Allusion may here be made to the theory that the history of tlie Magi was added to the Gospel as late as the year A.D. 119. The eWdence for tliis is a Syriac document, ascriljed to Eusebius of C.-esarea, whicli was published with an Eng. translation b^' W. Wright in tlie Journal of Sacred Literature, vols, ix., x., 1866, from a 6th cent. British Museum codex. Add. 17, 142. The title is, ' Concerning tlie sta,r : sho^Wng how and through what the Magi recognized the star, and that Jo.«eph did not take Mary as his v\-ife.' Tliis tractate relates that tlie prophecy of Balaam about the star was recorded in a letter A\Titten by Balak to the
king of Assyria, and preserved in the Assyrian archives. At last, in the reign of king Pir iShabour, the star apj^eared, and the Magi were sent with great pomp to uo homage to the Messiah. The colophon at the end states : ' And in the year 430 ( = A. D. 119), in the reign of Hadrianus Ccesar . . . this concern arose in (the minds of) men acqu<ainted with the Holy Books ; and through the pains of the great men in various places this history was .sought for and found and written in the tongue of those who took this care.' As to the meaning of this state- ment, iiowever, critics are not agreed (see F. C. Conybeare, Guardian, April 29, 1903 ; and, on the other side, Church Quarterly lievieiv, July 1904, p. 389). The more probable explanation seems to be that ' the Holy Books ' refers, not to the OT but to the narrative in Mt 2, already, therefore, incorpor- ated in the Gospel in A.D. 119; and that the ' history ' is not Mt 2, but the legend about the preservation of Balak's letter and the coming of the Magi in the reign of Pir Shabour.
To conclude this part of the subject, it may be pointed out that the story of the Magi must stand or fall with the other Mattluean narratives of the Infancy. All \vere i)robably drawn from some Avritten source, Jewish-Christian in character, and perhaps originally Aramaic in language. The value of this source cannot here be determined (see artt. Birth of Christ, Matthew). It is sufficient to point out that if a Palestinian or semi-Palestinian origin of the narratives can be sustained, the hypothesis of direct pagan influence in their forma- tion must be rejected.
3. Of the Icfjei'darij accretions to the story of the Magi, the following deserve notice. From the 6th cent., ii not before (Tert. Marc. iii. 13, Jucl. 9 are not decisive), the opinion prevailed that the Magi were kings. This belief is first unambiguously stated in a sermon ascribed to C.-psarius of Aries (Aug. 0pp. V. Append. Scrm. 189. 3) ; and it lU'e- vailed universally during the Middle Ages (cf. Paschasius, Exj^. in Mt ii. 2). Hence the festival of Epiphany received the name Fcstum Trium Regum. The idea would, of cour.se, find suppoi't in •such passages as Ps 6829- 3i 72'», Is 49''- '^^ 60^- '»• is ; but there is no sugge.stion of it in the Evangelic narrative. (For discussions see Patritius, iii. p. 320 ff. ; Spanheim, ii. p. 273 ff. ; Barradius, Com. ix. c. 8).
The number of the Magi is not specified in the Gospel. Eastern tradition fixed it at twelve (Oj). Imp. in Mt. 2 ap. Chrysost. vi. ; cf. the curious MS fragment quoted in Classical studies in honour of Henry Drisler, p. 31 — 'Twelve kings set out from Persia to go to Jerusalem,' etc.), or thirteen (Bar Bahlul in Hyde, Bel. Vet. Pers. c. 31). But in the West the number of the Magi was reckoned at three (Max. Taur. Horn. 17, 20; Leo M. Serm. 31. § 1, 2 ; 34. § 2), probably on account of their three- fold gift (Abelard, Serm. 4 : ' Quot vero isti magi fvierint, ex numero trinse oblationis tres eos fuisse multi .suspicantur '), though allegorical reasons were also found (Patritius, iii. 318tt'. ).
The familiar names of the Magi — Melchior, Gaspiir, and Balthasar — first occur in Bede, where also is given a remarkable description of their persons, derived most probably from some early work of art. ' Primus fuisse dicitur Melchior, senex et canus, barba prolixa et capillis . . . aurum obtulit regi Domino. Secundus nomine Gaspar, iuvenis imberbis, rubicundus . . . thure, quasi Deo oblatione digna, Deum honorabat. Tertius fuscus, integre barbatus, Balthasar nomine . . . per myrrham filium hominis moriturum professus est ' {Collect. V. 541. For the association of the gifts with the several Magi, contrast the familiar verse, ' Gaspar fert myrrham, thus Melchior, Balthasar aurum'). Other names are found, e.g. Appellius,
Amerius, Damascus : Magalatji, Pangalath, Sara- cen : Ator, Sator, Peratoras, etc. (Patritius, iii. p. 326 ; Spanheim, ii. pp. 288, 289 ; Hebenstreit, de Magorum nomine, patria et statu dissert., Jenae, 1709). Hyde quotes thirteen names, among which the three familiar to Western tradition do not occur {lid. Vet. Pers. c. 31).
Symbolical meanings were early attached to the gifts. Thus Irena^us says : ' Matthajus autem Magos ab Oriente venientes ait . . . per ea quae obtulerunt munera ostendisse quis erat qui adora- batur : myrrham quidem quod ijjse erat qiii pro mortali humano genere moreretur et sepeliretur : auiam vero quoniam rex, cuius regni finis non est : thus vero, quoniam Deus, qui et notus in Jiidsea factus est, et manifestus eis qui non qua>rebant eum' {H(er. iii. 9. 2, cf. Max. Taur. Horn. 21 ; Leo, Serm. 34. 3 ; Origen, c. Cels. i. 60 ; Ambros. in Lk. ii. 44 ; [Aug.] Serm. 139. 2 ; Hilar. Com. in Mt. 1 ; and Christian poets, Juvencus, Ev. Hist. i. 285 ; Prudent. Cath. xii. 69 ft'.; Sedulius, Carm. Pasch. ii. 96 ; [Claudian] Carm. Apjiend. 21). Mediaeval tradition invented hi.stories for these gifts. The gold consisted of thirty pennies, which had once been paid by Abraham for the cave of Maclqielah, and which were afterwards given to Judas. Some of the myrrh is said to have been administered to Jesus on the cross {Quarterly Rcviev:, vol. Ixxviii. p. 433fi".).