Matthew 2:1 - Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

Bethlehem] or Ephrathah, the city of David, Isaiah 5 m. S. of Jerusalem: see Genesis 35:16; Genesis 35:19; Genesis 48:7; 1 Samuel 16:4; 2 Samuel 2:32; 2 Samuel 23:14-16; 1 Chronicles 11:16; 1 Chronicles 11:26; Ezra 2:21; Nehemiah 7:26. The supposed site of the nativity is a rock-hewn cave, measuring 38 ft. by 11 ft., at one end of which is inscribed 'Hic de virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est.' Above it stands perhaps the oldest Christian church in the world, the basilica built by Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, about 330 a.d. Herod] i.e. Herod the Great, who reigned from 37 to 4 b.c. As Christ was born at least two years before Herod's death (see Matthew 2:16), the date of the nativity cannot be later than 6 b.c. See art. 'The Dynasty of the Herods.' Wise men] lit. 'Magi,' a sacerdotal class among the Persians, Babylonians, and other Eastern nations, who occupied themselves with a knowledge of the secrets of nature, divination, astrology, and medicine. The Babylonian Magi are mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3. Daniel was made chief of them owing to his skill in interpreting dreams (Daniel 2:48). Here the word is used in its strict meaning, and in a good sense. Elsewhere in the NT. it means a juggler or cheat (Acts 13:6; Acts 13:8). Since astronomy was chiefly practised in Babylonia, and Jewish influence was particularly sirong there, it may be conjectured that these Magi were Babylonians. But they may have come from Arabia. There is no warrant for the tradition that they were kings. To Jerusalem] The Magi came because they expected to obtain full information at the capital.