# Wise Men Visit Herod

Life of Jesus · Draft · BSB

Content revision: 524a4e650579647f · No editorial review date recorded

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Date: Birth and childhood. A guided comparison of Gospel accounts, not a measured calendar or a claim that every parallel follows the same sequence.

Magi from the east arrive in Jerusalem asking about the newborn king. Herod consults the chief priests and scribes, learns of Bethlehem and secretly asks the visitors to report back.

Matthew gives neither the visitors’ number nor their names and does not call them kings. Their home country and the timing relative to Luke’s presentation are not specified.

## Primary Scripture

[Matthew 2:1–8 (BSB)](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202%3A1%E2%80%938&version=BSB)

2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,

2:2 asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

2:3 When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

2:4 And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

2:5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

2:6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”

2:7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.

2:8 And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”

## Related Scripture

[Micah 5:2–5 · teaching](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Micah%205%3A2%E2%80%935&version=BSB)

The Bethlehem prophecy is cited in the inquiry before Herod.

## Location evidence

Matthew explicitly brings the visitors to Jerusalem; their homeland is only described as east, so no origin point or travel route is drawn.

Event map marker: Identified site; \[longitude, latitude\] = \[35.23494, 31.77744\]. This is a teaching marker, not an exact event venue.

Jerusalem: Identified site. Coordinates \[longitude, latitude\]: \[35.23494, 31.77744\]. Classification source: rule.

[Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire](http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/15896)

[Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire](http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/15896)

## For the class

How do the visitors’ purpose and Herod’s purpose differ?

## Interpretation and reuse

Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.

Record source: theographic (255)

Record source: editorial

Events and places adapted from Theographic Bible Metadata (github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata), CC BY-SA 4.0. This adapted data is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.

Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.

Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm

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