With no room to be found anywhere else, Jesus is born in a meager manger housed inside a stable, with Mother Mary and Joseph tending to the tiny baby, all surrounded by the barn animals that lived there. The massive, brilliant Christmas star of Bethlehem hovers above the entirety of the scene, bathing the humble countryside in its soothing blue light, as three kings – otherwise known as ‘the wise men’ – kneel and offer their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the newborn ‘king of kings’, with Mary and Joseph looking on in approval.

You can see the image of it in your mind, can’t you? It is arguably the most iconic scene in all of human history.

But, could it be that this indelible scene of the first Christmas is, in fact, inaccurate?

To explore the question further, let’s examine what the Bible tells us about these wise men:

Matthew 2 reads:

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”…and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

Note that nowhere in the passage does it say or even suggest that there were specifically three wise men, nor does it refer to them as ‘kings.’ It is widely believed that the number three was eventually accepted to describe how many of them there were because of the three gifts that were offered.

Also, make note that the verse clearly states that these wise men did not in fact visit the manger on the night Jesus was born – it says they visited and worshiped him in a house, which clearly was post-manger. There is no mention of the barn animals or any manger in reference to this group of men, which at least infers those things were not a part of their experience.

The Bible does suggest that these wise men journeyed for 12 days to reach Bethlehem. But modern Biblical scholars believe that the wise men most likely originated from ancient Persia, or near modern-day Iran – a full 800 to 900 miles from Bethlehem. Given that fact, it seems impossible that they would have actually been able to lay their eyes upon Jesus for many days – if not months or years – after his birth.

In fact, given that these wise men were traveling on the backs of camels, it is quite possible the journey could have taken three months to a year to complete – not including any time that might have been needed in preparation for the trip, which by itself would have been substantial and easily could’ve taken weeks to accomplish.

Their gifts were significant. Gold was the most precious metal on the planet. Frankincense was a white resin or gum that was highly fragrant when burned. In the Old Testament, it was traditionally burned as an offering to God in temples. Myrrh was an expensive embalming oil that was used in perfumes and cosmetics. It was also an ingredient in the sacred anointing oil used to consecrate Old Testament priests.

Interestingly, this group of wise men are referred to as ‘the Magi’ in the Bible, which was a term that referred to a kind of subclass of Persian priests. But it is also a term used to describe men who performed magic, or that were known in the day as astronomers. Remember – in olden times signs from the heavens were commonly used to foretell the future, both good and bad.

So given that fact, it would make sense that these particular men, astronomers of their day, would’ve been sent out by Herod seeking the truth behind the astronomical event of the Christmas star seen blazing in the skies by everyone.

How could these ‘wise men’ or Herod himself even have a real clue about the significance of the star? Most likely, the Magi knew of the writings of Daniel, who had been the chief of the court seers in Persia, who wrote about a prophecy spelling out the timeline for the birth of a Messiah. The prophecy of Balaam, who was from the town of Pethor on the Euphrates River near Persia, which specifically speaks about ‘a star to come out of Jacob,’ could have been influential as well.

Now, with all that said, the fact that the wise men almost certainly did not visit Jesus at the time of his birth or that there may have been more than three of them does nothing to diminish their significance in the overall Christmas story or their role in helping to bring him immediately into the world’s spotlight. The fact that they were among the first to officially worship Jesus soon after his birth and because they honored him as a legitimate king to the rest of the world makes their inclusion into the Christmas story appropriate and quite deserved.