The Wise Men - Who They Were; And How They Came to Jerusalem #244458

He Opens their story with a brief introduction, where one great fact — even the birth of Jesus — is stated in fewest words, where some historical and geographi cal knowledge is taken for granted; and it is in keep ing that in this, his description of the strangers is by their title, only. This, too, is brief; but portraiture in the flowing style of romance, or with the minuteness of a child's history book, would be out of place in a gos pel. A title is, more or less, a description. To call men Mandarins, is to describe them and thus the title Magi here stands for pages, in more diffuse and less suggestive writers; for when St. Matthew calls these foreigners Magi, he tells their nation, and their character. Their title introduces them as Persians of the sacred or priestly order of Persia.