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... 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... 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... See more

The Revised Standard Version (1952) and New Revised Standard Version (1989) both used wise men, but the New International Version (1983) and New American Bible (2011), and the latest version of NRSV (2021) all have used Magi, following Jerome’s transliteration.

The shift to Magi and away from wise men indicates that recent scholarship has become... See more

The abstract for Albert de Jong’s chapter:

This chapter examines illegitimate ritual forms in ancient Iran as practices deemed unacceptable by Zoroastrianism. It surveys specific negative roles and opponents listed in textual sources as “evil,” beginning with the daevayasna (worshippers of incorrect gods), yatu (sorcerers), and paririka (witches).

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