STAR IN THE East {aarqp iv ry avaroKi), IMatt. ii, 1). The evangelist in the passage cited (ii, 1-12) re- lates that at the time of the birth of our Lord there came wise men (magi) from the East to Jerusalem to iiKluire after the newly born King of the Jews in order that they might otTer him presents and worship him. A star which they had seen in the East guided them to the house where the infant Messiah was. Having come into his presence, they presented unto him gifts — gold and frankincense and myrrh. See Mkssiah.
1. Until the last few years the interpretation of this phenomenon by theologians in general coincided in the main with that which would be given to it by any per- son of ordinary intelligence who read the account with due attention. Some supernatural light resembling a star (perhaps a comet, Origen, Cds. i, 58; see Heyn, Sendschreib. etc. [Hrandenb. 1742] ; opposed by Semler, Beschreib. etc. [Halle, 1743]; replied to by Heyn, Bro- schuren, etc. [Berl. 1743]) had appeared in some country (possibly Persia) far to the east of Jerusalem to men who were versed in the study of celestial phenomena, conveying to their minds a supernatural impulse to re- pair to Jerusalem, where they would find a new-born king. It supposed them to be followers, and possibly priests, of the Zend religion, whereby they were led to expect a Redeemer in the person of the .Jewish infant. At all events, these wise men were ChakUean magi. During many centuries, the magi had been given to the study of astronomy and had corrupted and disfig- ured their scientific knowledge by astrological specula- tions and dreams. A conviction had long been spread throughout the East that about the commencement of our a;ra a great and victorious prince, or the Messiah, was to be born (Lucan, i, 529; Sueton. Cits. H8; Seneca, Nat. Qiuegf. i, 1; Josephus, lV<ir, vi, 5, 3; Servius, Ad Virg. Eel. ix, 47; Justin, xxxvii, 2 ; Lamprid. A lex. Ser. 12). His birth was, in consequence of words of Sacred Scripture (Numb, xxiv, 17), connected with the ajipear- ance of a star. Calculations seem to have led the as- trological astronomers of Jlcsopotamia to fix the time for the advent of this king in the latter days of Herod, and the place in the land of Judica (see Tacit, //isf.v, 13; Sueton. I'esp.iv). On arriving at Jerusalem, after diligent inquiry and consultation with the |iriests and learned men who could naturally best inform them, they were directed to proceed to Bethlehem. The star which they had seen in the East reappeared to them and preceded them (jzporiytv nlirovc}, until it took up its station over the [ilace where the young child was (fdjg tX^u)]' tffraS';/ tTramo oi' tji' to TraiCiov). The whole matter, that is, was supernatural; forming a por-
tion of that divine pre-arrangement whereby, in his deep humiliation among men, the child Jesus was hon- ored and acknowledged by the Father as his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased. Thus the lowly shejiherds who kept their nightly watch on the plains near Bethlehem, together with all that remained of the highest and best philosophy of the East, are alike the partakers and the witnesses of the glory ol liiin who was "born in the city of David, a Saviour which is Christ the Lord." Such is substantially the account which, until the earlier jiart of the present century, would have been given by orthodox divines of the star of the magi. The solid learning and free conjecture of Christian divines have combined with the unfriendly daring of infidelitj' to cast difficulties on the particulars involved in this passage of Holy Writ. Much has been written by friends and enemies on the subject. The extreme rationalistic view is given by Strauss (Leben Jesu, i, 249). See Jesus Christ.
2. Latterly, however, a very different opinion has gradually become prevalent upon the sulyect. The star has been displaced from the category of the super- natural, and has been referred to the ordinary astro- nomical phenomenon of a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The idea originated with Kepler, who, among many other brilliant but untenable fancies, supposed that if he could identify a conjunction of the above-named planets witli the Star of Bethlehem he would thereby be able to determine, on the basis of cer- tainty, the very difficult and obscure point of the An- nus Domini. Kepler's suggestion was worked out by Dr. IiUler of Berlin, and the results of his calculations certainly do, on the first impression, seem to shovv a very specious accordance with the phenomena of the star in question. We purpose, then, in the first place, to state what celestial phenomena ilid occur with refer- ence to the planets Jupiter and Saturn at a date as- suredly not very distant from the time of our Saviour's birth, and then to examine how far they fullil. or fail to fidlil, the conditions required by the narrative in Matthew. (In this discussion we freely use the mate- rials afforded in Smith's iJict. of the Bibk, \vifh addi- tions from other sources.)
In the month of May, B.C. 7, a conjunction of the planets .Jupiter and Saturn occurred not far from the first point of Aries, the planets rising in Chalikea about three and a half hours before the sun. Ke|)ler made his calculations and found that Jupiter and Saturn were in conj miction in the constellation Pisces (a fish is the astrological symbol of Judasa) in the latter half of the year of Rome 747, and were joined by Mars in 748. It appears that Jupiter and Saturn came together for the first time on May 20 in the twentieth degree of the constellation of the Fishes. Jupiter then passed by Saturn towards the north. About the middle of Sep- tember they were, near midnight, both in o[)position to the sim — Saturn in the thirteenth, Jupiter in the fif- teenth degree — being distant from each other about a degree and a half. Tiiey then drew nearer. On Oct. 27 there was a second conjunction in the sixteenth degree, and on Nov. 12 there took place a third conjunction in the fifteenth degree of the same constellation. In the two last conjunctions the interval between the planets amounted to no more than a degree, so that to the un- assisted eye the rays of the one planet were absorbed in those of the other, and the two bodies would appear as one. The two planets went past each other three times, came verj' near together, and showed themselves all night long for months in conjunction with each oth- er, as if they would never separate again.