What star guided the Wise Men to the manger?

Answer 1

AnswerUnfortunately, none of the scholars of the late first century BCE recorded any star or comet that would in any way fit the description of the star in Matthew's Gospel. More importantly, 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, or wise men, were not actual people. No one followed a star to Bethlehem.

Other scholars point out that a star or comet, considered throughout the Roman Empire to be a portent of things to come, really did appear in 66 CE. This was long after the death of Jesus, but only about twenty years before Matthew's Gospel is considered to have been written. They say that Matthew's story was probably inspired by that star, so in a literary sense, this was the star that 'guided' the Wise Men.

Answer 2

A:

This is a conflation of two very different nativity stories about Jesus. The story of a star guiding the magi (wise men) to the place where baby Jesus lay was told by the author of Matthew's Gospel. The story of angels telling the shepherds about the place where baby Jesus lay was told by the author of Luke's Gospel. In spite of the second-century attribution, both authors were actually anonymous, and Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) says that both nativity accounts are, with respect to time, place, and circumstances, a collection of legends.

ANOTHER ANSWER:

Indeed is this a blending of two separate biblical accounts. Although, according to Jesus Christ; The Bible, the "inspired" Word of God, is TRUE... not "legend" [John 17:17].

The two accounts, however, speak of two separate events as many as TWO YEARS apart!

Luke's account tells of "the very day Jesus was born"... when the shepherds, watching their flocks just outside of the village of Bethlehem, were informed by the angel:

"She gave birth to her first child, a son... THAT NIGHT some shepherds were in the fields OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the LORD appeared among them... They were terribly frightened, but the angel reassured them. 'Don't be afraid!' he said... The Savior - yes, the MESSIAH, the LORD - has been born TONIGHT in Bethlehem, the city of David!" (Luke 2:7- 11 NLT New Living Translation)

Matthew's account, however, becomes muddled and somewhat confusing between the two translations of the King James and the New Living Translation.

Both accounts begin the same; acknowledging that: "...Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king..." (Matt.2:1 KJV). And that: "...there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, '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." (verses 1-2)

But it DOES NOT SAY WHEN these "wise men" came to Jerusalem. The KJV doesn't say anything about the wise men arriving AT THE VERY TIME OF JESUS' BIRTH... only that Herod was king during that period. The news of Jesus' birth, no doubt, some of which went out by the shepherds in the aftermath of their visit to the manger, made it known that He was born in Bethlehem.

So, that's where logic would tell you to BEGIN YOUR SEARCH for Him. And indeed, that's what Herod commanded of the wise men:

"And HE SENT THEM TO BETHLEHEM, and said, 'Go and search diligently WHAT TIME THE STAR APPEARED.'

At this juncture, the two translations mentioned part company in their take on what happened next. The NLT says:

"After this interview the wise men went their way. Once again THE STAR APPEARED to them, GUIDING THEM TO BETHLEHEM. It went ahead of them and stopped over THE PLACE WHERE THE CHILD WAS. When they SAW THE STAR, they were filled with joy! They ENTERED THE HOUSE [not a manger] where the child and His mother, Mary, were, and they fell down before Him and worshiped Him... But when it came time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod." (Matt.2:9-12 NLT)

The KJV, however, says NOTHING about them going to BETHLEHEM! Only that Bethlehem is where Herod SENT THEM:

"...He SENT THEM TO BETHLEHEM, and said, "Go and search diligently for the YOUNG CHILD [not a babe in a manger]... When they [the wise men] had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, THE STAR, WHICH THEY SAW IN THE EAST, WENT BEFORE THEM, till IT CAME AND STOOD OVER WHERE THE YOUNG CHILD WAS." (Matt.2:8-9 KJV)

The King James Version [which is the more strict translation from the original manuscripts than the more liberal NLT] talks about a MOVING STAR that WENT before the wise men, LEADING THEM, until IT STOOD over where the young child was. It doesn't say WHERE the young child was. The NLT translators [and most people] ASSUME that it was Bethlehem, since that is where Herod intended for them to go... but the Matthew account makes no mention of WHERE THEY REALLY ENDED UP; where the "moving star" really led them.

The KJV goes on to say:

"And when they were COME INTO THE HOUSE, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him..." (verse 11).

While most people today, lost in religious dogma, assume the wise men came to Jesus while He was a babe in the manger. This account says no such thing. It says that they saw a "young child" AT HOME WITH HIS MOTHER!

And where did Jesus grow up AT HOME WITH HIS MOTHER? NAZARETH!

"...He came to Nazareth, WHERE HE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day..." (Luke 4:16 KJV).

THAT's where the MOVING STAR led the wise men... to Jesus' house in Nazareth.

The STAR that is an integral part of the account was not a shining planet in the heavens as is depicted in the annual plays and reenactments of the account. This STAR was, as appeared to the shepherds in Luke's account, an ANGEL! [see the biblical symbolism of "stars" as revealed to God's servants in Revelation 1:20]:

"...The seven STARS are THE ANGELS of the seven churches...".

Therefore, in answer to the question in this elaborate, round-about way... LUKE gives the account of the "STAR guiding the shepherds." That "star" was the "angel" that appeared to them. It seems that Luke was a little more straight forward in his account regarding the shepherd's guiding force, speaking of the angel... while Matthew was a little more cryptic, speaking of the wise men's guiding angel as a "star."

Yet, Luke's and Matthew's are as many as TWO YEARS separated from each other, in light of the fact that Herod subsequently ordered the massacre in and around Bethlehem... and God ordered Jesus' parents to take it, and Him, on the lam to Egypt for the time being... just to be safe.

"Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men has outwitted him. He sent soldiers to KILL ALL THE BOYS IN AND AROUND BETHLEHEM who were TWO YEARS AND UNDER, because the wise men had told him the STAR first appeared to them ABOUT TWO YEARS EARLIER." (Matt.2:16 NLT)