Star of Bethlehem

[2]Herod calls together his scribes and priests who, quoting a verse from the Book of Micah, interpret it as a prophecy that the Jewish Messiah would be born in Bethlehem to the south of Jerusalem.

Secretly intending to find and kill the Messiah in order to preserve his own kingship, Herod invites the wise men to return to him on their way home.

[8] However, most ancient sources and Church tradition generally indicate that the wise men visited Bethlehem sometime after Jesus' birth.

3When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

7Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; 8and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."

Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.Herod is "troubled", not because of the appearance of the star, but because the Magi have told him that a "king of the Jews" had been born,[14] which he understands to refer to the Messiah, a leader of the Jewish people whose coming was believed to be foretold in scripture.

[17] When Herod realizes he has been tricked, he orders the execution of all male children in Bethlehem "two years old and younger," based on the age the child could be in regard to the information the magi had given him concerning the time the star first appeared.

[22] This is also said to be a fulfillment of a prophecy ("He will be called a Nazorean," (NRSV) which could be attributed to Judges 13:5[23] regarding the birth of Samson and the Nazirite vow.

"[27][nb 3] Scholars who see the gospel nativity stories as later apologetic accounts created to establish the messianic status of Jesus regard the Star of Bethlehem as a pious fiction.

Some scholars suggest that Jesus was born in Nazareth, and that the Bethlehem nativity narratives were later additions to the gospels intended to present his birth as the fulfillment of prophecy.

[30] According to Bart D. Ehrman, the Matthew account conflicts with that given in the Gospel of Luke, in which the family of Jesus already lives in Nazareth, travel to Bethlehem for the census, and return home almost immediately.

[34][35] Origen, one of the most influential early Christian theologians, connected this prophecy with the Star of Bethlehem: If, then, at the commencement of new dynasties, or on the occasion of other important events, there arises a comet so called, or any similar celestial body, why should it be matter of wonder that at the birth of Him who was to introduce a new doctrine to the human race, and to make known His teaching not only to Jews, but also to Greeks, and to many of the barbarous nations besides, a star should have arisen?

[36]Origen suggested that the Magi may have decided to travel to Jerusalem when they "conjectured that the man whose appearance had been foretold along with that of the star, had actually come into the world".

[43] In 1614, German astronomer Johannes Kepler determined that a series of three conjunctions of the planets Jupiter and Saturn occurred in the year 7 BC.

[54][58] He argues that Aries rather than Pisces was the zodiac symbol for Judea, a fact that would affect previous interpretations of astrological material.

Molnar's theory was debated by scientists, theologians, and historians during a colloquium on the Star of Bethlehem at the Netherlands' University of Groningen in October 2014.

"[59] Astronomer David A. Weintraub says, "If Matthew's wise men actually undertook a journey to search for a newborn king, the bright star didn't guide them; it only told them when to set out.

[69] Using the Starry Night astronomy software, and an article[70] written by astronomer Craig Chester[71] based on the work of archeologist and historian Ernest L. Martin,[72][73] Larson thinks all nine characteristics of the Star of Bethlehem are found in events that took place in the skies of 3–2 BC.

[72] Astronomer Dave Reneke independently found the June 2 BC planetary conjunction, and noted it would have appeared as a "bright beacon of light".

[77][80] The Magi told Herod that they saw the star "in the East,"[81] or according to some translations, "at its rising",[82] which may imply the routine appearance of a constellation, or an asterism.

[89][90][91] Physicist Frank Tipler has proposed that the star of Bethlehem was a supernova or hypernova occurring in the nearby Andromeda Galaxy.

[107] Tipler suggests this took place in AD 6, nine years after the death of Herod, and that the family of Jesus left Bethlehem shortly after the birth.

[92] Some scholars explain the apparent disparity as an error on the part of the author of the Gospel of Luke,[108][109] concluding that he was more concerned with creating a symbolic narrative than a historical account,[110] and was either unaware of, or indifferent to, the chronological difficulty.

[111] However, there is some debate among Bible translators about the correct reading of Luke 2:2 ("Αὕτη ἀπογραφὴ πρώτη ἐγένετο ἡγεμονεύοντος τῆς Συρίας Κυρηνίου").

[119] According to Josephus, the tax census conducted by the Roman senator Quirinius particularly irritated the Jews, and was one of the causes of the Zealot movement of armed resistance to Rome.

[128] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Star of Bethlehem is interpreted as a miraculous event of symbolic and pedagogical significance, regardless of whether it coincides with a natural phenomenon; a sign sent by God to lead the Magi to the Christ Child.

[citation needed] This is illustrated in the Troparion of the Nativity: Your birth, O Christ our God, dawned the light of knowledge upon the earth.

[129] In Orthodox Christian iconography, the Star of Bethlehem is often depicted not as golden, but as a dark aureola, a semicircle at the top of the icon, indicating the Uncreated Light of Divine grace, with a ray pointing to "the place where the young child lay" (Matthew 2:9).

[134] In her 1898 book, The Desire of Ages, Ellen White states "That star was a distant company of shining angels, but of this the wise men were ignorant.

In the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a silver star with 14 undulating rays marks the location traditionally claimed to be that of Jesus' birth.