The Gospel of Matthew gives us one of our two birth narratives of Jesus. In 12 verses in his version of the story Matthew gives us the account of the Magi coming to give gifts to the baby. But what are Magi? What do we know about who these people were? What does Matthew think Magi are? And how is he trying to use them in his account of the birth of Jesus? Join us today as we look at some of these questions! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @BeneathTheBible so you don’t miss any future videos! If you are interested in learning more about this topic we suggest you start here: M. David Litwa, How the Gospels Became History: Jesus and Mediterranean Myths. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019. Peter Barthel and George van Kooten editors, The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy. Leiden: Brill, 2015. Michael R. Molnar, The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999. Image Credits: Bactrian Zoroastrian License: Public Domain Proskenysis Credit: Marco Prins License: CC0 Universal Tang Period Sculpture Credit: Sailko License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en Medians at Persepolis Credit: Marco Prins License: CC0 Universal Syrians at Persepolis Credit: Marco Prins License: CC0 1.0 Universal Persepolis East Stair Credit: Harold Hazenburg License: CC0 Universal Approach Path, Rock-cut Tombs of Qizqapan Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Qizqapan Tomb Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Qizqapan Main Carving Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Headdress Detail Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Face Detail Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Winged Figure, Rock Cut Tombs of Qizqapan Credit: Osama Shukir Muhammad Amin License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Temple of Artemis Miniature Credit: Zee Prime License: CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en Drawings of Magi Images from Pierre Briant, trans. Peter T. Daniels, Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, fig 33, 244. All other images and maps in the public domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) or are creative works of Beneath the Bible. At Beneath the Bible all the images we use are for educational purposes and are used as Fair Use. Music: www.bensound.com Far Away - MK2

• published: 18 Dec 2020
• views: 291