Many people, Christian or not, could tell you about the three wise men who followed a star from the east and presented the baby Jesus with gold, frankincense and myrrh.The Revelation of the Magi, a Syriac apocryphal New Testament text that was published a few years ago by Dr. Landau, has become a fixture in Christmas-Season media stories. Deservedly so: it's a great text, even though it tells us nothing about the historical Magi or the birth of Jesus.
However, the mere 12 verses in the Gospel of Matthew leave many details to question about these mysterious men. Brent Landau, lecturer in the department of religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin shared a relatively unheard story about the Magi of the Bible, in his Thursday lecture “Christmas from the Wise Men’s Point of View.”
The lecture addressed the apocryphal text, “The Revelation of the Magi,” which gives the Magi’s account of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.
[...]
Past PaleoJudaica posts on it are here and links and here.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
