by The Great Christ Comet- Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem (retail) (epub)
Conclusion
From what they saw in the eastern sky the Magi could have deduced certain things about the newborn baby, Virgo’s child par excellence: (1) His mother had conceived him through divine intervention without losing her virginity. (2) He had been born at the point when the cometary coma had in its entirety descended below Virgo’s groin. (3) He was the son of God. (4) He was glorious. (5) He was divine. (6) He had a powerful enemy who was eager to kill him. (7) He was destined to reign over the whole world. However, the celestial wonders by themselves cannot explain why the pagan astrologers came to the conclusion that the one born to a virgin was the Messiah, the King of the Jews. It was the Hebrew Scriptures, mediated through one or more Jews in Babylon, that furnished them with the all-important messianic paradigm.
8
“With Royal Beauty Bright”
Messiah’s Star
In the previous chapter we proposed that the celestial sight observed by the Magi consisted of a large cometary coma playing the part of Virgo’s baby in a celestial birth scene even as the comet as a whole formed a scepter. The retrograde long-period comet’s coma heliacally rose in Virgo’s womb and proceeded to grow in the manner of a baby there before descending to be “born.” The wonder occurred because of extraordinary comet-Earth-Sun geometry—the comet was approaching Earth after perihelion and was moving in sync with Earth. As they watched the magnificent celestial marvel unfolding before their eyes, the Magi became certain that the heavens were signaling the birth of an extraordinarily important, indeed divine, ruler to a virgin on the earth.
We must now ask how the Magi concluded that the heavenly phenomena pointed to the Messiah, the King of the Jews. Anyone living in Babylon, with its significant population of Jews, would have been familiar with the basic tenets of Judaism and probably would have known that the Jewish people expected a great future leader called the Messiah to come and ultimately reign over the world. Suetonius, Vespasian 4.5, confirms this: “An ancient superstition had spread throughout the east that out of Judea would come the rulers of the world. This prediction, which actually referred to a Roman emperor, as became clear after the event, the Jews interpreted to refer to themselves. Therefore they rebelled” (cf. Tacitus, Ann. 5.13).1 However, one would be surprised if the average magus would have been aware of particular Biblical prophecies concerning the Messiah’s birth. Almost certainly, as most scholars agree,2 the Magi must have been aided in their interpretation of the cometary apparition by one or more Jewish exiles who knew their Scriptures, had a developed messianic expectation, and considered the cometary apparition to be the fulfillment of ancient prophecies recorded in the Hebrew Bible. Certainly by the time the Magi got to Judea, they were surprisingly well-versed in Jewish messianic traditions (although not Mic. 5:2).
But which Hebrew Scriptures played the decisive role in convincing the Magi that it was the Messiah who had been born at that time? In this chapter I will suggest that the key Biblical texts that gave the Magi their messianic paradigm were Numbers 24:17; Isaiah 7:14; and 9:2.
Numbers 24:17
One of the main Old Testament prophecies that almost certainly played a part in convincing the Magi to interpret the Star as a sign of the birth of the Messiah was in Numbers 24:17–19, in the Book of Moses.
Numbers 22–24
In Numbers 22–24, the people of Israel were encamped just east of the River Jordan, poised to enter the Land. Balak, king of Moab, was afraid of them because of how they had so overwhelmingly conquered the Amorites. But instead of engaging them in military conflict, Balak hatched the plan of employing an internationally renowned Mesopotamian prophet/diviner called Balaam3 to curse the Israelites. Securing his services by flattery and a generous offer of remuneration, Balak called upon Balaam to pronounce curses on the people of Israel. However, each time Balaam opened his mouth to curse Israel, Yahweh obligated him to speak only words that were favorable to Israel. Balak was infuriated.
In Numbers 23–24 we find the four main oracles uttered by Balaam (23:7–10, 18b–24; 24:3b–9, 15b–19), followed by a cluster of short concluding oracles (24:20–24).
The fourth oracle, which is the focus of our concern, was given by Balaam without Balak’s specific prompting. This prophecy, in context, highlighted the punishment due Moab for its unprovoked hostility toward Israel. In the oracle, Balaam revealed what would take place in the distant future. He foresaw that a great leader would emerge from Israel, who would conquer the Moabites and Edomites (24:17–19): “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel will do valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”
In the ancient Near East a monarch could be spoken of as a “star” (so, for example, in Isaiah 14:12). In addition, “scepter” sometimes represented (by metonymy) a king (as in Psalm 45:6: “The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness”) or royal authority (as in Genesis 49:10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet”). Here Balaam speaks of the coming of the future Israelite ruler in terms of a “star” and “scepter.”
The Scepter Star
As we saw in chapter 6, the fact that the “scepter” is parallel to, and synonymous with, “star” makes a compelling case that the “scepter” in view is a straight, long-tailed comet. That a comet is in view is consistent with the fact that Balaam prophesied that the “star” would “come” or “move” (drk) and that the “scepter” would “rise” or “stand” (qm). In addition, the Babylonian Talmud tractate Berakhot 58b expressly refers to a comet as “a scepter star.” Many scholars4 and two recent Bible translations, the New English Bible and the Revised English Bible, have even rendered the Hebrew word used by Balaam “comet” rather than “scepter.”5 The peculiar conceptualization of this future ruler in terms of a cometary scepter strongly suggests that his birth would be attended by an extraordinary cometary apparition, anticipating his destiny as world monarch. Accordingly, it seems that Balaam was employing double entendre here—the scepter-star was both literal and metaphorical. The literal, astronomical scepter-star would announce the birth of the metaphorical scepter-star, the Messiah, who was destined to wield sovereign and military authority over Israel and its neighbors. The natal star would be a symbol of the Messiah.
As we mentioned in the last chapter, when Balaam speaks of the cometary “star” as a “scepter” that “shall rise,” it is most natural to interpret him as suggesting that the comet would look like a scepter at the time when it rose to herald the Messiah’s coming.
Fulfillment?
A glance at 2 Samuel 8 (especially vv. 2 and 13–14; cf. 3:18; 7:8–11; 1 Kings 11:15–16) shows that King David conquered Moab and Edom militarily. Was he regarded as the prophesied Scepter-Star? The answer is no. First, the historical books disclose that Moab and Edom did not remain subservient to the people of Israel on a permanent basis6 (see 2 Kings 1:1; ch. 3; 8:20; 13:20; 2 Chron. 28:17). Moreover, Isaiah 11:14 (“They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab”) and 25:9–11 make it clear that the conquest foretold by Balaam was not regarded as entirely fulfilled in the centuries after David, but still awaited a future fulfillment in connection with the Messiah. Second, there is in the Hebrew Scriptures a notable lack of any claim that David’s birth was attended by any special astronomical phenomenon.
Ancient Jewish Messianic Interpretations of Numbers 24:17
Jews around the time of Jesus’s birth interpreted Balaam’s oracle as referring to the coming of the Messiah. For example, the Qumran Community took it in this way.7 Its Damascus Document unpacked the meaning of Numbers 24:17 in the following manner: “. . . it is written ‘A star has journeyed out of Jacob and a scepter is risen out of Israel.’ ‘The scepter’ is the Prince of the whole congr
egation, and at his coming ‘he will break down all the sons of Seth.’”8
Philo summarized the oracle in the following terms: “A man shall emerge, says the oracle, leading his army to war—he shall conquer great and densely populated nations.”9
The Septuagint rendered the verse, “A star [astron] will rise [anatelei] from Jacob, and a man [anthrōpos] will emerge [anastēsetai] from Israel,” and another Greek translation10 and a Syriac version (the Peshitta)11 used “leader” in place of “scepter” or “man.”
Some of the Targums, which are later but often preserve traditions from the time of Jesus, spelled out that the “star” in view is a human. For example, Targum Neofiti rendered the verse, “A king will arise from the house of Jacob and a redeemer and ruler from the house of Israel.”12 Targum Onqelos substituted “a king” for “a star” and “the Messiah” for “a scepter.”13 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan read, “a mighty king of the house of Jacob shall reign, and shall be anointed Messiah, wielding the mighty scepter of Israel.”14 The Fragmentary Targum stated, “A king is destined to arise from the house of Jacob, a redeemer and ruler from the house of Israel, who shall slay the mighty ones, . . . who shall destroy all that remains of the guilty city, which is Rome.”15
Famously, the messianic claimant Simon Ben Kosiba in the second century AD was identified by Rabbi Aqiba as the Messiah and given the title Bar Kokhba (“Son of a Star”), under the influence of Balaam’s prophecy. This title, as well as the images of a star over the Jerusalem Sanctuary on coins issued by him, may imply that Ben Kosiba was regarded by followers as having been authenticated by some celestial phenomenon, most likely a comet, either at his birth or at some key moment in his career, so that he was viewed as the fulfillment of Numbers 24:17. Certainly, his title implied that Numbers 24:17 had been fulfilled in the coming of Ben Kosiba, “a luminary who had come down to them from heaven” (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 4.6.2).16
Two passages from the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs (which was completed by the second century AD) also took a strongly messianic interpretation of Balaam’s oracle. Testament of Judah 24:1–6 drew heavily on Numbers 24:17 when it declared concerning the Messiah that “there shall arise for you a Star from Jacob in peace: And a man shall rise from my posterity like the Sun of righteousness. . . . This is the Shoot of God Most High. . . . Then he will illumine the scepter of my kingdom, and from your root will arise the Shoot, and through it shall grow a rod of righteousness for the nations, to judge and to save all that call on the Lord.”17 Testament of Levi (18:3) stated, concerning a messianic figure whom it calls a “new priest,” that “his star shall rise in heaven like a king, kindling the light of knowledge. . . . And he shall be extolled by the whole inhabited world.”18
It is striking that Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and the Testament of Judah and Testament of Levi strongly connect the star and scepter of Numbers 24:17 with Isaiah 11’s great prophecy concerning the Messiah. Notably in both Numbers and Isaiah 11, the Messiah is associated with a “rod” or “scepter” (Isa. 11:4: “the rod of his mouth”).19
There can therefore be no doubt that Balaam’s oracle concerning the Star and Scepter was widely understood by Jews around the time of Jesus to relate to the coming of the Messiah.20
Numbers 24:17 and the Magi’s Star in Early Christian Interpretation
The early church clearly believed that Balaam’s oracle was fulfilled in connection with the coming of Jesus. Revelation 22:16 (cf. 2:26–28) refers to Jesus as “the bright morning star,” which strongly alludes to Numbers 24:17. Similarly, 2 Peter 1:19 speaks of “the prophetic word . . . , to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”21 This passage too assumes that Balaam’s prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus.
That Jesus was the fulfillment of the Mesopotamian seer’s oracle was regarded by many early Christians as confirmed by the appearance of the Star at the time of his coming. In the early centuries of Christianity, Balaam’s prophecy was widely believed to have been fulfilled literally by the Magi’s Star.
With respect to Matthew himself, most scholars recognize that Numbers 24:17 is an important background text for the account of the Magi and the Star. More particularly, it is commonly accepted that when Matthew records that the Magi declared to the people of Jerusalem that “we saw his star at its rising” (Matt. 2:2), he was strongly alluding to Numbers 24:17 and expected his readers to recognize the allusion. Of course, if that was what Matthew was thinking, then it is more than likely also what the Magi themselves were thinking, since the words are attributed to them.
Further, we recall that Revelation 12:1–5, which preserves the memory of what the Star did to mark the birth of Jesus, makes reference to the iron scepter of Psalm 2:8–9 in connection with the birth of Virgo’s son, ultimately recalling Balaam’s oracle concerning the messianic scepter-star.22 In a strongly astronomical context, particularly where a cometary apparition and the birth of the Messiah are in view, the reference to the iron scepter is most naturally interpreted as alluding to the literal fulfillment of Balaam’s oracle concerning the cometary scepter. The implication of Revelation 12:5 is that the comet at its rising took the form of a gloriously bright scepter, in which case it would be little wonder that Balaam’s prophetic word seemed a compelling interpretive key.
This New Testament evidence suggests that Numbers 24:17 played an important role in the earliest Christians’ interpretation of the significance of the Christ Comet’s appearance.
It is important to realize that the church fathers in the second and third centuries AD continued to regard Numbers 24:17 as having provided the Magi with the prophetic key to unlocking the meaning of the cometary apparition.
The second-century AD Christian apologist Justin Martyr wrote, “And that He should arise like a star from the seed of Abraham, Moses showed beforehand when he thus said, ‘A star shall arise from Jacob, and a leader from Israel’. . . . Accordingly, when a star rose in heaven at the time of His birth, as is recorded in the memoirs of his apostles, the Magi . . . , recognising the sign by this, came and worshipped Him.”23
Also in the second century, Irenaeus made this connection between Balaam’s prophecy and the Magi’s Star.24
So did Origen in the third century: “The Magi, seeing God’s sign in the heavens, looked for its meaning. I think they knew the prophecies of Balaam that are recorded by Moses.”25 Elsewhere Origen asserted that, at the point when Jesus was born, the Magi did realize that the Star was the fulfillment of that oracle.26
Therefore the early Christians believed that the Balaam oracle was literal and metaphorical. Jesus, they were convinced, was the metaphorical Star and Scepter foreseen by Balaam. At the same time, the appearance of the Star at the time of Jesus’s birth was a literal fulfillment of Balaam’s prophecy that confirmed the messianic identity of Jesus.
Numbers 24:17 and the Magi’s Interpretation of the Star
The case is strong for concluding that the Magi interpreted the cometary apparition in 6 BC in light of Numbers 24:17. No prophecy in the Hebrew Bible other than Balaam’s oracle more clearly associated the Messiah’s coming with the appearance of a celestial entity. Within Jewish thought in the Second Temple period, the prophecy was widely interpreted as referring to the coming of the Messiah. Further, the early Christians maintained not only that Jesus was the Star and Scepter of Numbers 24:17, but also that the new astronomical entity that had appeared to the Magi to signal his birth was a literal fulfillment of that ancient prediction and was regarded as such by the Magi. Moreover, most scholars agree that Matthew, our primary source on the Magi and the Star of Bethlehem, strongly intimates that the Star’s appearance was a fulfillment of Numbers 24:17. Matthew also implies that this was the understanding of the Magi themselves. It stands to reason that the Magi may have become persuaded of the relevance of Balaam’s oracle for the interpretation of the comet by the scepter-like form of the celestial body around t
he time of its rising.
In addition, Revelation 12:5 seems to intimate that, at the point when the messianic baby was born on the earth, the long, straight-tailed comet had the form of a massive scepter that was stretched out from the eastern horizon to the western horizon. Accordingly, the cometary scepter would have looked like it was resting on the earth in the west, where Judea was. Those witnessing such a phenomenon would have recalled that, according to Numbers 24:17, “a scepter shall rise out of Israel.”
Accordingly, both Matthew and Revelation suggest that the comet had the credentials to qualify as an obvious bona fide literal fulfillment of Balaam’s oracle.
It is very likely that the Magi were guided to this prophecy by one or more members of the Jewish exilic community in Babylon and found in it an important interpretive key to unlocking the mystery of the great cometary apparition.
We conclude, then, that Numbers 24:17 played an important part in helping the Magi deduce that the cometary apparition was marking the birth of the Jewish Messiah. However, it is probable that another passage from the Jewish Scriptures also strongly influenced the Magi’s interpretation of the celestial phenomenon unfolding in the eastern sky, and prompted them to make a pilgrimage to Judea to find and worship the newborn Messiah. That passage is found in the book of Isaiah.
The Book of Isaiah
The Influence of the Book of Isaiah on the Magi
The fact that the Magi brought gifts of gold and frankincense for the newborn Messiah probably reflects the influence of the book of Isaiah on their thinking regarding the comet. Gold and frankincense are specifically mentioned in Isaiah 60:1–6 as offerings that will be brought by pilgrims from the Arabian Peninsula to the Messiah during his eschatological reign over the nations. There, these two gifts are representative of the great wealth that will be presented to the Messiah by the nations. When therefore the Magi give the baby Messiah these same gifts, they are most likely intimating that they already fully acknowledge his royal authority over them and the world and look forward to the beginning of his reign.27
