c. 2000 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Each Christmas, Christians around the world sing the beloved carol “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”

However, according to religious scholars, there could have been as few as two or many more “kings,” or wise men, as they are called in the Scriptures.

Dr. Mervyn A. Warren, professor of religion and preaching at Oakwood College, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Huntsville, Ala., says the wise men, or “magi,” probably came from the area of Persia or southern Arabia.

“It was more likely Persia because magi have historically been connected with that area,” Warren says. “It was somewhere east of Jerusalem, but definitely not the Orient as we know it today. The reason we usually say three wise men is because of the three gifts mentioned _ gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

Some scholars believe the magi _ whose legendary names are Gaspar, Balthasar and Melchior _ were versed in the Old Testament, which foretold of the birth of Jesus. Warren says they may even have had a genetic link to the Hebrews through Jews who were captured and taken to Babylon, which was eventually conquered by the Medes and Persians. Warren says the Hebrew captives likely intermarried with the people of the area, and passed down the biblical prophecies of a messiah.

No one really knows when these visitors from the east arrived in Bethlehem, but it’s almost a certainty they didn’t show up a few minutes or even hours after the shepherds arrived. It takes quite a while to travel by camel _ the wise men’s likely mode of transportation.

Some scholars say it may have been as long as two years before the “kings” arrived to pay homage to the Christ child, but Warren says he thinks it was within a few days or a week. Many Christians celebrate Jan. 6 _ the Epiphany _ as the day when the wise men arrived in Bethlehem.

“They may have seen the star even before Jesus was born,” Warren says. “We really don’t know the exact date, but the birth of Christ has almost been proved to have been in the fall. It’s all just speculation when the magi arrived.”

In his book “The Christ of Christmas,” author James Boice says the story of the wise men “has been embellished widely both in literature and in art.”

Drawings of the wise men often appear on Christmas cards, and the “three kings” are almost always part of a children’s Christmas pageant.

The magi’s legend has even made the Internet joke rounds with the suggestion that if they had been women instead of men, they would have arrived sooner because they would have stopped and asked directions; and would have brought more practical gifts such as diapers, formula and baby clothes.

The “unpractical” gifts brought by the magi were symbolic gestures, according to Boice, who calls them “The Gifts of Faith.”

“The fact that so little information is given about the wise men clearly shows that (the Gospel of Matthew) was not focused upon the wise men themselves,” Boice writes. “Rather, he was interested in the fact that the Gentiles came to worship the Jewish Messiah, and in the gifts they bore.”

Boice says the gift of gold is “an appropriate gift for Jesus Christ” because it is “the metal of kings. When gold was presented to Jesus it acknowledged His right to rule. The wise men pointed to His kingship with their gold.”

Boice says the gold probably was used by Joseph to finance the family’s trip to Egypt after they learned of King Herod’s attempt to kill the Christ child.

Frankincense, or incense, was a “significant gift” because it was used in the Temple worship, writes Boice. The incense was mixed with the oil used to anoint the priests of Israel.

“It was part of the meal offerings that were offerings of thanksgiving and praise to God,” Boice says. “In presenting this gift the wise men pointed to Christ as our great High Priest, the one whose whole life was acceptable and well pleasing to His Father.”

The last gift may have appeared somewhat odd to modern readers because myrrh was used in embalming.

But Boice says it wasn’t odd in the least since myrrh was a very important item of commerce and a valuable commodity because it was used for funeral arrangements.

“By any human measure it would be odd, if not offensive, to present to the infant Christ a spice used for embalming,” Boice writes. “But it was not offensive in this case, nor was it odd. It was a gift of faith. We do not know precisely what the wise men may have known or guessed about Christ’s ministry, but we do know that the Old Testament again and again foretold His suffering.”

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The wise men, who had inquired in Jerusalem of the whereabouts of the Christ child, were summoned by Herod, who heard about the strange group of visitors. When he learned about the object of their search, he cunningly told them to let him know where he could find the child, so he could also worship him, although his intentions were actually to kill Jesus.

The Scriptures say the wise men were warned in a dream not to let Herod know where the child was living, and they returned home by a different route.

That in itself was an act of courage on their part, Warren says.

“We don’t know if they all had the same dream, or just one had the dream, but it was a bold move on their part not to return to Herod,” Warren says. “It was kind of like a boycott or demonstration in deciding they were going to nonviolently resist Herod and do what was in the best interest of the Christ child.”

KRE END BETOWT