Matt 2:1-6 says:
(1) ―In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men (Note: the Greek
for "wise men" is (magoi) which is equivalent to rabbi) from the East came to Jerusalem,
(2) asking, ―Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its
rising, and have come to pay him homage.
(3) When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;
(4) and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the
Messiah was to be born.
(5) They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
(6) And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel”. (Cited from Micah 5:2)
Babylon was known as "the land to the east‖. At the time of the birth of Y‘shua, the largest Jewish population
was actually in Babylon—not in Palestine. Nearly five hundred years earlier, the entire nation of Judah had
been carried away captive into Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. Only a small colony of Jews returned to
Palestine after sixty-three years of captivity. The greater number of them remained where they had
established homes in the land of Babylon.
It is very likely that the wise men from the east were Jewish rabbis who had been anticipating the coming of
the Messiah because of Daniel‘s seventy weeks prophecy (Dan 9:24), which was literally fulfilled to the day.
They had spotted a new star in the sky and took it to be a sign of the coming of the Messiah.
If these wise men were able to find references to the birth of the Messiah in the Holy Scriptures, then we
should be able to find clues to his birth as well. Since the coming of the Messiah is such an important part of
Jewish tradition, Christians should ALSO be able to find this event foretold in the annual observances and
rituals of the nation of Israel such as Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles).
2:2- 4 A Star out of Jacob
From the Hebrew Scriptures (Tanach – Old Covenant):
―And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east,
and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed‖.
(Gen 28:14)
―I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a
Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth‖.
(Num 24:17)
From the Rabbinic Writings:
―A STAR shall proceed out of Jacob, and there shall come a SCEPTRE in Israel. The KING Messiah is
here spoken of as a STAR‖. (Rabbi Lieva of Prague)
―When a king shall arise out of Jacob and the Messiah be anointed from Israel, He will slay the princes
of Moab, and reign over all the children of man‖. (Targum Onkelos)
―Our rabbis have a tradition that in the week in which the Messiah will be born there will be a bright
STAR in the east, which is „THE STAR OF THE Messiah‟”. (Pesikta Sortarta fol. 58. c.1)
―He said to him: ̳I have yet to raise up the Messiah‘, of whom it is written, For a child is born to us
(Isa. IX, 5). Until I come unto my Lord unto Seir (Gen. XXXIII, I4). R. Samuel b. Nahman said: ―We have
searched all the Scriptures and we have nowhere found [it stated] that Jacob ever came together with Esau
at Seir. What then is the meaning of, 'Unto Seir‘? Jacob [meant] to say to him: 'I have yet to raise up judges
and saviours to exact punishment from you‘. Whence this? For it is said, ̳And saviours shall come up on
mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau‘ (Obad. I, 21). Israel asked God: ̳Master of the Universe, how long
shall we remain subjected to him?' He replied: 'Until the day comes of which it is written, There shall step
forth a star out of Jacob and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel (Num. XXIV, 17); when a star shall step
forth from Jacob and devour the stubble of Esau‘‖. (Midrash Rabbah - Deut 1:20)
―R. Johanan said: Rabbi used to expound There shall step forth a star (kokab) out of Jacob (Num. XXIV,
17), thus: read not ‘kokab but kozab (lie). When R. Akiba beheld Bar Koziba he exclaimed, „This is the king
Messiah!‟‖ (Midrash Rabbah - Lamentations 2:4)
It is also interesting to note that Rabbi Akiva named the false Messiah, Bar-Kosiba, the "son of the star" at
the time of the second Jewish war with Rome (132 CE).