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Summary
- Matthew never gives Jesus’ age when the wise men came, but his clues point to a child under two, perhaps about a year old.
- The wise men found “the young child with Mary his mother” in a house (Matthew 2:11); the shepherds had found the newborn “lying in a manger” on the night of his birth (Luke 2:16).
- Herod killed the boys of Bethlehem “from two years old and under”, going by what the wise men had told him about when the star appeared (Matthew 2:16).
- Augustine, around AD 400, thought the wise men came thirteen days after the birth; Epiphanius and Juvencus thought two years; many readers, the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia among them, put it about a year after.
- Nativity scenes put the wise men at the manger to tell the whole story at once; the Western Church keeps their feast, the Epiphany, on 6 January.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (BibleGateway, KJV): Leviticus 12:2–8; Psalm 72:10; Isaiah 60:3; Matthew 2:1–18; Luke 2:16–17, 2:21–24, 2:39 and 3:23.
- Strong’s Greek 3813 (paidion), 1025 (brephos) and 3097 (magos), with Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Bible Hub: paidion, brephos, magos
- Walter Drum, “Magi”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 9 (New York, 1910): newadvent.org
- Francis Mershman, “Holy Innocents”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7 (New York, 1910): newadvent.org
- Augustine, The Harmony of the Gospels, Book II, chapter 5, trans. S. D. F. Salmond (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 6, 1888): newadvent.org
- Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 78 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, 1885): newadvent.org
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book III, chapter 9 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, 1885): newadvent.org
- Tertullian, Against Marcion, Book III, chapter 13, trans. Peter Holmes (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3, 1885): newadvent.org
- Pope Leo XIV, Angelus on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, 6 January 2026: vatican.va
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, readings for the Epiphany of the Lord, 4 January 2026: bible.usccb.org
- Orthodox Church in America, lives of the saints for 25 December (the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi) and for 6 January (Theophany): 25 December, 6 January
- Richard Gottheil and others, “Herod I”, Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, 1906): jewishencyclopedia.com
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