men came from the east to find the child who would be king of the Jews. Warned in a dream that Herod would attempt to kill Jesus, they did not bother to return quickly and warn Joseph, but neither did they go back to Jerusalem and report to Herod. They simply went back to their country another way.

The gospel tells us nothing further about the magi after this. We could not expect to find more information about the wise men from other sources:John Shelby Spong (Born of a Woman: A Bishop Rethinks the Birth of Jesus)says that a

mong people he knows in New Testament circles, the universal assumption is that the magi were not actual people.

Matthew was clearly writing Christian midrash.

Answer 3

they brought gifts of gold frankincense and Mir

Answer 4

yes