The Greek word magoi is a transliteration of the Persian magush , who were Zoroastrian priests. They were experts on the motion and reading of the stars, i.e., astronomy and astrology. Greek authors did not have a clear understanding of either Zoroastrianism or what the Persian priests ( magush ) actually did. They viewed them as involved in the da... See more

The word magoi often has the meaning of “magician”, in both Old and New Testaments (see Acts, viii, 9; xiii, 6, 8; also the Septuagint of Dar:., i, 20; ii, 2i 10, 27; iv, 4; v, 7, 11, 15). St. Justin (Tryph., lxxvui), Origen (Cels., I, lx), St. Augustine (Serm. xx, De epiphania) and St. Jerome (In Isa., xix, 1) find the same meaning in the second c... See more

Neither were they magicians: the good meaning of magoi, though found nowhere else in the Bible, is demanded by the context of the second chapter of St. Matthew. These Magians can have been none other than members of the priestly caste already referred to. The religion of the Magi was fundamentally that of Zoroaster and forbade sorcery; their astrol... See more