Biblical Magi Biblical Magi The biblical Magi ( or ; singular: magus), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, were, in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition. Matthew is the only of the four canonical gospels to mention the Magi. Matthew reports that they came "from the east" to worship the "king of the Jews". The gospel never
Biblical Magi depending on the tradition. The gift of gold is sometimes associated with Melchior as well and in some traditions, Melchior is the old man of the three Magi. Three gifts are explicitly identified in Matthew: gold, frankincense, and myrrh, in Koine Greek: "chrysós" (), "líbanos" () and "smýrna" (). Many different theories of the meaning and symbolism of the gifts have been brought forward. While gold is fairly obviously explained, frankincense, and particularly myrrh, are much more obscure. See the previous section for who gave which. The theories generally break down into two groups: Myrrh was used as an embalming