What is the meaning of the magi?

Answer 1

Answer

The magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion. Perhaps Matthew wanted to show that even the priests of this great religion wanted to worship Jesus. Later, the Zoroastrian connection became less important and many translations now call them "wise men". Other modern interpretations are that they were kings. 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 the magi were not actual people.

Answer 2

Strictly speaking, the Magi were a Median tribe that provided priests for the the other west Iranian tribes, including the Parsis (Persians). The west Iranians brought a primitive version of the proto-Indo-Iranian religion from their earlier homeland on the Russian steppes. At this stage, the Magi were priests of the old religion.

Zoroastrianism, derived from the same proto-Indo-Iranian religion, came later into the eastern regions and eventually spread into western Iran. The Magi continued as priests for Zoroastrianism.

Matthew was portraying the priests of this great religion as regarding the birth of a Jewish Messiah as a momentous event. By having them wish to worship him, Matthew was probably demonstrating that Jesus had dominion over even the Zoroastrians.

Answer 3

The magi were actually members of an Iranian tribe that provided the hereditary priests of the Zoroastrian religion of the Persians. They were often though of as 'wise men' because of their learning and knowledge of Astrology and medicine.

When the author of Matthew's Gospel wrote of the magi who came with gifts for Jesus, he intended to refer to the Zoroastrian priests, to show that even the priests of this great religion would want to worship Jesus. Matthew was clearly writing Christian midrash, and when the Zoroastrian connection became less important, they became referred to simply as 'wise men'. This is the translation we see in most modern English Bibles. They are sometimes even referred to as kings, although this is a description that magi would never have accepted.

The magi are now referred to as wise men or kings.

Answer 4

The wise men who brought gifts to Jesus shortly after he was born.

Answer 5

Maji is a town in southern Ethiopia. It is located on the Boma plateau