Zodiac System
By the time of Jesus’ birth, the astrologers had devised a system of interpreting the meaning of the lights in the sky which we now call the Zodiac. It consisted of constellations of stars which were named and associated with living creatures. The Hellenistic star gazers had determined that the constellation Aries (the Ram) was the Zodiac symbol which had to do with the region of Judea. Thus, the magi would have looked towards Aries to tell them about the events concerting Judea, among which could be indications of the death of a current king or birth of a new king of the Jews. It is within that belief system in which we have to consider the fascinating Bethlehem Star.
What was the Star of Bethlehem?
There are a wide variety of commentaries on the Book of Matthew which discuss a wide spectrum of both theological and scientific views about the star of Bethlehem. Among those views is that the star was just a fictional myth meant to add drama and glory to the birth of Jesus. Another view is that there is no point in trying to explain the star in any natural terms as the star was a supernatural event. It was a miracle. Other views are that this star was a rare celestial event which coincided with Jesus’ birth.
Recently, some have argued that the appearance of the mysterious star is a Jewish teaching on the famous Old Testament account of the seer named Balaam. It states that the appearance of a star would accompany the birth of the Messiah.
This is the speech of Balaam, the son of Bear. The speech of a man whose eyes have been opened, the speech of him who hears God’s words, who knows what God knows, who sees what the Almighty sees, who had fallen, yet has open eyes. “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not soon. A star will step forth from Jacob, a scepter will arise from Israel, to crush the corners of Moab and destroy all descendants of Sheth. (Numbers 24:15-17)
Balaam’s mention of a star stepping forth is being related by some scholars as the star of Bethlehem. While I do not find this line of thinking conclusive, it is hard to ignore the many parallels between the story of King Balak and Balaam and the magi’s journey to Judea.
1. King Herod’s family was from Idumea (formerly known as Edom), and King Balak was also from that region.
2. Just as the magi ruined King Herod’s plan to kill the Messiah child, Balaam also ruined King Balak’s plans to kill the Israelites.
3. Balaam was a magi just as the star gazers were who came to find the new king of the Jews.
4. The magi came because a star announces the birth of a new king of the Jews, and Balaam mentioned a star that had to do with the arrival of a savior and king who would come from among the people of Israel.
During King Herod’s reign, the Jews were looking for a Messiah to arise. The pagan star gazers were looking for a king. The sign the Jews were looking for was not exactly clear. They just knew a leader would arise who would save them from their current Roman oppression. For the magi, the sign they were looking for was in the sky. They were looking for portents and omens.
A Closer Reading of Matthew 2:1-16
A close reading of the text shows that the magi did not go to King Herod and ask: “where is the newborn king of the Jews?” Rather, they arrived in Jerusalem and began asking around for this information. These inquiries reached the ears of King Herod because it unsettled the residents of Jerusalem. One can only imagine what this news did to King Herod’s already paranoid and suspicious psyche.
Herod was a brutal man who committed terrible atrocities even upon his closest family members. It was not just his brutality that distanced him from his Jewish subjects; it was also that Herod was not even a Jew. His mother was a Nabatean—Nabateans were an ancient Arab people who lived in northern Arabian from the Euphrates River to the Red Sea. Herod’s father was an Idumean (this is the Greek name for Edom). Herod was not raised in a Jewish household. Rather, it most likely was a Hellenistic household were a combination of Hellenistic and Jewish traditions were practiced.
Herod was a Hellenistic tyrant who completely aligned himself with Rome and fully embraced Roman culture. Any inkling of danger to his throne (real or imagined) was instantly dealt with. He killed three of his own sons thinking they might be plotting against him. He had so many people killed (many of whom were innocent) that August Caesar once commented that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s family.
With Herod’s ruthless rule coupled with thousands of Roman troops trampling over the Holy City, it is no wonder the Jewish people yearned for a deliverer and thought they were living in prophesied times of the apocalypse.
Back to the magi: One thing to note is the question the magi asked was not “if” a new king of the Jews had been born, but “where”. There was no doubt in their minds that a new Judean king had been born because a celestial omen had alerted them to it, and they fully trusted what they saw and what it meant. Oddly enough, the people of Jerusalem and Herod were startled by the magis’ hunt for a new Jewish king. They were unaware of such an event.
Yet, Herod understood the dire consequences of the meaning of the magis’ message because he believed the new king would also be the Messiah. We are left with a couple important questions.
1. How exactly did the magi know the this new king of the Jews had been born?
2. What was it they saw in the sky which alerted them to it?
3. How is it the Jews, the people over whom this new king was supposed rule over were completely unaware of, but the pagan star gazers expected and found?
The Star of Bethlehem has mesmerized and thrilled millions and millions of Christians over the centuries. We will explore what exactly the star might have been and where it might have come from.
Was it a comet?
Most of the theories about the star are based on how best to translate the Greek word “aster”. Matthew does not go into any great lengths to give us any help to understand what the word “aster” might mean in this context. The main problem we face is that the term “aster” could describe any number of heavenly bodies and luminaries including comets. Therefore, perhaps the most widely proposed solution for the identity of the Star of Bethlehem is that it was indeed a comet.
Comets can appear in the sky unexpectedly, hang around for weeks or months and then disappear. Here is the issue with this proposal that the star was a comet: for the pagan magi, a comet was an omen of disaster. It was a BAD sign. It was not something which would prompt the idea of birth and a king. Comets were thought to be a portent of DEATH of a king, or even the death of an emperor.
During the rule of Vespasian in 79 A.D., less than a decade after the destruction of the Holy Temple, a comet suddenly appeared in the night sky. He and his subjects knew this was an astrological omen that the end of his life was imminent. Vespasian’s reaction was to deflate any such stories of his demise. Vespasian declares that the comet’s bad sign was not of his death but to the king of Parthia. A few months from the first appearance of the comet, the king of Parthia did not die. However, Vespasian did die most likely from dysentery.
Comets were harbingers of death and calamity to the Hellenistic astrologers of the first couple centuries before and after Jesus’ birth. So the thought that modern Bible scholars have that the Star of Bethlehem was a comet is completely incorrect. We can scratch that off our list of possibilities.
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