The Jewish Roots of the Biblical Wise Men

Imagine yourself on the edge of an immense desert. Then accept the task of identifying a group of men who traveled through that dust-swept expanse about 2000 years ago. All that you have to guide you are 12 verses from a trusty document and a new piece of untested “evidence”, which is 8 words total. That’s all that author Len Salvig had when he started his personal odyssey in 1977 to identify the Wise Men. “Without that 8-word beacon I would have floundered from day 1”, he admits. He does not know the personal names of the Magi, yet he is convinced that he knows the city in which they practiced astronomy. Their near-identity - and why no one will know their names for sure - makes for fascinating reading. Partway through his odyssey while questioning experts in Israel to determine if any Christian author had delved into the mystery of the Wise Men, he was directed to Dr. W. E. Nunnally, Professor of Early Judaism and Christian Origins at Evangel University, Springfield, MO. Nunnally had written a scholarly treatise for his master’s degree at the University of Mississippi. Salvig incorporates the treatise as Part II, which is not included in this eBook version, but is available elsewhere.