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The Star of Bethlehem

© Copyright 2003, Jim Loy

What was the Star of Bethlehem? Various people have claimed to have deduced the nature of this star, but it looks like there will always be a great deal of uncertainty involved. This is the story of the wise men, as told in Matthew Chapter 2 (King James version):

1. Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2. Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6. And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Notice that this is not the night of Jesus' birth, and Joseph and his family had moved into a house. Also notice that Herod asked the wise men when the star first appeared, apparently trying to deduce the age of Jesus from that. Later in the same chapter, he killed all of the children two years of age and younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so apparently Jesus was two years old (or younger, if Herod added a margin for possible error) when the wise men visited. Also there is no mention of how many wise men there were. Three is the best guess, as there were three gifts (frankincense and myrrh were incenses). The Bible does not call them kings or magi, and does not give their names or place of origin. The prophecy (verse 6, above) is a shortened form of Micah 5:2-5.

The wise men were from the east, and they had seen Jesus' star in the east. It is popularly thought that they followed this star all the way and it led them to Jesus. But we see above that they went to Jerusalem instead. It is evident that they saw a "star" which, to them, meant the fulfilling of prophecy (perhaps Numbers 24:17, which is not a very obvious prophecy of Jesus' birth), and went to search for Jesus. In the court of Herod the Great, they were sent on to Bethlehem, and the star led them only at the end, and shone over Jesus' house.

The story of the shepherds on the night of Jesus' birth is told in Luke, chapter 2. They were tending their flocks at night, and an angel appeared, telling them to go to the manger. We are often told that shepherds tend their flocks only in the spring, keeping them penned up in the rest of the year, and so Jesus was born in the spring. I find it hard to believe that shepherds only tend their flocks in the spring. I think you will find that they can do this at any time of the year, and so, this is no strong clue about what time of the year that Jesus was born.

Later, the church created their calendar to begin in year one, not year zero (as is more logical), as the year of Jesus' birth. This was a guess. Jesus was apparently born during the rule of Herod the Great, who died in 4 B.C.E. ("before the Christian era" or "before the common era"). So, Jesus was born some time before 3 B.C.E. That is one reason why historians now prefer to use "B.C.E." instead of "B.C." ("before Christ") and "C.E." ("Christian era" or "common era" meaning the current era) instead of "A.D." ("anno Domini" or "in the year of the Lord" which logically belongs before a date, not after) because using the starting point of Jesus' birth is a blatant error of at least four years, with Jesus being born before Christ, so to speak.

So what was the star? Back then almost anything was called a star: star, planet, comet, meteor. Astronomers have occasionally found candidates for this star:

• There was a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C.E. A conjunction is when two planets appear near each other in the sky. A triple conjuction (three conjunctions in relatively rapid succession) is very rare. Astrologers may have easily seen this, and even predicted it. A conjunction is not likely to be called a star, but Jupiter and Saturn were called stars. So this makes sense.
• There was a conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars in 6 B.C.E.
• There were comets in 5 B.C.E. and 4 B.C.E.
• There was a nova (exploding star) in 5 B.C.E.
• Sometimes it is possible to see a very faint Uranus, which had not officially been discovered.
• There could have been meteors.

The logical verdict is, "Who knows?" It could have been any of these, or several of these, or none of these. Also, the prophecy of a star in Numbers gives no details. There is no real clue why the wise men would associate any star with the birth of a King of the Jews. And so there are several mysteries here, and not enough clues.

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