There is an old legend of a 4th Wiseman named Artaban. Like the other Magi, he sees signs in the heavens proclaiming that a King had been born among the Jews. And so, he sets out to see the newborn ruler, carrying treasures to give as gifts to the child - a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl of great price.
The story expands the account of the Biblical Magi, recounted in the Gospel of Matthew. It tells about a "fourth" wise man, a priest of the Magi named Artaban, from Persia. Like the other Magi, he sees signs in the heavens that a King had been born among the Jews.
Based on Henry van Dyke's classic, The Story of the Other Wise Man, this fictional story set in Biblical times is told in gently comic terms. A Magi named Artaban (Martin Sheen) sees a sign in the heavens that he hopes will lead him and his faithful servant to the Messiah.
The fourth wise man, Artaban, brought with him three pearls to give to Jesus, as large as pigeon eggs and as white as the moon, or, according to other traditions, a pearl, a sapphire and a ruby.
From a wide assortment of names suggested for the Magi, those that eventually prevailed were Gaspar (or Caspar), Melchior, and Balthasar. But the names, like the lands of origin, were never consistently assigned to a particular king.
The biblical Magi (/ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/ or /ˈmædʒaɪ/; singular: magus)—also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men, (Three) Kings, and the (Three) Magi—were distinguished foreigners in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition. They are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Story. The story is an addition and expansion of the account of the Biblical Magi, recounted in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It tells about a "fourth" wise man (accepting the tradition that the Magi numbered three), a priest of the Magi named Artaban, one of the Medes from Persia.
The three Kings we know today – Balthazar, Gaspar, and Melchior – thought they must be in the wrong place. However, the fourth King, known as Hopsenmalt, showed the landlord his wonderful beer. In return, he was told the truth about the stable and the manger.
The wise men seem to have kept busy well into their golden years, at least according to a calendar of saints at the great cathedral in Cologne, Germany, where their alleged remains are housed: “Having undergone many trials and fatigues for the Gospel,” it reads, they met one last time in Armenia.
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
Artaban and his companions Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar decided to follow the star to pay homage to the new-born King. To prepare for the journey Artaban sold his possessions and bought three jewels, a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl, as presents for the new King.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the men found the divine child in Bethlehem by following the North Star across the desert. According to later writings, the Kings (Melchior from Europe, Caspar from Arabia, and Balthazar from Africa) arrived twelve days after Jesus' birth.
Solomon was the son of King David, who was known as, "A man after mine own heart." Instead of asking for riches and power, Solomon asked God for wisdom. God granted his request, and he became the wisest man to ever live on the earth.
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As Artaban is dying, he hears a voice saying, “Verily I say unto thee, inasmuch as thou hast done it unto the least of my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.” At that point, Artaban knows that his treasures were accepted, and the fourth wise man dies having found his king.
because he missed the caravan. He got to Bethlehem too late to see the Baby Jesus. But Artaban did make it in time to save one of the Holy Innocents by bribing a soldier.
Solomon was the biblical king most famous for his wisdom. In 1 Kings he sacrificed to God, and God later appeared to him in a dream, asking what Solomon wanted from God. Solomon asked for wisdom in order to better rule and guide his people.
Helena also found the burial site of the Magi, and moved their remains to the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now known as Istanbul, Turkey). Fifty to 75 years later, the remains were moved to Milan, Italy. That spawned the celebration known as the Feast of the Epiphany.
The magi were a Median Kurdish priestly caste or tribe who rose to prominence in ancient Persia (today's Iran). Their religion, Zoroastri-anism, originated around the Sixth Century BC after the Median Zoroaster (the name itself possibly means "dawn star").
According to the Bible, the Wise Men were three middle eastern kings— Gaspar, Melchior, and Baltasar—who felt compelled by God and a new star in the sky to go to Jerusalem and bring gifts to the son of God who was to be born.
Elah (Hebrew: אֵלָה 'Ēlā; Greek: Ἠλά; Latin: Ela) was the fourth king of Israel, the son and successor of Baasha.
Ted Sieger's picture book tells the story of the fourth king in the Gospel's Nativity: king Mazzel, who set off with his small camel, a star-map and a crystal to travel together with his better-known stargazing friends Casper, Melchior and Baltazaar to pay his homage to the new born king.
Jehoshaphat (/dʒəˈhɒʃəfæt/; alternatively spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; Hebrew: יְהוֹשָׁפָט, Modern: Yəhōšafat, Tiberian: Yŏhōšāp̄āṭ, "Yahweh has judged"; Greek: Ἰωσαφάτ, romanized: Iosafát; Latin: Josaphat), according to 1 Kings 22:41, was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, in ...
Early medieval written legends report that one of the three kings who paid homage to the Christ Child in Bethlehem was from Africa. But it would take nearly 1,000 years for European artists to begin representing Balthazar, the youngest of the three kings, as a black man.
Proverbs 13:20 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
In the ninth chapter of Daniel's book, Daniel is told by God in a dream exactly how many years will pass before the death of the Messiah. Ah! So the wise men came from Babylon! They were the followers of Daniel, who had left them instructions telling them exactly when they should begin looking for the Messiah!