Did the Magi Follow an Angel?

It will be helpful if I begin with a few comments.  First, I did not go looking for what I am about to explain.  I happened across it about a year ago.  Accordingly and second, I have not thoroughly researched this subject and all the views for comets, planetary conjunctions, supernovas, etc.  There may be better arguments for these other views than I remember.  Third, all of this explanation comes from a chapter in Dale C. Allison, Jr., Studies in Matthew: Interpretation Past and Present (2005); I have only summarized and condensed.  This post will be brief in comparison to the chapter; he has a lot of impressive data that I cannot cite here. Allison has a lesser view of Scripture than I do, and I did not expect to agree with him when I started the chapter.  But I found this presentation compelling.  If any of this interests you, you should read the chapter itself.  In my opinion, many chapters of the book are helpful and the book is worth buying if you ‘re interested in such things.  Fourth, while I find this explanation convincing at present, I imagine that there could be evidence against it that would change my view.  Thus, and fifth, I suggest this only to provoke your thinking.  While it seems better to me than alternate views, I don’t know enough to be certain that it is accurate.  Let’s start with the passages which mention the star that the Magi followed, go from there to some difficulties with a modern view, and then consider five factors which may reveal what the traditional view was. (Within quotations, emphasis in bold is mine; emphasis in italics is original.)

The Bible Passages

Matthew 2:1-2 (ESV) ” 1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.””

Matthew 2:7-10 (ESV) “7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”

The Problem: This Star Does Not Act Like the Sun of Another Solar System (or a Comet, or a Planetary Conjunction)

1. Stars (or comets, or planetary conjunctions) don’t typically appear, disappear, and re-appear within a short timespan.

2. Stars don’t typically “go before” people (2:9).

3. Stars don’t typically move east to west (or north to south if following Fertile Crescent) as the Magi did.

4. Stars don’t typically point to individual houses.

The church fathers, however, took it literally that the star did exactly these things.  They didn’t try to explain it away.  In fact, some went further in suggesting that the star hovered over Jesus’s head.  This suggests that they may have had a different view of a star than we do (that is, a sun of another solar system).  Needless to say, if a star came even within reach of our outer atmosphere, everything would be incinerated.

This leads to five documentable realities which suggest that Matthew’s star may have been an angel.

1. The Ancient Peoples Perceived Angels as Stars

a. “Sons of God” is the phrase typically used in Job for “angels” (cf. 1:6).  Note the parallel structure in Job 38:7.

When the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

This would suggest that stars = angels.

b. The traditional interpretation of Isaiah 14:12 is that the chief angel is referred to as the “Star of the Dawn/Day.”

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star [= Latin Lucifer], son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!

c. Revelation 1:20 explicitly says that the stars in this passage are symbolic of angels/messengers of the seven churches.

As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

2. Angels Were Guides That Led God’s People

Quick, tell me what led the Israelites in the wilderness?  If you said a pillar of cloud, give yourself a point.  If you said, an angel and/= a pillar of cloud, give yourself two points.

Exodus 14:19 (ESV) “Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,”

Exodus 23:20 (ESV) “”Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”

There are other examples of angels being guides to lead God’s people to the place where he wanted them to go.

3. Angels Were Seen as Bright Objects

Matthew 28:3 (ESV) “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.”

2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV) “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

Acts 6:15 (ESV) “15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

In the Life of Adam and Eve, Satan made himself appear like “the brightness of angels.”

The Testament of Job describes a “very bright light” that conversed with Job and this light was an angel.

4. Angels Came Down from Heaven

The point here is that Matthew describes a star that came down out of heaven and led the people.  Elsewhere in the OT, NT, and extrabiblical literature, we have angels that come down out of heaven.

Genesis 28:12 (ESV) “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!”

In Rev 12:4, “a third of the stars,” is generally taken to be a reference to angels.

Revelation 12:4 (ESV) “His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.”

Revelation 18:1 (ESV) “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.”

Don’t skip this one, just because it’s not in the Bible.

Joseph and Aseneth 14:1-7: “And when Aseneth had ceased making confession to the Lord, behold the morning star rose out of heaven in the east. And Aseneth saw it and rejoiced and said, “So the Lord God listened to my prayer, because this star rose as a messenger [angelos] and herald of the light of the great day. ‘ And Aseneth kept looking, and ehold, close to the morning star, the heaven was torn apart and great and unutterable light appeared. And Aseneth saw (it) and fell on (her) face on the ashes. And a man came to her from heaven and stood by Aseneth’s head.;…And the man said, “I am the chief of the house of the Lord and commander of the whole host of the Most High.”

5. Some Ancient Testimony Explicitly Equates Matthew’s Star with an Angel

As with all of the above evidence, this does not prove anything, but it does make explicit what everything else suggests is quite possible.

Arabic Gospel of the Savior: “And it came to pass, when the Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem of Judea, in the time of King Herod, behold, magi came from the east. . . . And there were with them gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And they adored him [Jesus], and presented to Him their gifts. . . . In the same hour there appeared to them an angel in the form of that star which had before guided them on their journey; and they went away, following the guidance of this light, until they arrived in their own country.”

Theophylact (8th c.): “When you hear’star, ‘ do not think that it was a star such as we see, but a divine and angelic power that appeared in the form of a star. The magi were astrologers, and so the Lord used what was familiar to them to draw them to himself….That the star was an angelic power is apparent from the fact that it shone even by day, and that it moved as they moved, and stood still as they rested; also, that it moved from Persia in the north to Jerusalem in the south. For a star never moves from north to south.”

Ishodad of Merv (9th c.): “It is evident from many things that it was not a real star, nor an imagination, nor a fantasy, nor an automaton, but an angel who shone like a star from Persia to Bethlehem; first, because it shone equally by night and by day; second, that it was seen only by the magi and not by others; third, that it shone alone, without burning, although it came down so low from the region of the ether…even to the house;…fifth, because…this moved in the opposite way, that is to say, from south-east to north and from this to west; sixth, because it did not shine continuously …So it is clear from all these things, that it was not a natural star, but a starry likeness.“

Conclusion

This, I believe, is the chief contribution of Allison’s chapter:  “Furthermore, even when exegetes have recognized that the magi’s guiding light precludes any scientific explanation, they have still failed to note that ancient readers, unlike modern readers, might readily have identified it with an angel” (Allison 2005: 35).

 

An Interesting Footnote

“Continued attempts to defend the historicity of Matthew’s account by establishing a relationship to known astronomical phenomena are, ironically, self-defeating; for as nothing in the sky behaves like Matthew’s star, the proper conclusion, were one to decide, let us say, that memory of a conjunction lies behind our story, would be that memory of some unusual sight grew into a myth” (Allison 2005: 36n60).